[kjao]

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone can recommend a good film P&S camera? I am just thinking if I cannot find a good digital P&S, maybe I will try my luck with a film P&S. It doesn't have to be Pentax brand, it can be any other brands too.

Thanks

Kenny

[Jerry Thirsty]

New or used? Do you need a zoom?

The Olympus Stylus Epic is probably the best point and shoot (optically) that's still available new, if you can live with a single focal length.

If you hit the used market, there are a plethora of options.

[kjao]

Thanks Jerry for your reply.

I don't really mind if it is used or new, as long as it is in good condition and good quality lens (zoom or fixed). That said, I probably don't want to spend too much on it, thinking definitely less than $200.

cheers
Kenny

[k100d]

Yashica T4 with Zeiss Lens

[Canada_Rockies]

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone can recommend a good film P&S camera? I am just thinking if I cannot find a good digital P&S, maybe I will try my luck with a film P&S. It doesn't have to be Pentax brand, it can be any other brands too.

Thanks

Kenny

If you can find a Pentax IQZoom 120SW, you might like it. 28-200mm. Some shots at albertberry.com, (a really out of date site - like four years!). It vignettes, but fits in a shirt pocket. We usually leave it in the truck console after the freezing months are gone, just in case.

[Mike Cash]

How about a Konica C35V? No exposure controls at all, so it is truly "point and shoot" as far as that goes. It has a 38/2.8 Hexanon lens that gives very good image quality. Exposure is automatic between 1/30 ~ 1/650 and f2.8 ~ f14, with a needle indicator in the viewfinder. Focus is zone-focus. You just set it to 1m, 1.5m, 3m, or infinity.

Lightweight, compact, easy to use, great pictures, and basically just an all-around fun camera to have along with you. Only problem is that it's from the early 1970s. They're still around, though. I got mine from an auction for about $10.

Some representative images may be seen here

And the camera itself:

[TomE]

No contest YASHICA T4 Super D, waterproof, amazing Carl Ziess T* lens!

Tom

[*Pentax*]

Leica M7?

[dantuyhoa]

Canonet QL17 ? I have one and love it !

Single-use camera is fun , too .

[lithos]

Leica M7?

POST OF THE YEAR.



Seriously. The Canonet QL17's and 19's are legendary - some say they were designed not as consumer cameras, but pro-level last-ditch backup cameras, with the features to match. I don't know.

Any of the old-skool rangefinders are pretty good - not necessarily better optically than a modern P&S with a zoom, but with manual controls they are more versatile. Hell, there was even a little Olympus RF that had spot metering!

Maybe you can get Mike Cash to find you a Fuji Natura (the camera, not the film), as it is a the only compact P&S with an f1.9(!) 28mm lens on it, which also serves as proof that you can make fast and small 28mm lens - Lens Roadmap cartographers, are you listening!?

The Espios were king of the hill back in the day, small cameras with huge zoom ranges - I read somewhere that this was due to Pentax creating lens that had elements which would slide in and out of the light path as needed - correct me if I'm wrong, please.

MC's Konica C35V is another well-loved camera, mostly because it's got that mythical Hexanon on it - a lens that's meant to be based on a Nikkor that was based on a Tessar, but legendary nonetheless. It's the sort of glass Leicaphiles ask about, sotto voce, 'round the internets, and never as if they were looking to get on for themselves, lest the other Leicaphiles accuse them of treason and get all Spanish Inquisition on their Solms-betraying behinds.

If you can, get a Contax G2 - the king of all AF compacts. Fast, made of metal, and with the sharpest lens ever made for 35mm - the f2 45mm Zeiss Planar for it, as well as the 16mm Biogon ultra-wide.

The Ricoh GR's are also highly commended - both the standard with the 28mm lens and the GR21, with a 21mm lens.

[Mike Cash]

I had so much fun with the C35V and liked the pictures so well from the first roll of film that I immediately picked up its rangefinder brother, the C35 Flashmatic (C35 Automatic outside Japan). As far as the lens and (lack of) exposure controls goes, it's the exact same camera. It features a pc connector and auto-timer, and focus is via a rangefinder. In very low-light situations using flash, though, I find the zone-focus C35V to be better, as I just guesstimate the distance. The flash system is very novel, as you just set your flash's guide number (7, 10, 14, 20, 28, 40, or 56 meters) and the camera automatically adjusts aperture accordingly. That's all based on ISO100, so you do have to remember to make the necessary compensation if you're using some other film. It does away with the problem of an auto-thyristor flash being "fooled" by a flash return from a bright or dark colored portion of your subject, as it doesn't rely on feedback from the reflected flash output. It goes strictly by guide number and distance (which it picks up from the camera's focus system).

Flickr Set of photos from the C35 Flashmatic

As you can see from this and the other set, although the camera doesn't look like much, the lens doesn't have to take a backseat to anybody. For compactness, ease of use, and price, the C35 series of cameras is hard to beat.

[shutterpuppy]

I would go with a really nice condition used Pentax k1000 on Ebay. It has great resale value (just sold one myself for $80.00 and it was 20 years old). When or if you make the switch to digital photography, you can sell just the body and keep the lenses and use them on any Pentax DSLR.

My .02 cents
Barry

[Mike Cash]

The K1000 may be a wonderful camera, but it is nowhere near being a "point & shoot".

[shutterpuppy]

The K1000 may be a wonderful camera, but it is nowhere near being a "point & shoot".

Depends how you define P & S. Most digital bridgecams are considered to be in that category and they are more complicated than the K1000 where all you have to do is center the needle between the +/- in the viewfinder. Disposable cameras are about the only cameras nowadays in that league of P & S (just look in the viewfinder,compose your shot and release the shutter button, what could be easier than that?

Barry

[lithos]

Well, for starters, the K1000's f*cking huge.