Advice on High Quality Point and Shoot 35mm

sanking · May 18, 2009

I need a little advice here.

My wife owned a point and shoot 35mm film camera for many years but lost it last year while we were on vacation in BC. I don't remember the model but it was but it was a fairly high quality Pentax with a nice zoom lens. When it was lost I offered to let her use my digital Canon G9, but she has not taken well to the complexity of the controls on the G9 and I am thinking she would be better off with another film camera.

I know little or nothing about these cameras but I assume that with so many people switching to digital there should be some pretty good cameras in this category available used on ebay. So my question, what are some of the very best late model point and shoot type cameras?

Sandy King

Jeremy · May 18, 2009

Konica Hexar AF.
Olympus MJU-II or Epic (different branding for different areas)
Nikon 35Ti

All of these are fast, fixed 35mm lenses, though, no zooms.

fschifano · May 18, 2009

My thoughts exactly. I might also add the Yashica T4. I own the Olympus MJU and the Yashica T4. Both are a definite cut above the average 35 mm point and shoot camera. I've never found the lack of zoom a hindrance. Both have excellent optics and better than decent auto exposure and auto focus systems. No manual override is possible with either.

Anscojohn · May 18, 2009

Yashica T4. Mine was stolen. I regretted losing it. Non-zoom Olympus Stylus with 3.5 lens cut a nice image, too.

andrewc · May 18, 2009

Another vote for the Olympus Stylus Epic which, to me, looks better in black if you can find one. Another great little p&s camera, although a bit more of a classic AF p&s, is the Minolta AF-C. It's very small and has a thumbwheel film advance (which means it's quiet) along with a frighteningly sharp lens. They're a little hard to find and they're frequently not terribly cheap, but usually not expensive enough to break the bank. Like I said though, it's a much older camera and you may want a more recent model. The Stylus Epic is superb. Some of Olympus's zooms aren't too bad. I have the Olympus Superzoom 160 which has a 38-160mm zoom along with an "extra-low dispersion, high resolution lens". All of that might be pure marketing hype but it works quite well The camera is very compact and the pictures are quite sharp. I also use a Canon Sure Shot Z180u with its 38-180mm lens. It also has the ability to focus while tracking a moving subject, not something you often find on little p&s compacts. It's a very nice camera that can sometimes command a price up to $100 on ebay but they can also be found for cheap if you take the time to look...I got mine at Goodwill for $15 in like-new condition! Also like John said above, the Olympus Stylus 3.5 is a nice choice too. Good luck and have fun shopping!

Andy

ann · May 18, 2009

sandy

years ago i had a rolli prego 90, at the time they were very expensive little toys, but very good little toys.

recently one of my students convinced me he needed to take it on a crusie along with his digital camera and came back a very happy man. He loved the negatives and the fact it can also be used in pano mode.

i am sure there are still some around and even perhaps an update, which i believe was a prego 120.

easy to use, nice zoom feature, and more than once i had people ask me "what camera i used to take such great photos".

darinwc · May 18, 2009

I highly reccomend the Olympus Stylus with the 35mm f3.5 or the Olympus Stylus Epic with the 28mm f2.8 lens.
Both are extremely compact. They have a sliding cover that protects all the important parts from scratches. They are weather sealed. Downside is small buttons and a tendancy for red-eye.
They can be had for well under $50 on ebay if you look carefully or for next to nothing at thrift stores.
I can keep one in my pocket with my keys/cell phone and not worry. I can open the cover by feel so pocket-to-shot times are very quick.

The yashica T4 is also nice but it's cover only protects the lens, and it doesnt take any better photos than the Oly except for redeye. The T4 is waay overpriced compared to the Oly imho.

sanking · May 18, 2009

Thanks for the suggestions.

I am familiar with some of the fixed lens cameras, even own one of the fixed lens Olympus Stylus models, but there was a zoom on my wife's lost camera and I am certain that she would want that feature again.

So I guess the question should be, what is the best late model point and shoot with a lens in the 30-70 or 30-135 range?

Sandy

alan doyle · May 18, 2009

if your rich and you love her and you want the best then the nikon 35ti or 28ti,with matrix metering. or the smallest most expensive compact ever minolta tc1.
the konica hexar af is lovely but as big as a leica.

not as good but cheap as chips is the Olympus MJU zoom cameras, i picked one up recently for 10 dollars..
a dealer on ebay usa has 10 of these Nikon Lite Touch Zoom 120 35mm Film Camera, at 19 us dollars crazy cheap price.

darinwc · May 18, 2009

Darn and I was just going upload a pic to brag about the oly..
Heck ill do it anyway.

darinwc · May 18, 2009

One downside on the compact superzooms is that the lenses are pretty slow.. that means at the long end you are looking at f8-f11 usually, and the flashes are pretty weak. So even in bright daylight you suffer the risk of camera shake and blurry subjects in motion. Indoors or in low light... forget using it beyond about 15 feet.

So I myself would not reccomend a zoom beyond about 70-80mm, but at these prices its no big loss. Just make sure to do a test roll with various situations so you know the cameras limitations...

As far as cameras, the oly zooms are OK, but I've read that the nikons and minoltas have better zooms because of the use of ed glass or asherical elements.
BTW.. that seller actually has a couple of different nikons for sale... if they are brand new then it sounds like a good deal!

apconan · May 18, 2009

The Olympus Stylus Epic/Muji is available for very cheap. Almost picked one up locally for $30.
If your budget is higher, the Nikon 35ti has arguably the best lens of any of these point and shoots.
The Contax T2 and Yashica T4 are brilliant as well.

mcgrattan · May 18, 2009

The Rollei AFM35 or Fuji Klasse is also worth a look. I have the Mju II and the Rollei and would choose the Rollei every time on image quality and features.

The Rollei has program mode and aperture priority and also has the option of manually focusing, so if you want to zone focus or pre-focus you can. It has a 38mm tessar derived lens with an aspherical element which some photo magazine claimed was the best prime lens they'd ever tested on a compact.

That said, the Olympus is really compact and, in the right situations, can produce excellent results.

sanking · May 18, 2009

I looked for a Rollei Prego 80 but none were on ebay right now.

I found a Nikon Lite Touch 70 for $35, including shipping, Buy it Now, and decided to go with that for now.

I now remember that the camera my wife lost was a Pentax IQ Zoom, 30-90 as I recall.

Sandy

Ektagraphic · May 18, 2009

All of the Canon Sureshots are awesome.

mikebarger · May 18, 2009

Sandy

My in laws have one of the the lite touch 70's, nice little camera.

Mike

aparat · May 18, 2009

Rollei AFM35, simply amazing in every way. Great lens, great exposure, flexible manual options (e.g., manual focus, exposure bracketing). It's fast to focus, fast to shoot. No zoom, though.

Anscojohn · May 18, 2009

sanking said:
Thanks for the suggestions.

I am familiar with some of the fixed lens cameras, even own one of the fixed lens Olympus Stylus models, but there was a zoom on my wife's lost camera and I am certain that she would want that feature again.

So I guess the question should be, what is the best late model point and shoot with a lens in the 30-70 or 30-135 range?

Sandy

*****
What will you take for the Ollie Stylus?

sanking · May 18, 2009

My mistake. What I have is not an Olympus Stylus but an older Infinity with a Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 lens. One of the older AF cameras I believe.

Sandy

Anscojohn said:
*****
What will you take for the Ollie Stylus?

IloveTLRs · May 18, 2009

In my experience the Nikon 35Ti, Contax T2, Fuji Tiara and Olympus XA series have been excellent performers. They do not have zoom, unfortunately.

I have a Fuji Tiara Zoom, which is slightly slow (f4.5@28mm to f7.5@56mm) and noisy, but takes very nice photos- it has a Fujinon EBC lens.
Another zoom P&S I had was the Contax TVS. It had a very nice Carl Ziess Vario-Sonnar lens: f3.5@28mm to f5.6@56mm zoom and was very quiet. Last summer I had superb results with Velvia 50. Unforunately mine developed auto-focus problems and the viewfinder was dim.

elekm · May 18, 2009

The Rollei Prego 70 is a nice little P&S. I've used one of these off and on for several years. It has a 2x zoom -- 35mm-70mm. Sharp lens, small boxy body. Good camera.

My wife had an Olympus P&S. A very sharp lens but a horrible viewfinder -- among the worst that I've had the misfortune to use.

Years ago, my wife had a Canon Snappy something with a fixed-focus lens. It was a piece of junk.

The Rollei AFM 35 is an excellent camera although overpriced for what it is (advanced P&S). It's not as costly as the Rollei QZ cameras, which are large cameras with full autoexposure, aperture- or shutter-priority autoexposure or full manual with shutter speeds running from 16 seconds to 1/8,000 (that's right: 1/8,000).

When it comes to high end, Leica had a number of P&S cameras, as did Kyocera under the Contax name.

Anscojohn · May 18, 2009

sanking said:
I looked for a Rollei Prego 80 but none were on ebay right now.

I found a Nikon Lite Touch 70 for $35, including shipping, Buy it Now, and decided to go with that for now.

I now remember that the camera my wife lost was a Pentax IQ Zoom, 30-90 as I recall.

Sandy

*******
If you look at a picture of the Rollei Prego zooms, and look at pictures of the same-era Samsungs with the same specs, you should see they are identical. FWIW.

mcgrattan · May 19, 2009

The Rollei AFM 35 is an excellent camera although overpriced for what it is (advanced P&S).

Actually, I got mine pretty cheap 2nd hand: for about 20% of what I'd have paid for a Contax T2 or T3. Less even than I'd have paid for a Yashica T4.

Removed Account · May 19, 2009

I have an Olympus Stylus 120 camera with 38-120mm zoom and ED, resumably extra-low dispersion, lens. I haven't used it that much since I bought it but I've been really impressed with the image quality off it. I do second the tendency towards red-eye though but a good lab, even 1 hour, should correct that for you. We do where I work!

benjiboy · May 19, 2009

Anscojohn said:
*******
If you look at a picture of the Rollei Prego zooms, and look at pictures of the same-era Samsungs with the same specs, you should see they are identical. FWIW.

They were probably made in the same factory John, It's what's called "label engineering" It's so they can sell the product with the most prestigious name at a higher price.

Advice on High Quality Point and Shoot 35mm

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