Fujica Half

It is a stylish little camera

Half frame cameras are having a moment right now. The attraction of getting twice as many shots on your roll of 35mm film is hard to ignore. Pentax have recently launched a new half-frame camera and there are also cheaper (although rather expensive for what they are) half frame offerings out there too.

The Fujica Half dates from 1963. It is a quality lump of metal that looks the part and unlike the new cameras you can buy today it has shiny metal and proper heft. It is quite easy to use. You set the film speed on the back and it sorts out exposure (rather well in my experience) but you have to do the focusing yourself, adjusting the lens to the right distance. The film advance uses a neat little lever.

No batteries are required. The exposure meter uses a light powered selenium cell which lasts for ever, or until it breaks. If the camera has been kept in its case the cell will probably be OK, if not you can set everything manually which is a bit more of a faff, but not a stopper. The viewfinder is nice and bright, and it shows the shutter and aperture settings selected by the camera along with marks that help you frame close up subjects. You can use a flash with it, but you’ll have to plug it into the socket on the front and then set the aperture by hand. The frame counter is hidden on the bottom of the camera. It goes all the way up to 72 shots, which is what you would get from a 36 exposure film.

The camera takes pictures in portrait mode. If you have a film processed you’ll get two images per frame, which is rather nice. The lens is lovely and sharp and I really like the pictures it turns out.

These are two of the first pictures I took with the camera

The Exposure meter coped well with low light. I need to work on holding the camera straight,

I had to tip the camera on its side to take these pictures

The lens doesn’t flare too much

If you are thinking of getting into film photography you could do a lot worse than pick up one of these. And if you are already into photography it’s a nice thing to have around - and you can use the camera in full manual mode and set the shutter and aperture yourself if you want to get creative.

They seem to be nudging up in price at the moment (at least in terms of what folks are asking for them on ebay). If you see a tidy one with a working meter for less than the price of a video game I think it would be worth a punt.

Minolta Vectis-S1

The Minolta Vectis S-1 camera is not particularly pretty. But it is pretty cheap. I picked up the example above for less than ten pounds. It is cheap for two reasons:

1. It uses a type of film which is no longer made.

2. It probably won’t work when you get it.

The camera uses Advanced Photo System film which was launched in the 1990’s and abandoned in 2011. But this is not a huge problem, you can still get film cassettes for it, albeit ones which will be at least 13 years old. The system uses a very complicated film loading mechanism containing many whirring and clicking parts. The first example of this camera I got made a few unhappy sounds too, followed by total lockup. But the sample above was made of sterner stuff and seems to be able to load film and take photos OK. I got hold of some film and took some shots.

I’ve not made the holders that go on top of the film yet.

The system was designed so that the film stayed in the cassette at all times. The processing and printing machinery was clever enough to get the film out of the cassette, print the shots you wanted and then wind it back in again. Of course I don’t have any of that machinery, so instead I designed a little holder which I can load up with film for the scanner. I then pulled the film out of the cassette and cut it into lengths for scanning.

The negatives are 16mm high with a “widescreen” aspect ratio

The results are pretty respectable for a twenty year old camera using fifteen year old film. Above is one of the more interesting ones. There is plenty of detail and the image is sharp enough . The shadows are very grainy though, probably because of the age of the film.

I’m not sure if I’d use this camera and film combination for any pictures that I really care about (although the auto-focus and exposure seem to work well). But it is fun to get out and play with.

More camera nostalgia

This blog might be turning into an old camera blog. Which is fine by me. Number one son has dug out my old Canon PowerShot G9 which I must have given him a while back.

If you are looking fora neat backdrop, I reckon this will do

This camera went with me to Egypt in 2009 and took a bunch of pictures, including the one above.

Another of my favourite pictures

We don’t have any batteries or a charger for the camera, but those are easy problems to solve. I’m looking forward to seeing how it stacks up against my more modern cameras.

Fuji FinePix S6500 Revisited

It still looks the part. And it has a ten times Zoom!

My nostalgic camera arrived today. It’s a FnePix S6500. I bought one in the early 2000’s when I was looking for a camera to take on trips. It worked very well, despite chunks of it dissolving when I accidentally got mosquito repellent on it. (I’ve no idea what the repellent did to my skin). I used it to take a bunch of pictures that I really liked, and then sold it (as you do) to fund another camera. I thought no more about it until I was going through my Flickr archives one afternoon and found a whole bunch of beautiful pictures I took when I was in Korea for the Imagine Cup in 2007. A quick ebay search revealed a nice copy, along with case, for twenty quids. So I bought it.

Another reason why I like this camera so much

The camera arrived today and I took it for a walk. It was a bit like going down memory lane.

My standard test shot looking good

It is only a six megapixel sensor (around half the resolution of a standard iPhone photograph). The zoom lens is impressive, but a bit soft when you zoom in and very hard to keep steady, what with there being no image stabilisation. Things get very muddy in poor lighting too. But it works a treat and the pictures look really nice with great colours. Just as I remember.

If you are looking for a camera that will produce more interesting pictures than your phone and look good around your neck, you should take a look. But if you do, remember that it uses funky Fuji memory cards, not standard SD ones. The camera I bought came with one already installed, which was nice. Otherwise you’ll have to track some down. Batteries aren’t a problem though, the camera uses four standard AA sized ones.

Chasing Memories of Korea 2007

One of my favourite pictures

In 2007 I was lucky enough to get to go to Korea as part of the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition. I took with me my favourite camera of the day and grabbed some snaps I was really pleased with, including the above. You can find all the pictures here. There are a lot of them. I was browsing ebay (as you do) and I happened upon the same camera that I used for these pictures on sale for a mere 20 quids. I’ve bought it. It will be interesting how it compares to the cameras of today.

Yet another camera

yes. I do need a haircut

Up early and over the Humber Bridge today to pick up another camera I seem to have bought. One of the factors driving the purchase was that I would be able to go down and pick up the camera from the seller, who turned out to be a splendid fellow. I planned to take a few pictures of the Humber Bridge on the way back but the weather had other ideas, so I had to resort to indoor shots to give the camera a workout. Including the traditional self portrait.

I also took a shelf portrait too……

Free Cameras

The chap in the Camera Shop in Beverley knows me quite well. I think I might be his pension plan. Anyhoo, he has now taken to keeping old cameras behind the counter that he thinks I might find interesting. And, even nicer, he hands them over for free. Today I was the happy recipient of three such cameras. Two of them were Kodak Brownies which are nice enough, but use 127 sized film which is no longer made. So they are useless for taking pictures.

The third camera was a different proposition though. It is a “Kodak Folding Hawkeye”. It has bellows in good condition, a clean lens, a shutter that clicks with encouraging noises and, best of all, it takes 120 roll film which is still sold today. At some point I’ll pop a film in it and see what it can do.

Even Brokener

the black thing at the bottom is a big capacitor for the flash.

We thought we’d have a look at one of my broken Nikon cameras today. The good news is that the back came off without too much hassle (once we found the screws behind the viewfinder surround). The bad news is that the picture above shows what you see next. The service manual now says you have to unsolder some of the ribbon cables and remove the rear circuit board. We are presently summoning up the courage to do this…

I buy broken cameras so you don't have to

What do you get if you buy a camera marked as broken? You get a broken camera. What do you get if you buy a camera marked as “tested and working - just needs new batteries”? You get a broken camera. My Nikon Pronea 6s has arrived and, although it looks lovely and makes all the right noises it also fails after I’ve taken a few shots. Oh well. I really like the look of the camera, and I like the idea of using old film. And the cameras are very cheap.

But my quest for a working one is going to have to continue…

West Yorkshire Cameras Closing

One of my highlights of a trip to Leeds was a visit to West Yorkshire Cameras. They started off in the Corn Market and then moved to a spiffy shop in the Grand Arcade. I’ve bought quite a few bits and bobs from them over the years and always been impressed by their knowledge and enthusiasm for analogue photography.

And now they are closing. You can read a detailed explanation on their website. Essentially they took a look into their crystal ball and decided that the long term omens were not great. The only tiny piece of good news is that their closing down sale looks like it will be awesome. They are applying progressively larger discounts over time, so you can buy something at a reduced price or wait for the next price drop and gamble that nobody else will make a move on it.

Tests shot with the new old camera…

I thank them for their service over the years, and I wish them all the best for the future. And yes, I did buy a camera from them - for old time’s sake….

Camera Reviews Coming

A good piece of advice to writers is “Write what you know”. This poses a problem for me because I ran out of things that I know to put in the blog around 10 years ago. So another piece of advice could be “Write what you like”. I like cameras, and I probably like writing about them. I plan to find out just how much by posting a regular camera review every Monday, starting next week. I’m going to work my way through my collection of classic old cameras with comments and sample photos. Should be fun. If it isn’t, I’ll stop doing it.

I did not buy this camera

This camera was a gift from the the chap at Beverley Camera Centre. He’s not sure it works, and one of the little covers has come unstuck and fallen inside. I’ve kind of stuck it back into place, dropped in some batteries and all the knobs and dials seem to work . So I’ll be popping a film in to see if it can take pictures.

I can’t seem to find out much about the Fujical GER other than it came out in 1972. I think it might be Fujifilm’s answer to the very successful Yashica Electro 35. I like the idea of a tiny rangefinder camera with a built-in light meter and so I’m hopeful that it will work.

I’ve been after a nice one of these for ages

Now I did buy this one. I’ve been after a clean Olympus Trip 35 for ages and one just happened to be on sale. This is a classic camera with an amazing battery free metering system and zone focusing. My Auntie Anne had one and took it all over the world recording her exploits. Her pictures were always sharp and well exposed. I hope the one it produces are too.

Bought yet another camera

I seem to be collecting half frame cameras. Rather than spend loads of money on a brand new one, I’m instead spending loads of money on lots of old ones. My latest purchase is a Fujica Half. I thought it also had the model designation “EXC” but this turned out to be how those folks at West Yorkshire Cameras describe camera condition.

They are right though. It really is in nice nick. I’ve popped a film in it and, what with this being a half-frame, I’ll discover how well it works after 72 or so shots.

Lomomatic 110 Camera with Purple Film

I’m not sure ifyou should buy a camera just becuase of its looks. But then again…

The Lomomatic 110 camera is the first completely new 110 film camera to be made for a while. Lomography (who specialise in interesting cameras) released it a little while back. It’s a rather expensive alternative to a cheap second hand 110 camera, but it does have a ton of style. It also has a proper electronic shutter and a glass lens with adjustable focus - which are not things you usually find on a 110 camera. Of course, I got my hands on one and loaded it up with Lomo Purple film. It’s a fun camera to use. You wind it on by opening and closing the body and you can also attach the cutest little flash gun to the side. It is very plasticy though and I found the shutter button a bit fiddly to press (best to use a fingernail and press it with that). The 110 film has tiny negatives, but I wasn’t too unhappy with the level of detail.

This is not how I remember Dalby forsest looking…

Should have held the camera horizontal

I think the camera shake adds a lot to this one…

The camera didn’t get the colours wrong, that’s down to the awesome film. But it did get the exposure and the focus mostly right. The only times things went wrong were when I forgot to adjust a setting. I took some pictures of people and they came out sharp and snappy, but with weird colours which added a lot to the atmosphere.

It’s a nice enough camera, very stylish and beautifully presented. I’m not sure I’d advise anyone other than a camera nerd to get one though. Probably better to pick up a cheap second-hand 110 camera if you want to try the format, or perhaps a Pentax Auto 110 (which is an awesome tiny SLR camera of which more later).

What I would advise you to do though is pick up some of the funky Lomographic 110 films. They are available at quite appealing prices in 110 format and you can get them developed at around the same cost as a 35mm film. I’m presently trying the “turquoise” film (which seems to turn people cyan). I’m looking forward to seeing the results.

Bought an Olympus Pen EES from Japan

Not bad for a fifty year old camera

It’s number one son’s fault. He told me about the Buyee site which lets you bid in Japanese auctions. I’ve been after an Olympus Pen EES (with manual focus) for a while and so I took a look. They had one on there priced at 27 quids. Very good condition and with a “working” exposure meter. So I bought it. The price is impressive for a camera like this; although I did have to pay another 27 quids for postage and packing.

The service is very good. The Japanese seller of the camera sends it to the Buyee warehouse in Japan where it can be stored for up to a month. If I bought any other bits and bobs they could have been sent there too and then all combined for shipping. As I was just buying the one camera I had it shipped out as soon as possible. It took four or five days to arrive and the whole process was very smooth. I’ve had orders from ebay which have taken longer. The order didn’t attract any import duty and I was able to use the Japan Post website to track the package all the way to being out for deliver by Royal Mail Parcelforce.

The camera arrived today and (of course) doesn’t quite work properly. The exposure meter isn’t working and the aperture is stuck at F22. But I don’t mind. It will take pictures (although I’ve yet to develop them). Even if I have to spend a few quids to get it fixed or brave going inside and fixing it myself I’ve still got a camera in extremely good condition. The site sells a huge variety of stuff, some of it at very interesting prices. I don’t think I’ll be buying things every week, but it is nice to have the option if I want to get something which is a bit out of the ordinary.

Enter Player 3...

you can get a Dial Lapel pin too

I’ve found a third Canon Dial 35 on sale in the UK. This one comes with the promise of a working mechanism and a faulty meter. Much excitement has ensued.

And, I’ve worked out why I like the camera so much. Unlike most cameras, the dial has its viewfinder on the left when viewed from the front. This means that when you put the camera to your eye, you are using your left eye. Which is really good news for me as my right eye really doesn’t do much.

I’m now back to waiting for the postman.

20 Camera Man

..all photographed with a phone…

It turns out I’ve not bought 19 broken cameras. I’ve actually received 20. I’ve tested each one and they are all broken. I’ve given them all names.

• Mr Sticky Shutter

• No Rewind Boy

• Just Dead

• Weird battery guy

• Stuckee

• The Battery Flattener

• The Dangly Back Kid

• Sir NoClick

• The one that winds forever

• The one with the stuck frame counter

• Flash but no trousers

• Missing buttons

• Shiny but bust

• Only clicks, never whirrs

• Nothing moves

• Chinon less wonder

• Is this the end of Ricoh?

• T’would be nice if this worked

• Shiny but that’s it

• Mr. Dial

The Canon Dial that I really wanted does more than my previous purchase, but there is still something broken about it. I’ve been looking at the repair manuals for these cameras and they are packed full of parts which are easy to break and hard to mend. So for now the quest continues….

Accidental Art

I was at Hull University again today so I snapped a bunch of pictures with my new (to me) half frame Russian camera. It is now one of my favourite devices. But not because it works. The drive mechanism for the film is faulty. Some of the pins on the film advance sprockets are worn down a bit, probably by a previous owner rewinding the film without disengaging the drive. A lot can happen to a camera over fifty years. This means that the film doesn’t always wind on properly. So you get one frame overlaid on top of another. And you get pictures like these:

the lens is very sharp and the exposure seems to work fine

No two pictures the same…

Close to working properly…

I had a lot of good times here..

The things you get right are interesting. But sometimes the things that you get wrong are even more interesting. I liked the idea of making images that had two pictures in the frame, but what I’ve ended up with is even more than this. I’ve kind of figured out how to make the film move properly most of the time, but I think every now and then I’ll get this camera out just to see what kind of pictures it creates for me.

Bought a Chaika II

Chaika means “seagul” It was the callsign of the first woman in space

I’m still buying cameras. Fortunately they are not very expensive. The latest purchase is a Chaika 2. This was produced in Russia and is interesting because it is a “half-frame” device. This means that it takes pictures half the size of the usual 35mm negative. You get twice as many shots on a roll of film, although the pictures will be smaller and therefore slightly lower quality.

The camera is entirely manual and the lens is removable so that it can be used in an enlarger to make prints (although the enlarger was never made). I’m looking forward to popping a film in and seeing what the results look like.

Super Pentax ME Super

Should really have cleared up the marks on the negative

Today I developed the first film from my “super cheap broken Pentax”. The pictures game out great, including some of the family.

The camera even managed to pull some detail out of the foreground

If you are thinking of doing some film photography you could do a lot worse than pick up a cheap old Pentax like the ME super and run a film through it. These things were made a long time ago, but they are pretty hard to break. Some film SLRs (for example the Pentax K1000) sell for silly high prices, but you can pick up a Pentax ME Super for less than the price of a video game. Not because it is a particularly bad camera, but because it is less fashionable to be seen with. You get automatic exposure and a nice pocketable form factor. And if it breaks you can sell the bits.