“The nice thing about the Halina 35x is you’re not likely to get mugged for it and if you do you can use it as a deadly weapon.” The poor Hong Kong made 35x is the butt of many a joke and scorn in the camera world.
But this 1959 “Empire Made” viewfinder did sell rather well and has cult following amongst some. So is it really all that bad?
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.
Last year’s Yashica Y35 launch led to one of the biggest outpouring of anger the photography community has ever seen. Whilst the Y35 wasn’t as bad some the vitriol, it was far from perfect. So there was some surprise when rumours of a Yashica branded film. But they’ve now pushed it even further with the launch of a Kickstarter for 2 new films, an analogue camera and the promise of more.
Launched in the 1950’s the Coronet 6-6 was yet another no frills Bakelite roll film camera, But the folks at Coronet decided to re-brand this camera as the Rex Flash. But is it King or just Flash in the pan.
When Cosina launched the the CX-1 & CX-2, little did they know they would become more famous as the cameras that inspired the Lomo LC-A. But that spark was not limited to the (in)famous Russian copy. Several other makes produced similar designs and here’s Hanimex’s take.
We’ve trod this ground before with the Halina 35 Micro (aka the Hong Kong Lomo) which was disappointing due to lack of focus, exposure control and any over-riding of an overly sensitive auto flash. The Hanimex instantly won me over as it resolves all 3of those. But is it any good and is it a lomo rival ?
I’m writing this a bit late into the day but this column is meant to be a bit more flexible. This week the postie brought a few more Poundland challenge 2019 cameras, a vintage classic and something for the weekend from Lomography. Meanwhile there’s some serious modding going on in film land and there the curious case of the missing F6. Pull up a chair and have a drink !
One of my targets in my Poundland Challenge of getting cameras for a quid or less was to get a SLR body. I knew this was still likely and I’d come close with a Mamiya camera with a non interchangeable lens (some sneaked in at last minute with a £1.20 bid. I’d also passed on a Nikon F55 (already own) and a Praktica BM series body that went for 99p. Still I was bit surprised when the MZ-5 (ZX-5 in US), a 1996 Pentax prosumer AF SLR arrived for just 99p.
The Diana and its LSI re-incarnation the Diana F+ are much beloved by Lo-Fi photographers. However shooting 120 film isn’t necessarily the cheapest options. So what 35mm cameras come close to the Diana experience and images
This week we start with modern news and end with the fall of the soviet union. In between we go half frame, classic, elite and waisted ! Pull up a chair and drop in.
By 1871 having your photograph taken was pretty common place. But a development published that year would lead to a major revolution in making photography easier and more practical. And that where our subject comes in. The man in the photo is Dr Richard Leach Maddox, who came up with this leap.