Am I weird? I like the results 35mm point-and-shoot's get.

[Theo Sulphate]

The 117 year old Kodak Brownie has to be the quintessential P&S, although not 35mm.

 

[Bill Burk]

A Canonet QL17 GIII might satisfy that

 

[George Mann]

Between the often dismal lenses, and iffy metering that is only suitable for negative film, they are a bit hard to live with!

 

[CMoore]

I had a Canon AE-1 and then (only used it a few years) the AE-1P.
They, kind of, just sat in a bag from about 1986 to 1996...They got old and probably needed a service. In '96 i was a Single Parent with a 9 Year Old Son, and did not want to "hassle" with my SLR, so i bought a Canon Sure Shot. That little guy worked famously for all my trips the kid and i went on. I took hundreds of photos with it. I was looking at a couple of rolls of Black and White i shot in Elko Nevada in about 1998....Must have been Kodak Plus-X...and they look damn good.
I think some of us lose sight of why 90% of the people, with a "camera", are using it to begin with. It is just a tool to capture and save events in their lives. Nobody cares about Dynamic Range or Sharpness. They just want to hold and look at a post card sized "thing" that is a reasonable representation of what they remember happening.

 

[TheRook]

Honestly, one of my favorite cameras will always be an minolta AF2.... amazingly sharp 40mm lens. It gets the job done, its pocketable, its fun. I would love to find a camera the same size with an M on the Dial.

Pocketable? You need a really big pants pocket to fit that camera!
Anyway, Minolta's automatic cameras are quite good. I have several, and they are all easy and comfortable to use, and also very reliable. They were built to last. And from my experience, the results from Minoltas are fairly predictable, which is exactly what one would want from an automatic camera.

 

[Sirius Glass]

If you are happy with a point and shoot camera, enjoy it. Who cares what others think if you are happy.

 

[voceumana]

My frustration with P&S cameras is that they don't take the picture when you "press the button"--sometimes they are a little slow to focus and decide if there is enough light. Dang it all, I'm supposed to be in control!

But I don't mind simple cameras--they have a place. But I want control of the "decisive moment".

 

[Cholentpot]

I just picked up my Olympus IS-300 that was discarded my mother. I let it gather dust for a few years since I last shot it. It's a joy to use and now that I know what all the buttons and dials do it's really not lacking much other than shutter speed control. There's really nothing like blasting through a roll without thinking much.

 

[ac12]

The 117 year old Kodak Brownie has to be the quintessential P&S, although not 35mm.

I got to find me one of those.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I love my Olympus XA. Sharp lens, compact size and solidly built.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

I got to find me one of those.

There are many box Brownie type cameras available. Try you local Goodwill or thrift store. They are usually priced at five to ten dollars.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

I got to find me one of those.

The Brownie No.2 was introduced in 1901 and takes common 120-format film. It also offers some controls.

http://www.brownie-camera.com/53.shtml

 

[Jonnysound]

I like the creepy effect you can create with some cheap cameras, most seems good though.

 

[Cholentpot]

The Brownie No.2 was introduced in 1901 and takes common 120-format film. It also offers some controls.

http://www.brownie-camera.com/53.shtml

Still use mine. It has aperture controls and B mode. Pull the tabs and guess. Silly fun lil' camera.

 

[MattKing]

The only problem with the Brownie No. 2 is that you may not be able to see the numbers for the frames if you are using certain Kodak films.
How dare Kodak change anything in 117 years?
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[TerryMcC]

I've had great experiences with the Olympus Trip. Sharp pictures well exposed. Great for an everyday camera to just grab and click, gets those shots that would be gone with a "proper" camera.

 

[klownshed]

Photos I take with a P&S 35mm camera indoors with flash (Olympus AF-10) on crappyish colour film (AgfaVista 200) look just like family photos from the 80s.

 

[ME Super]

You want a Point-and-shoot style SLR? Great. Get yourself a camera capable of aperture priority exposure and a 28mm lens. Set it on aperture priority, set the lens at f/16, and the focus at 10 feet. You'll get everything from 5 feet to infinity in acceptably sharp focus. No focus delays either - just frame and shoot on a sunny day.

I've done the same thing with my 120 TLR, which doesn't have an interchangeable lens. I set the lens at the hyperfocal distance for f/16, the aperture gets set at f/16, and I vary the shutter speed according to f/16 rules. No focus, just point, cock the shutter, shoot, advance to the next frame.

Admittedly, this doesn't work so well indoors, since there's not as much light; so if I really want point-and-shoot (with moderate focus delay), I basically do the same thing except I pick a wider aperture and let the camera do the focusing. I've even done it with the TLR loaded with Portra 800 indoors. Set the lens wide open, shutter speed at 1/25 second, focus, cock the shutter and shoot, advance to the next frame, and let the latitude of Portra sort the rest out.

 

[blockend]

My frustration with P&S cameras is that they don't take the picture when you "press the button"--sometimes they are a little slow to focus and decide if there is enough light. Dang it all, I'm supposed to be in control!

But I don't mind simple cameras--they have a place. But I want control of the "decisive moment".

I agree, the whole point of a compact camera is you can capture a fleeting instant. If it takes time to fire up (most digital compacts), or fusses over focus (film and digital compacts) or locks up because it decides there's insufficient light, that moment is long gone. That's why I prefer symbol or zone focus cameras, or even a fixed lens "no focus" point and shoot which works well in daylight. You can always tweak development if the light is too low but you can't re-create a missed shot.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

The only problem with the Brownie No. 2 is that you may not be able to see the numbers for the frames if you are using certain Kodak films.
How dare Kodak change anything in 117 years?
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Surprising that within the first 50 years of 120 size film that no standard existed (?) as to where the numbers will be on the paper for the different formats (6x6, 6x7, 6x9, etc.). That would've dictated where the window goes. Or even have a standard for where the window can be and have that dictate where the numbers go. Either way, at least there should've been a standard. Dumb!

 

[rpavich]

Well..old thread but I wanted to chime in and say that after all this time, I've settled on the Oly Trip 35. It's a perfect fit for me.

Zone focus, auto exposure, I love it.

I also have a Nikon Fm2n and love that but the camera I shove in my pocket every day when I leave the house is the Trip.