Half frame camera

I've got a Diana Mini, and despite being over priced, it takes decent half frame photos. I think I like it more than the full-sized Diana.

I have a Fujica Half, bought off eBay. I love it to pieces. From my research it seems quite similar to the Pen D in features, but much cheaper (although I will say it wasn't CHEAP--about $70 including shipping). Reasonable manual controls. Lens is sharp. Thus far I've only used it with high-speed film (thus the need for manual control) but I have confidence in the meter for auto-exposure.

Lots of fun! I need to get a half frame camera! Freestyle sells some now. They look kind of interesting. They even have a hot shoe!

Ektagraphic said:

Lots of fun! I need to get a half frame camera! Freestyle sells some now. They look kind of interesting. They even have a hot shoe!

Click to expand...

Yeah they have both the Golden Half and the Diana Mini now.

I'm not particularly snobby about the plastic cams--not my thing, but have at it--but I just wanted to say that my Fujica Half was essentially the same price as the Diana Mini or Golden Half once you add in shipping from Freestyle. It has a hotshoe, it's all metal, doesn't need batteries, shutter options B, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/300, apertures f/2.8 - 22, focuses from 2ft - infinity, and the lens is quite sharp. Auto exposure up to 200, which I haven't tried yet, as I can of course guesstimate to use whatever ISO film I want.

All reasons why a half-frame shouldn't necessarily be considered a toy!

My Dad used to own (probably still does) a Welta Penti. This was an East German half frame camera that used fast load 35mm cassettes. This was a pretty daft idea where film was coiled up in one cassette and pushed out of this and into another when you advanced the film. Not sure what the advantage was supposed to be, but the disadvantage was that the film strip was pretty short, so the camera only took 24 exposures, even half frame. The cassettes were discontinued many years ago so you have to load your own which is a minor nuiscance...

The good points were that it was very pocketable, the humble Meyer Trioplan was much sharper than it's name or design might suggest and it was a fully manual camera with a decent range of shutter speeds and apertures. The film was advanced by pushing in a metal rod with one finger. When the shutter was fired, it popped out again. Shots could be fired off very quickly, almost like a motor wind

Would be a nice buy if one pops up on ebargumbay.