Tag Archives: AF

1 roll good one roll bad -Tentative Ricoh Myport 330 Super Review

This was a chance finding on eBay earlier this year and on paper what’s not to like. Also known as the RZ-3000, the Shotmaster 130Z, or the Q-130Z, this is a Ricoh compact but in zoom format.   it’s as cheap as chips and feature laden including Passive AF.  But did it live up to the promise of being a bargain for those of us who can’t afford a GR1 ?  Sadly on the 2 rolls I shot, it’s a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde number.  And that’s not just down to the optics.

Continue reading 1 roll good one roll bad -Tentative Ricoh Myport 330 Super Review

Step Class – The compact AF camera’s hidden secret (or How the mju won the compact war)

Think your mighty compact focuses seamless ?

Well think again ! Even high end models focus in a series of zones called focusing steps, Not that most manufacturers let you know. But in 1991, Olympus were only too keen to tell us with the μ[mju:] (aka mju-1 or Stylus) a camera that changed the face of the AF compact market. Continue reading Step Class – The compact AF camera’s hidden secret (or How the mju won the compact war)

Hidden bargains of the second hand camera market – Guest Post by Hamish Gill

I recently found a Samsung ECX1 in a pawnbrokers in town for £2.99. I do a little circuit of a few of these shops as well as the charity shops if I’m ever in town with a little while to spare. Once in a while something I’ve been watching out for on eBay appears and I’m forced to snap it up. The Samsung ECX1 is just one of those cameras. It’s also the type of camera I think of as a bit of hidden bargain. Continue reading Hidden bargains of the second hand camera market – Guest Post by Hamish Gill

Konica C35 AF – 1st Roll Impression

If you’ve followed my blog you’ll have seen me mention this Ground breaking but now relatively obscure 70’s compact.

Konica C35 AF
Konica C35 AF. The world’s first commercially produced AF camera

The reason why this compact is so important is obvious by the name. This was the world’s first commercially produced Auto focus camera. Continue reading Konica C35 AF – 1st Roll Impression