Unsung Point and shoots with extra features.

[TonyB65]

Maybe change the title to NON-SLR point and shoot.

I made the mistake of thinking no-one would seriously consider an SLR a "point and shoot"

 

[Cholentpot]

I used an Olympus Stylus 120 over the summer and was am pretty pleased with the results. I'm not a fan of the lag between shutter press and photo. You press button and it feels like nothing happens. The negatives show that the shutter is tripped right away but it doesn't feel like it at the time. Takes getting used to I guess.

 

[wjlapier]

Looks cool, I like the range, but is it APS?

It's 35mm film.

 

[TonyB65]

It's 35mm film.

Thanks, that's handy to know if I ever spot one.

 

[wjlapier]

I made the mistake of thinking no-one would seriously consider an SLR a "point and shoot"

A discussion on RFF about using old RFer's as a P&S--someone adds they use a Nikon F6--hahaha...

 

[TonyB65]

A discussion on RFF about using old RFer's as a P&S--someone adds they use a Nikon F6--hahaha...

The definition is becoming so broad you could justify any camera as one, maybe my Pentax 67 qualifies?

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

The definition is becoming so broad you could justify any camera as one, maybe my Pentax 67 qualifies?

Compared to my Canham 14x17, my RZ67 is a point-n-shoot. It's all relative.

 

[LolaColor]

So I've been enjoying my 280p for all the reasons given above.

However, there's a fly in the ointment. The shutter button on my copy needs a really hard press to fire. So hard that sometimes I'm concentrating more on trying to press the damn thing than composing the image.

I wonder is there any repair I could do to help this, or should I just pick up another copy?

 

[George Mann]

I have this one: the Pentax IQZoom 928. 28-90mm, a decent auto-focus, and good exposures.

Mine is from the same series (IQZoom 120), but with a 38-120mm lens (9 elements in 7 groups), and it is loaded with a wealth of useful features.

 

[blockend]

80s and 90s point and shoots are under-appreciated with the exception of a few names that go for absurd prices. There are some crazy ones out there, I own about 50 at a guess. There's one with a detachable remote, a twin lens model (wide and tele), the Espio 200 (200mm compact!), all kinds of weird stuff designed to entice the casual amateur. Most are unrepairable if anything breaks, so better to pay £5 than £500. Fun items that take surprisingly good photographs in many cases.

Thoughts from the 35MMC site: https://www.35mmc.com/22/01/2019/th...ack-of-cash-on-a-film-camera-read-this-first/

 

[TonyB65]

So I've been enjoying my 280p for all the reasons given above.

However, there's a fly in the ointment. The shutter button on my copy needs a really hard press to fire. So hard that sometimes I'm concentrating more on trying to press the damn thing than composing the image.

I wonder is there any repair I could do to help this, or should I just pick up another copy?

Probably easiest to get another to be honest. if you can.

 

[TonyB65]

Compared to my Canham 14x17, my RZ67 is a point-n-shoot. It's all relative.

Not really...

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Not really...

I can pre-focus the RZ, set it for Sunny 16, and whang away with it handheld and produce acceptable results. None of the above are true with the 14x17. It takes a good 15 minutes to set up a single shot. Heck, it takes at least 10 of those just to set up the camera! So yes, the RZ is by comparison, a point-n-shoot. Especially if you have the meter prism that lets you shoot aperture preferred.

 

[TonyB65]

I can pre-focus the RZ, set it for Sunny 16, and whang away with it handheld and produce acceptable results. None of the above are true with the 14x17. It takes a good 15 minutes to set up a single shot. Heck, it takes at least 10 of those just to set up the camera! So yes, the RZ is by comparison, a point-n-shoot. Especially if you have the meter prism that lets you shoot aperture preferred.

It's not exactly ticking the boxes as a coat pocketable compact camera with automatic and manual features is it, if you don't understand that I'm not sure what to say.

 

[freecitizen]

My Contax TVS has a Zeiss 28 - 56 / 3.5 - 6.5 Vario Sonnar zoom lens, flash, AF and MF, self timer and is smaller and much lighter than a screw mount Leica. Takes very sharp pictures.

 

[Deleted member 88956]

Small, flat shaped so slips in a pocket with ease every time ... and does snap photography justice.

 

[AndroclesC]

I also have a pretty unique Pentax point & shoot camera, the IQZoom 60R. I'm not really sure when it was produced (early 90s, I'm guessing), but it has a 35-60mm lens. It also has a Bulb setting as well as multiple exposure, and two interval settings for both 3-minute intervals or 60-minute intervals. It will shoot at 1.3fps and it has a dual self-timer that will a shot at a selected focal length and the second shot at the wide-angle position of 35mm. It's pretty compact but very hard to find. I found mine at a Goodwill store, but I'd like to find another one as a back-up. What a versatile compact camera!

 

[AndroclesC]

80s and 90s point and shoots are under-appreciated with the exception of a few names that go for absurd prices. There are some crazy ones out there, I own about 50 at a guess. There's one with a detachable remote, a twin lens model (wide and tele), the Espio 200 (200mm compact!), all kinds of weird stuff designed to entice the casual amateur. Most are unrepairable if anything breaks, so better to pay £5 than £500. Fun items that take surprisingly good photographs in many cases.

Thoughts from the 35MMC site: https://www.35mmc.com/22/01/2019/th...ack-of-cash-on-a-film-camera-read-this-first/

Thank you for this link, as it asks some very pertinent questions. It's amazing to me how much some of the point and shoot cameras have increased in price, such as the Nikon L35AF, for example. I had two of them that I purchased at Goodwill for $4.99 each, but they now sell for as much as $150.00! Or the Olympus Stylus Epic...those used to be plentiful at Goodwill for the same $3.99-$5.00 price tag, but now they're upwards of $150.00, even as much as $250! There is always the risk that they will malfunction at any given time and at those prices, you're screwed. As you said, there are a lot of under-appreciated p&s cameras out there, the Pentax IQZoom 60R that I mentioned earlier being one of them (with its features that you usually find only on SLRs), and it's really kind of exciting to discover some of these cameras that I've taken for granted for so long. I just purchased a Pentax Espio 35-70mm Macro, which I think is the follow-on camera to the IQZoom 60R. It'll be fun to see how it stacks up. I'd be interested to know which ones stand out the most in your experience.

Andy

 

[blockend]

I had two of them that I purchased at Goodwill for $4.99 each, but they now sell for as much as $150.00!

Absolutely. I bought a box of 25 point and shoot film cameras from eBay just a few years ago for £5. 24 of them worked, including a number of quality fixed lens models from Olympus, Canon, Nikon, etc. The cameras were from a charity shop who couldn't give them away. More recently I won a box of 4 for £15, including the excellent XA3, probably my favourite P&S. The price hike in regular compacts is a recent phenomenon, perhaps the last 18 months, but prices are only going one way.

I stay clear of long range zoom compacts, they're too optically compromised but fine as collectors items. Some short range zooms are the equal or better of fixed lens cameras. Later models had much better autofocus than 1980s varieties. I also avoid cameras with expensive double cell batteries. Don't overlook fixed focus, 3-element or plastic lens cameras, they're not all bad. If it's cheap enough buy it and try it.

This site includes reviews of compact film cameras: https://austerityphoto.co.uk/

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

It's not exactly ticking the boxes as a coat pocketable compact camera with automatic and manual features is it, if you don't understand that I'm not sure what to say.

I said it was RELATIVELY SPEAKING a point-n-shoot COMPARED TO MY 14x17. I did not say it was a Ricoh GR-1.

 

[AndroclesC]

Absolutely. I bought a box of 25 point and shoot film cameras from eBay just a few years ago for £5. 24 of them worked, including a number of quality fixed lens models from Olympus, Canon, Nikon, etc. The cameras were from a charity shop who couldn't give them away. More recently I won a box of 4 for £15, including the excellent XA3, probably my favourite P&S. The price hike in regular compacts is a recent phenomenon, perhaps the last 18 months, but prices are only going one way.

I stay clear of long range zoom compacts, they're too optically compromised but fine as collectors items. Some short range zooms are the equal or better of fixed lens cameras. Later models had much better autofocus than 1980s varieties. I also avoid cameras with expensive double cell batteries. Don't overlook fixed focus, 3-element or plastic lens cameras, they're not all bad. If it's cheap enough buy it and try it.

This site includes reviews of compact film cameras: https://austerityphoto.co.uk/

Thanks for the info and for the link...that's a cool site!

Andy

 

[ME Super]

If ic-racer can put in the Nikon F75 SLR, then I've got some possibilities for an unsung "P&S" with extra features.

1. A Pentax ME or ME Super with the 40mm pancake lens is about as pocketable an SLR as you're going to find. Set the camera on its only automatic mode, which is Aperture priority. Set the lens at f/16 and the hyperfocal distance of roughly 11 feet. Everything between 5.5 feet and infinity will be covered by the depth of field of the lens. In auto mode at this point it's basically a fixed focus P&S camera (OK, with a bit of added bulk, I'll give ya that) but you can take back all of that automation and go full manual and only carry one camera instead of two.
2. Any 35mm SLR with full auto mode, with a 28mm lens set at f/8 and the hyperfocal distance of 10 feet. Everything from 5 feet to infinity is covered by the depth of field of the lens, with the same benefits as using a Pentax ME or ME Super as a P&S. You might have a bit more bulk than the ME or ME Super though, since these two SLRs are known for their relatively diminutive size.
3. The piece de resistance of the collection, with its ability to take two photos at once, suitable for viewing with a stereo projector, Holmes stereoscope, or Owl stereoscope (designed by Dr. Brian May, who has his Ph.D in astrophysics and is the lead guitarist of Queen): The Stereo Realist. With its twin 35mm lenses, you can set focus at 8 feet and aperture at f/16. You get everything from 4 feet to infinity covered by the depth of field of the lens. It's not quite P&S as there's no manual mode, nor is there a light meter, so you'll have to meter and set your shutter speed before you cock the shutter (yeah, cocking the shutter is manual!), and there's no double-exposure prevention, at least on the one I have, but the feature you have with this one is the ability to make stereo slides (if shooting slide film) or stereo cards. Virtual Reality 1.0! You get 28 or 29 stereo pairs on a 36 exposure roll.
4. The Nimslo 3d: It's the only true P&S of the bunch, with full automatic mode and shutter speeds ranging from 1/30 to 1/500 second and depth of field covering 6 feet to infinity, and it's extra feature is that it takes four photos from four slightly different angles, all at the same time. It uses 2 35mm frames to do this, so you get 18 sets of four half-frame shots on a roll of 36. Take the first and last frame of each set and use those to make your stereo card, or just take any one of the four frames per shot to get a 2d photograph.

I find I enjoy stereo photography quite a bit, although preparing the digital files for printing my stereo cards (yeah, I use a hybrid process, although you could just make prints in your darkroom if you have one and mount them on cards yourself) is a bit of work. It adds a whole new dimension (pun intended!) to my photography.