Plastic Trash cam or sheer Genius ?
Both are descriptions I’ve heard about the Halina Panorama also better known in the US as the Ansco Pix Panorama . But where does the truth lie with this no frills Shooter.
The 35X is perhaps the model that most folk remember when the word Halina is muttered. That Leica look-a-like is perhaps the best known of Haking’s creations but the Super 35X refines the mechanics and gave rise to a more unique style.
The Barclaycard Visa Camera was a freebie camera that has the infamous optical color lens moniker. A true plastic trashcam which is now worryingly brittle. But there is something endearing about this lump of plastic toy camera,
The Vilia is yet another fully manual shooter from the later years of the soviet union from MMZ-BelOMO in Belarus. Unlike its obvious soviet rivals the camera styling is more akin to Japanese compacts of the era. But how does it measure up compared to its rivals like the Smena Symbol ?
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 ?
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.
The Minister III is one in a long line of great Rangefinders from Yashica. This beauty in chrome popped up at the start of the 60’s and is good choice for an uncoupled rangefinder of the era
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 ?