“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.
Continue reading The Spy Whose Spending was Reviewed – The Halina Super-Mini 88 ReviewOnce there was a legendary Japanese Camera maker famed for its detailed very compact cameras. But in 1988 they went very large with a camera with a passing resemblance to a star cruiser.
That camera was the Olympus AZ-300 Superzoom (aka Infinity Zoom 300 (US) and IZM-300). It would become one of the cameras that defined the term bridge.
Continue reading In a Galaxy Far, Far Away The Olympus AZ-300 SuperzoomRegular 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 ?
Continue reading 10 Crap Cameras That Are Just CrapYou’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 ?
Continue reading Small Is The New Sexy ? – The Voigtländer Vitoret 110 ReviewAs the Poundland Challenge 2019 has proved again you can actually buy a lot for a quid. So why don’t we take 2 AF compacts for a walk that cost around a quid and see what you get for your buck.
Continue reading Budget Zoom-Off – Vivitar Mega 200 Versus Ricoh RZ-728“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?
Continue reading The Lada of The Camera World OR NOT ?- The Halina 35X ReviewSince 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.
Continue reading The Analogue Week 3 – Good Evening Mr Bond. we’ve been expecting youLast 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.
But What’s the catch ?
Continue reading Yashica’s Back – And This Time It’s AnalogueLaunched 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.
Continue reading Brummie Deco – the Curious case of the Coronet REX FlashWhen 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 3 of those. But is it any good and is it a lomo rival ?
Continue reading The Aussie Lomo ? – Hanimex 35 Micro Flash
