Cameras
Minolta Maxxum 400si: Much better than I expected
My first experience with a Minolta AF camera — and for that matter any Minolta camera — ended in a huge disappointment. The camera, appearing to be in good working condition, produced terribly underexposed images. Somehow, this experience reinforced the negative notion I was gathering from the internet about Minolta's AF cameras. Regardless of ... Read more
With all the glory from the 80's: The Ricoh FF-3AF
The golden age of photography, according to a half-hearted Internet research I performed before writing this article, is considered to be from the 1930's through the 50's. This time frame makes sense if you consider the amount of progress that was made within the period. Cameras became lighter, portable, accessible, and most importantly image ... Read more
The Sears 35|RF: One that barely fits in my pocket.
Here's another thrift store find worth writing about: the Sears 35|RF. This compact, fully manual rangefinder comes from Sears, the now (almost) defunct superstore. Holy Sears! Unlike most people in the west who grew up with Sears almost everywhere, I grew up in Africa where there were absolutely none. My first encounter with a Sears was in 2008 at ... Read more
Minolta Maxxum 300si: I really had high hopes for this one
The value Camera Collector It won't be wrong to consider myself a budget conscious camera collector. I mean, it'll be very difficult to get me to spend anything above 20 bucks — a figure that I already consider quite high — on a used camera, especially one that that doesn't have the clout. If you are a collector of any kind, you know ... Read more
Konica Auto S2: Heavy, Impressive and, Worthy
I wish I had an interesting story about how I came to own this camera. Truth is, I dont. This story just happens to be the same old boring one I keep telling: I walk into a thrift store, find a camera on the shelf, pay for it, and take it home. Of course, at the thrift store, I unlatched the leather case that contained the camera, took a partial ... Read more
Wonderfully Odd: Fujica AZ-1 and the Mamiya Sekor Lens
I'm always on the hunt for cheap cameras. As far as I'm concerned, there's really nothing as exciting as finding a very good camera with a sub $20 price tag. It seems I have developed a craving that makes it impossible for me to drive by a thrift store without walking in to see what they have on the camera shelves. Call it FOMO if you want, but ... Read more
Pextax iQZoom 150SL: A little piece of gold
Recently, I found out one of my favourite camera vendors was leaving the local flea market. He had been running a stand at the flea market for a little over a decade and he was now in is mid seventys and age was taking a toll on him. He struggled to haul his wares around, and the exposure to the weather at the outdoor market wasn't helpful either. ... Read more
Getting impressed with the Yashica Electro 35 GSN
While preparing to write this post, I kept asking myself a rather simple yet somehow difficult question: "What I can say about this camera that hasn't been said elsewhere already?". Indeed it is a difficult question to answer; because, well, this camera I'm about to review appears to be quite legendary. I don't need to create any fake ... Read more
It's OK to get it all wet: Pentax zoom90-WR
I have made it no secret, how I used to naively look down on point-and-shoot film cameras. Lately, I have come to regard them as incredible pieces of engineering. When you truly think about them, even the very average ones you can find, you realize how well these cameras were made. Several intricate parts like motors, gears, and electronics packed ... Read more
Double feature: Olympus' AF-1, and Infinity Quartzdate
A little back story. If you've been following this blog — and I doubt anyone is at the moment — you'd have noticed that I'm currently working through, in some chronological fashion, descriptions of the cameras in my cheap camera collection. In each post, I give a very unconventional review of one of the cameras in my collection. I avoid ... Read more
Canon Canonet 28: The beauty that lies in simplicity
My experience with the Yashica MG-1, opened me up to the world of rangefinders. Although it had its flaws, I made me appreciate the fact that, at least, range finders were accessible, and not necessary expensive troublesome relics. In fact, anytime I walked into any of my favourite thrift stores, I had this secret yearning to find a rangefinder ... Read more
The weird and interesting: Chinon Infrafocus 35F-MA
While lugging around my Canon AFM35, I received a lot of compliments from folk who were just happy to see someone still shooting on film. Generally, it seems everyone has moved on and no one shoots on film anymore. This meant that, people had lots of questions along lines of: "do they still make film?", and "are the labs still ... Read more
Nikon EM: Just cute, simple and friendly
The last place I ever expected to find a used camera for sale was a used bookstore. So, you could imagine my surprise when I found this beauty during one such visit to a local bookstore. At the time of this visit, I was exclusively hunting for SLRs and, just as you would expect, I picked it up without thinking. At around 25 bucks, it was a little ... Read more
The Yashica MG-1: My very first rangefinder
When I started following and collecting analog cameras, one thing quickly became apparent: rangefinders were held in very high regard. Almost everywhere I looked, I kept reading about rangefinders (especially the Leica Ms) and all the benefits they had. I read about how you could precisely focus with them, I read about how most had leaf shutters ... Read more
A pleasant surprise with the Canon AF35M point and shoot
At this stage in my "cheap camera" photography journey, my quest was to score good SLRs. My motivation, of course, was driven by a false belief that SLRs are the only camera form factors that could deliver quality images. This notion was probably ingrained by how all professional photographers I saw — almost everywhere — used ... Read more
Let's start with the Pentax P30t, and a 28mm, f2.8 Auto Rokinon MC
On a visit to a local thrift store, in search of a cheap study desk, I chanced upon this beauty sitting on one of the shelves. Wrapped in a foggy plastic bag, I couldn't really tell what exactly it was from a distance. I thought it looked interesting, and after a closer inspection I found out it was a camera. But what kind? I couldn't tell. When I ... Read more