So I must admit i’m a bit of a fan of Minolta’s 110 cameras. If you’ve followed this blog you’ll know I highly rate some of the models in the Pocket Autopak 400 series pretty highly for this class.
So when I got my hands on the top dog of the class I was pretty excited. But it didn’t quite live up to the hype.
In 1987 Concord Camera Corp launched another 110 camera on an unsuspecting American Public under the Le Clic brand. Concord were not unfamiliar with 110 cameras having launched a fair number of low end run of the mill minox style numbers with and without flash under their various brands.
But Le Mini is something very different even more Lo-Fi and with Cult Appeal.
The eagle eyed amongst you will have remember as well as the Halina Super-Mini I recently reviewed, I’d also picked up the flash version. But this offers exposure control as well as the built in flash. And Hey it actually is a museum piece !
“Hello Q. Got any special gear for this mission for me? “. Q looked and sighed. “After you crashing the Aston and losing the laser beam Rolex in the midst of the current austerity squeeze not so much. What happened to the rocket Launching Nikon by the way ?”
“Boom and bust Q”
“But anyway” said Q handing him a Halina Super-Mini.
Regular readers will know I have a love for those cheap ‘n cheerful Lo-Fi cameras that other reviewers wouldn’t touch with a barge-pole. But even for me there are some pretty inexcusable garbage that tries to pass themselves off as being a camera. Here’s my top 10 plus some views of others in what cameras you really want to avoid.
We have some surprises as we go from Halina to Leica in this list. But do you agree and what would you add ?
You’ve got to give Voigtländer the credit for some very gorgeous cameras. But then again as the longest serving camera make in the world that’s not a surprise. But how does this mid 70’s simple 110 camera that I got for a quid match up to the expectations ?
Since my last posting irregular update a lot has been happening both in the world of film and in the wider world. This post is a bit Bond themed with news that Bond 25 inches ever closer with news on the new Villain and confirmation the the Fantastic Phoebe Waller-Bridge will be co-re-writing the script. So grab your Martini (shaken not stirred) and pull up a seat.
In the last year or 2, I’ve shot a lot of 110 cameras. They have tended though to fall into 3 camps – modern toy shooters with plastic lenses for the lomo crowd, simple 70’s cameras with that classic minox 110 shape or the bonkers high end SLR & rangefinders. The 430E & 430Ex sit in that middle group but with some high end features that raise them above the average. Continue reading One Hand in My Pocket – Minolta Pocket Autopak 430Ex review→
Shooting Film on the cheap on the Border in Credit Crunch Britain