I need a pocket camera

[Frank Nesbitt]

Pocket camera

Here's a vote for the rarely seen Rollei Prego Micron.

Has a very, very sharp 30 mm Schneider lens with auto focus that retracts into the body, doors then close over it for protection. Super thin camera, for which Rollei was very proud in their flyers twenty years ago.

Not many made, I think, because a zoom lens model quickly followed and then the digital tidal wave rolled in soon after that.

But it's a favorite of mine with a surprisingly accurate auto meter system and a little automatic flash somehow built in as well. It's only 4 1/2 inches long, barely taller than a 35mm film cassette. It truly fits in a shirt pocket and lives in a glove compartment. I go everywhere with it, Tri-X inside.

Frank

 

[mjs]

I'm one of those who bought a camera from Rosey not long ago. My Konica Big Mini looks absolutely new and works perfectly. An Olympus Stylus might have been a tad bit smaller in size but the Konica is great for my needs and the lens is absolutely first rate -- just outstanding.

Rosey's a nice fellow to work with and the transaction was perfect.

Mike

 

[Pumal]

I have an Olympus Stylus Epic and a Ricoh 500 GX. Both small. Epic smaller and very sharp. Ricoh a little bigger and sharper.

 

[darinwc]

Rick - sounds like you picked up a olympus stylus.. is it the one with the 35mm f3.5 lens? Very nice camera. You will be happy with it.

 

[Pumal]

Stylus Epic f:2.8

 

[jimgalli]

Yashica T4 has a bit of a cult following because of it's superb Zeiss Tessar f2.8 optic. Check completed listings on Ebay. I have one to sell, contact me off line if interested. My wife used it very little and it will likely never get used again unless it has a new owner.

 

[viridari]

Olympus Stylus comes to mind. If you can find one with the fixed lens I think you will find the results totally acceptable. I had the 3.5 and it was great. The older XA allows you control of shutter speed vial f.stop selection.

FWIW, I have the Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 80 and I'm not fond of it at all. The lens on it is prone to awful flaring around the corners of the image. Would like to replace it with something the same size.

 

[Denis K]

I used an Olympus Stylus Epic when I hiked the AT and PCT and loved the camera where I was limited by size and weight. The 35 mm F2.8 lens was fairly good for a P&S and it took good pictures. It also had a built in flash which worked well as a fill flash for when you have a few friends you want a record of. It used a 123 lithum battery which worked out well for the camera and flash. Mine was the fixed lens version which was OK with me as I've never owned a zoom. The one downside for you would be the front lens cover which slides off the lens and turns the camera on when opening. It worked fine for me, but I carried it in my pack. If you carry it in your jacket pocket it might have a tendency to open up (turn on) as you slide it into your pocket. Asside from that, I could recommend the Stylus if you really want a P&S camera that uses film. Back in the all film days, Olympus was always a favorite in the distance hiking community as they had a reputation of being light and small and yet bringing you back a picture under some adverse conditions.

Denis K

 

[naugastyle]

FWIW, I have the Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 80 and I'm not fond of it at all. The lens on it is prone to awful flaring around the corners of the image. Would like to replace it with something the same size.

It's gotta be the fixed-lens version...the zoom doesn't have the same rabid following at all.

As much as I love my Trip 35 and have been taking it everywhere lately, I admit it's not pocketable. The Stylus Epic is SO light, and the clamshell is awesome. Very versatile. I've gotten flares before but rare enough that those times stand out.

 

[removed-user-1]

Another vote for the Olympus Stylus Epic. I took one on a one-month cross-country train trip, the only camera I carried, along with a single backpack, from Charlotte, DC, Chicago, Portland, Seattle, and back. I got some great shots! The Epic was "splash proof" but not an underwater camera. I don't think they are in production but you can probably still find them new if you look around.

Also a possibility: the original Nikon "Lite Touch" which was about the size of a cigarette pack and had a pretty sharp 28mm f/3.5. It's definitely out of production and I haven't seen one in a long time.

 

[keithwms]

XA!!!! So many times I took it with me just in case, it's the camera everybody should have on them. I much prefer the original to the other, later model XAs, but I can get by with the XA2.

 

[jeffreyg]

I have a little Contax G5 (I'm not near the camera and think that is the model #) It has a fixed lens and can be used auto or manually. You can auto focus or manual focus as well. They are probably no longer made and I would think you can find a previously used one at a good price. It will fit in a pocket.

 

[BenZucker]

Here in the US, I received a Stylus Epics for a present a few years ago. Alas, despite the all-black version with no date function being my preference, I received the gold, date model. So I put the black one on my B&H wish list where it sat for years, until last Summer when I finally decided to go ahead and buy it. I was amazed. It shipped the next day. When I looked at my wishlist it said either out of stock or discontinued, so I believe I got the very last one. It sits in a box, unused, for the day my other one dies.

Super little cameras.

You can always get creative with a little tape and spray paint and make it any color you want..... I second the Stylus Epic recommendation, I almost always have this camera with me....Great little lens its got on it.

 

[perkeleellinen]

You can always get creative with a little tape and spray paint and make it any color you want.....

I've done this twice. First time a deep red colour painted on using those enamel paints that modellers use. The 2nd was a lighter red spayed on but that one started to chip off.

 

[jeffreyg]

My error before it is the Contax TVS series - sorry.

 

[EASmithV]

I took a Rollei 35 with me to Philmont (the original style one, made in Germany), backpacking in the New Mexico Sangre de Criste range in the Rockies. At times it sat at the bottom of a 45 lb backpack, and got rained on, beat around etc. The slides I shot with it came out beautiful. The Zeiss Tessar is very sharp, The meter is great, and the focus is accurate because I put a calibrated scale on the back, and use my eyes as a rangefinder.

It's more rugged than it looks, and gives great images, If you can stand the guess-focus/uncalibrated rangefinder. Highly reccomended.

 

[timk]

I take my XA everywhere!

 

[removed account4]

yashica t4 without the dateback
probably the best p/s camera you will ever find.
we used ours so much that the focusing system stopped
working. we got a oly stylus as a replacement, which is nice,
and we got it for like 20$ NIB and shipped, but it didn't
really compare to the t4 ...

 

[Anscojohn]

I have a Rollei Prego AF with the 3.5 35mm Rolleinar lens. It's a four element, four group lens and cuts a sharp enough image for my tastes. I bought it to replace a stolen Yashica T4.

 

[Steve Roberts]

The Olympus Stylus/mjuII is unbelievably small and light for a full frame 35mm camera. I have the fixed focal length version which is a very capable lens. A niggle with it, as has been mentioned, is the hassle of having to keep turning off the flash, which it seems to like to use at every opportunity. That I can live with, but what is more of a problem are the light leaks that some of these seem prone to. A web search with throw up quite a few comments on this issue, mainly relating to light creeping in around the lens barrel(s) of the zoom version but mine lets light in where the seal is very thin near the eyepiece. This results in a smear than can intrude beyond the film edge into the picture area. I've tried extra light-proofing to no avail. I have a wide selection of P & Ss, thanks to thrift/charity shops and none is the perfect answer to the problem. The closest is probably the Konica Lexio 70W, which has a 28 - 70mm zoom lens, has many features, is small and has clamshell construction. The failing of mine was that the shell-operated on/off switch packed up, though I was able to cure the problem.

Steve