35mm Toy Camera

arigram · Oct 24, 2008

Reading about this new 35mm TTL toy camera, I thought, is there another one that is designed for 35mm film but smaller, like a toy RF? I am not talking about modified Holgas and such, but an actual small 35mm toy camera to put in my pocket and snap around. 120 cameras are too big.

brofkand · Oct 24, 2008

Your local dollar store should have something suitable.

aparat · Oct 24, 2008

If you like wide-angle photography, I would recommend the Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim. Otherwise, I use my Smena 8M, which, by the way, was my first camera at the age of 7. You can buy either camera for the the price of a roll of film.

arigram · Oct 24, 2008

Your local dollar store should have something suitable.

From what I know, local stores don't trade in dollars around here. And anyway, no, they don't carry cameras. Which cameras were you thinking about anyway?

aparat said:
If you like wide-angle photography, I would recommend the Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim. Otherwise, I use my Smena 8M, which, by the way, was my first camera at the age of 7. You can buy either camera for the the price of a roll of film.

I found the Smena 8M on ebay and will try to get a good price for it. I see it goes from 10 to 50 US dollars.

TheDreadPirateRobins · Oct 24, 2008

I have been thinking about getting a LOMO fisheye camera...

IloveTLRs · Oct 24, 2008

I have the Fisheye 2. The rewind lever broke off after 3 rolls

Nicholas Lindan · Oct 25, 2008

I find the Smena (Smegma?) 8 has a rather too good a triplet lens for 'toy camera' pictures. The one trait I found it has in common with the Diana is that is disintegrates in your hands: the plastic's strength is as if the camera had been carved from soap. The Smena Symbol is supposed to be better built.

A cheap disposable camera would be the common 'toy' 35mm. Buy the crapiest you can, some of the Kodaks have actual 2-element achromats for lenses, so watch out for lurking quality.

They also make cheap 35mm reloadable cameras in the US: "Barbie Cam", "French Fry Cams", etc., Dead Link Removed for more info.

I would go to a toy store to look for them. Here they also show up at thrift stores run by charitable organizations, I don't know if these stores exist in Greece.

Andy K · Oct 25, 2008

Nicholas Lindan said:
I find the Smena (Smegma?) 8 has a rather too good a triplet lens for 'toy camera' pictures. The one trait I found it has in common with the Diana is that is disintegrates in your hands: the plastic's strength is as if the camera had been carved from soap. The Smena Symbol is supposed to be better built.

A Polish guy I work with pronounces it shmenka. He says everyone in Poland has or had one.

ann · Oct 25, 2008

i have an ansco film camera, cost about 10 bucks on ebay. small, plastic and takes fairly good images if i point it in the right direction.

arigram · Oct 26, 2008

I have been looking a the Smenas in EBay and they come in a variety of prices.
Considering it is probably worth just some pocket change, what would be a good price for it?
The cheapest I find is something ten bucks for the camera and twenty for the shipping...
Or maybe I should move up and get a Rollei 35...

Anon Ymous · Oct 26, 2008

arigram said:
I found the Smena 8M on ebay and will try to get a good price for it. I see it goes from 10 to 50 US dollars.

$50 for a Smena 8m?! It's a robbery. I had one when I was a kid. $10 is a reasonable price. Ok, it's better than a Holga but so what? It's very flimsy and sooner or later you'll have problems.

arigram · Oct 26, 2008

Ok, which is the smallest 35mm compact camera then? The Rollei 35?

Andy K · Oct 26, 2008

The Olympus XA cameras are quite small.

Akki14 · Oct 26, 2008

The vivitar wide&slim is quite cool and small. I have one and keep it in my purse all the time. If you bulk load your film in plastic canisters, the whole dealy when loaded weighs only 85g or thereabouts. A literal point & shoot but not a bad one... then again some photos from it can be a bit bland, some do get vignetting like an LCA, though.

Polybun · Nov 9, 2008

Fisher Price have a fun little one for children. I get strange strange looks when going about town with it, but its 38mm lens is a hoot.

mhcfires · Nov 13, 2008

I have an Olympus 35RC. It is a very nice camera, has rangefinder, very sharp Zuiko lens. Great little camera, can be found on fleabay for reasonable $$.

psboon · Nov 13, 2008

My New Toy

This is my newest last "Toy" camera. Found at a thriftstore. If what I have found about this is correct a 24exp roll will give me 96 clicks. That should make me popular at the lab. I wish it had a tripod mount.

Thomas Bertilsson · Nov 13, 2008

Or a Minox 35GT. Nice collapsible lens and a camera that folds up to be no larger than a pack of cigarettes. Excellent camera, but hardly a toy camera. Probably the smallest full frame 35mm camera ever made, and (ironically) the largest camera Minox ever made.

http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Minox_35_GT

- Thomas

Polybun · Nov 14, 2008

arigram said:
Reading about this new 35mm TTL toy camera, I thought, is there another one that is designed for 35mm film but smaller, like a toy RF? I am not talking about modified Holgas and such, but an actual small 35mm toy camera to put in my pocket and snap around. 120 cameras are too big.

120 too big? Why not get an old 120 folding camera? They fit in my pockets atleast.

arigram · Nov 14, 2008

Polybun said:
120 too big? Why not get an old 120 folding camera? They fit in my pockets atleast.

I have several.
I want the advantages of a small 35mm camera, like three times the exposures and easier winding of a roll.

dracblau · Nov 20, 2008

Vivitar made some great 35mm plastic cameras with decent lenses. Aside from the previously mentioned Vivitar Wide and Slim, there is also the Vivitar IC101 panorama, and the Vivitar Eco 35. I've seen some nice images taken with these cameras.

Another good plastic 35mm camera is the Argus 520 with a 28mm lens.

Do a web search for images from these cameras and you will see what can be done.

I have seen all these cameras for as low as $2 here and there.

brofkand · Nov 24, 2008

I just realized the "dollar store" term probably gets lost in translation from America to Greece. Sorry!

I figured whatever the Greek equivalent to a one dollar store---all items are $1 or less---would carry a cheap plastic camera. If not, you don't need to spend a lot of money. More than likely, you'll pay much more than what these cameras are worth on eBay when you combine their "cool factor" and shipping to Greece. Look at local thrift stores and the like. There's no such thing as a "toy camera," just cheap cameras with poor lenses, fixed focus, fixed exposure, etc.

arigram · Dec 11, 2008

What's a good price for a Rollei 35?
Not a toy camera of course, but nevertheless...

35mm Toy Camera

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