Halina 3000

[david baugh]

Here's my review of a real budget camera the Halina 3000, it feels plasticky but is easy to use with its uncoupled Selenium cell light meter and reasonable lens. I've also included some sample images.
If you don't want to listen to me rambling on then you can skip to the images at 6:53
If you want to see some of my other old cameras which I'll be reviewing then skip to 7:36

 

[foc]

Thanks for posting.
I remember this camera well.
I sold loads of them and their non-light meter cousin the Halina 2000 in the late 1970s.
Yes they were plasticky and budget but they filled a market need.

 

[david baugh]

I quite enjoy using it, I find the focusing needs getting used to.

I have a Halina 6-4 in mint condition that I'm looking forward to using.

 

[4season]

I got a Paulette Electric, but Halina-branded cameras in general don't seem to be very common in the USA. I'm guessing that a fixed USA-Japan currency exchange rate made it hard to compete against the likes of Olympus Trip 35.

 

[Agulliver]

I inherited a Halina 6-4 some 27 years ago, and have used it....it's a fair performer like most Halinas....it could have been more but they filled a market for cameras that looked sophisticated but were a couple of rungs lower than the big brands. The fun thing with the 6-4 is the ability to choose 6x6 or 4x4 on 120 film.

I'm actually rather fond of the Halina 35X.....there are still plenty about at £10 or under, it looks a bit like a Leica and it has enough settings to take photos in most conditions....the triplet lens is emphatically not the sharpest but it's OK, and at f8 or f16 is surprisingly sharp. I have three, two inherited 15 years ago and one a gift 10 years ago.

Halina was a Hong Kong brand, indeed 50s and 60s examples are sometimes stamped "Empire Made" on the base. The brand name may still exist, but the manufacturing facility in HK is long gone.

 

[blockend]

Halina were made by Haking Camera Co of Hong Kong. They were probably the cheapest and simplest 35mm cameras of their era, before the advent of point and shoot cameras, which Halina also produced. While never aspiring to optical quality, Halina cameras were responsible for millions of family snapshots and deserve their place in camera history.