Remember the Smena 8M ? A Soviet Camera that combined a killer lens, 50’s shutter and cheap plastic body ? Well the folks at LOMO didn’t stop with the Smena 8M, refining it further finally producing a last gasp bad boy – the Smena 35 (Смена-35). But whilst there is a lot of improvements there are issues to be aware of.
Polaroid produced some of the most Iconic cameras of the latter half of the 20th century and were the pioneers of instant film decades before the term instax was dreamed up. However this isn’t one of those and actually is just a ‘roid in name only. Does it stack up as just another cheap basic camera or is there more to meet the eye ?
The Olympus Trip 35 is one of the most revered compacts ever made. Sadly Olympus had a bad habit of producing some decidedly basic & sometime awful cameras trading on its name. However not all are that bad But has this plastic trip the potential to be Olympus’s Lomo ? Continue reading The Olympus Lomo ? – The Olympus Trip 500 Review→
Most film photographers dream of owning a Leica, if even just for the Kudos. Social services got a bit upset when I tried to swap one of the weans for a mint M6 (with lens I hasten to add). But there are a few routes to owning a Leica for less financial pain. One is where this Minolta kinda comes in if you get a working ‘un Continue reading Leica Likely ? Minolta Riva/Freedom Zoom 90c review→
As I sit munching the last of the mince pies and watching Bond on the telly (Spectre – not bad if a tad formulistic), it is the traditional time to start to reflect on 2017. A year that has seen both and highs and lows for film shooters.
yup I got another of Ricoh’s YF-20 series. A full review will be coming for this later model that adds a distance focus but this one came with the Data back. Although you can see the standard manual online, I couldn’t find any info about the data back. Having almost wrecked the camera in trying to replace the battery, I click it was quite easy and hopefully this will be of help
I’d never been convinced that Car boots are always work outs great for camera hunters. Sure you’ll find late AF zoom compact for the same price as you’d pay on eBay less postage but IMHO til then true bargains are rare and balanced by someone trying to sell a Knackered Praktica for 50 quid. All that changed when I spotted this grubby number.
Not exactly the pinnacle of Ricoh’s output, this little cheap ‘n’ cheerful fixed focus compact actually was surprisingly good despite my review one being half knackered. But it actually still managed a better run than the Olympus AM-100. Continue reading Fixed focus runner – Ricoh YF-20 Review→
Shooting Film on the cheap on the Border in Credit Crunch Britain