Halina 1000 Review – 70’s plastic fun to take on the Diana Mini

Halina 1000
Halina 1000

The Halina 1000 is wee bit of an oddity.  Launched in the 70’s it was  the little sis of the  Halina 2000 & Halina 3000. Unlike those  scale focus, multiple settings cameras, the Halina 1000 was pretty much all plastic fixed focus fun with minimal settings. Pretty basic by the standards of the day but now presents sharper alternative to the Diana Mini in the Toy Camera class. Continue reading Halina 1000 Review – 70’s plastic fun to take on the Diana Mini

Kodak BW400CN Review : The Long Goodbye

Dusk Filaments
Smena 8m Dumfries 2014

In August this Year Kodak Alaris announced the effective death of my favourite B&W film BW400CN.

This is a bit of an unusual B&W film in that it is meant to be developed in the same way that colour negative film (C41) at any photo lab. This is handy if you want to try out shooting  B&W as you can have your films processed cheaply and anywhere. Continue reading Kodak BW400CN Review : The Long Goodbye

Halina Micro 35 Review : Hong Kong not so Phooey

This weekend's imported fun
Halina Micro 35 (AKA Revue 35FC

This little oddity (here wearing it’s Revue 35FC guise) has become labelled as the Hong Kong Lomo due to its LC-A like styling. Infact both cameras are arguable different takes on the Cosina CX-2 and are very different. The Micro 35 is probably Haking’s best styled compact and certainly is a lot more interesting to look at than some of the brick like beasts of its era. Continue reading Halina Micro 35 Review : Hong Kong not so Phooey

FED 50 Review: The shape of things that might have been

FED 50
FED 50

This gorgeously bonkers 35mm  compact hails from 1980’s Soviet union but looks like a mix of 60’s & 70’s with its bling gold styling and Olympus Trip-esque selenium meter array. A relative rarity in the west it does make for quite an interesting & useful choice for a point and shooter. Continue reading FED 50 Review: The shape of things that might have been

Modding a Bencini Koroll 24s to shoot 35mm

Medium Format Cone
Medium Format Cone

The Bencini Koroll 24s is not only a cool, vintage 50’s 120 roll film camera but also perhaps the easiest to mod to use 35mm film.

That’s because a 35mm film canister fits snugly and as it’s film plane is flat there are no issues re focus unlike cameras like the Agfa Isoly I or Halina 6-4 Continue reading Modding a Bencini Koroll 24s to shoot 35mm

Bencini Koroll 24s Review : The canny man’s vintage 120 film camera

Bencini Koroll 24S
This quite gorgeous lump of Aluminium hails from 50’s Italy. It’s a pretty basic 120 film camera from the era but has a couple of trump cards to play.  It’s first trick is that it’s a half frame (3×4.5cm) camera allowing you to take a whooping 24 shots on a roll of 120 film. Continue reading Bencini Koroll 24s Review : The canny man’s vintage 120 film camera

Yet another Olympus Trip 35 Review

Okay I suspect the dog and his dinner has blogged about the Trip 35 but it feels like a right of passage for a camera blog and what the heck I love it.

This little design classic arrived in the Mid 60’s and set the standard for Point & Shoot (P&S) camera right into the 80s. The classic styling is married to an excellent sharp  Zuiko lens and a simple but effective metering system. That meter is driven by the selenium array (the glass bubbly bit) around the lens. This means no batteries ever required.

Continue reading Yet another Olympus Trip 35 Review

Shooting Film on the cheap on the Border in Credit Crunch Britain