These 60’s viewfinder point and shoot cameras drew influences from the German models of the day. But how do they fare as a retro shooter today and compared to their 70’s successors the Halina 2000 & 3000 ?
Prinz Mastermatic III (a rebadged Halina Paulette Electric)
Minolta’s Hi-matic series of compact cameras span more than 20 years of production and were usually rangefinders such as the well-regarded Hi-matic 7sII. However the series also gave rise to a few Point & Shoot (P&S) most notably the Hi-matic G launched in 1974.
Diana Mini ironically captured on instagram. In classic Blue black
The Diana Mini has been one of Lomography Society International (LSI) best-selling products and is a gorgeous re-imaging of their simple 120 film Diana F+ in mini form taking 35mm film. But like its big brother, it is a camera of 2 halves good and bad. But do those halves balance out in this toy class manual shooter ?
Sadly last week my Boots Pacemaker 35 died. This basic camera is actually a re branded Franka 125 made by the long gone West Germany company in the 1960’s. But was it retro fun or rightly dated ?
This absolute corker from Japan IMHO is one of the best point and shooter ever to be based on a rangefinder. Its crisp, accurate lens and exposure deliver like no other rangefinder based P&S.
This little plastic corker was one of the best selling classic soviet Cameras of all time. But why does a plasticky unmetered camera with 1950’s mechanics still deserve a loyal following. The answer is its simplicity and its killer lens. Continue reading Smena 8m Review : Good clean plastic Fun→
This 50’s rarity is arguable one of the first metered 35mm point and shooters (P&S) on the market and whilst basic and bulky had much in the ways of the compact P&S like the Olympus Trip 35 that followed it a decade plus later. And you know something, it still works and takes pretty good shots. Continue reading The Fujica 35 Automagic Review : Futuristic 50’s Automagic→
Shooting Film on the cheap on the Border in Credit Crunch Britain