List of Film Camera Reviews - Photo Jottings

List of Film Camera Reviews

Below are all the film cameras I’ve reviewed.

 

135 Format:

Agfa Reflex (Flexilette)  An weird looking camera, with a good focusing mechanism, and lens.

Agfa Silette-1  Compact, inexpensive, good lens, no batteries needed, and full manual controls make this a nice informal snapper.

Aires 35-III L 45mm F/1.9  My Dad bought this camera brand new in 1957!

Argus C3   Also known as ‘the Brick.’  A neat looking camera that’s robust and easy to fix; and it also takes good pictures.

Budweiser Beer Can Camera  The King of Beers, but not cameras…

Canon Snappy 30   A good camera if used correctly.  I bought this one brand new in the late 1980s.

Canon Snappy Q  A goofy camera aimed at people pictures, and uses a built-in center spot filter for ‘foggy corners.’

Canon Sure Shot Zoom 85  An excellent low priced compact zoom, with an above average lens.

Canon Sure Shot Zoom XL  a very nice camera for a Sure Shot.

Chinon 358RZ Reflex Zoom (Genesis GS-7) a goofy one handed ‘video’ looking camera that works pretty good.

FujiFilm Big View-finder Auto 10  The worst 35mm camera I’ve ever used. Don’t waste your time on this one.

FujiFilm QuickSnap single use  Better than you think.

Ilford HP5 single use, B&W  Worse than you think, don’t bother reading the review.

Kodak Bantam Special A beautiful camera that takes good pictures if you can get the film.

Kodak Breeze 35mm F/4.5  A no frills camera with good image quality.

Kodak HD power Flash Single use  Better than you think.

Kodak FunSaver Kodak’s newest disposable camera, and the same as the old one above.

Kodak Instamatic 100 my first camera from when I was just a kid.

Kodak Motormatic 35F a decent fully automatic camera, with a spring  wound film advance system.

Kodak Pony II, 44mm Anastar F/3.9  A decent camera with a few flaws.

Kodak Retina IIIC 50mm F/2 Schneider Kreuznach  A very compact camera with a near perfect lens.

Kodak Star 535  Worse than you think.

Konica Pop-10 (Tomato) A fixed focus camera with a four element lens and five apertures to choose from!

Minolta Freedom III (AF-Z)  a mid/late 80s fully automatic camera with sharp 4 element lens.

Minolta Freedom Zoom 169 Date  very small with excellent metering and focusing.

Minolta Weathermatic 35DL an underwater camera that’s just OK above the water line.

Nikon 28Ti  One of the very best compact wide angle fixed lens film cameras available.

Nikon 35Ti  One of the very best compact fixed lens film cameras.

Olympus XA 35mm F/2.8  Super small, but not great technical image quality.

Olympus LT Zoom 105  maybe a nice camera, but my copy wouldn’t focus correctly.

Olympus 35 SP  Possibly the best full manual control fixed lens rangefinder of all time.

Olympus IS-30 DLX  Nice zoom range, SLR convenience, and very sharp lens stopped down.

Olympus IS-5 Deluxe  A nice camera with full manual controls, and very similar to the IS-30 DLX above.

Olympus Wide S 35mm F/2  potentially a great camera, unfortunately my copy was screwed up.

Pentax ME Super with 40mm F/2.8 pancake lens  A very compact SLR, and no batteries required!!

Ricoh FF-3D AF Super  very sharp lens and excellent exposures, but has some annoying quirks.

Ricoh FF-90  about the same as the FF-3D Super above, without most of the quirks.

Ricoh Mirai 105 Zoom has a pretty sharp lens, especially at the wide end.

Ricoh YF-20 Super a super camera that’s super cheap; it will make impressive pictures when used correctly.

Ricoh XF-30 a simple camera with three quite useful focusing positions using a switch.

Virginia Slims Promotional Camera a single use camera from the 1990s that takes awful pictures.

 

Medium Format:

Agfa Record III  A classic 1950s 6×9 folder, way better than you think, and my favorite film camera!

Agfa Ansco Readyset Traveler  a 1930 6×9 ‘luggage’ camera you’ll be proud to own or give as a gift!

Ansco Color Clipper Outfit  A goofy camera of dubious quality and value, 1950s; 6×6.

Argus Argoflex Forty  an inexpensive pseudo 6×6 TLR, but with a surprisingly good lens.

Argus Super Seventy-Five 65mm  F/8  Better than you think, with an almost wide angle lens.

Bell & Howell Electric Eye 127 Wide View Special  Odd, but fun camera; not for serious shooting.

Fuji GA645W 45mm F/4  Wide Professional  A superb autofocusing 6×4.5 wide-angle camera from the late 1990s.

Fuji GA645 60mm F/4 Professional  Same as above but with a slightly longer lens; 6×4.5.

Fuji GA645Zi 55-90mm Zoom Professional  A great zoom lens, even better than the 60mm F/4 prime at the wide end!

Fuji GS645 60mm F/4  Wide 60  Works with no batteries, and an excellent 6×4.5.

Fuji GSW690III 65mm F/5.6  A beast, but great quality; 6×9 format.

Fuji GW690III 90mm F/3.5  Another great beast, but with a longer lens, 6×9 format.

Kodak Brownie Flash B a 6×9 camera that looks neat, but not great for taking pictures.

Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash Model  The classic Crapsey, this flash model is from the 1950s.

Kodak Duaflex IV Kodar F/8 lens  A fake 6×6 TLR with good technical image quality.

Kodak No. 1 Pocket Camera, Green  A pretty camera that stands out; with an excellent achromat lens; 6×9 format.

Kodak No. 1A Autographic A very nice high end camera from back in the day, and with a little fiddling, can use common 120 film for ‘panoramic’ pictures.

Kodak Vest Pocket Series III  With a smoother shutter button, a great camera; uses 127 film for large 6.5x4cm negative.

Konica Pearl III potential a really good camera, but with a fatal flaw, at least for me.

Pilot Super 75mm F/2.9  an odd camera, best left under the museum glass, 6×6.

Rheinmetall Weltax 75mm F/3.5 Tessar  A very well built camera with a flaw.

Spartus Spartaflex F/7.7 Achromat  A cheap, (but real) 6×6 TLR with surprisingly good image quality.

Voightländer Bessa 105mm F/3.5 Heliar  Excellent late 1930s folder.

Zeiss Ikon Ikonta 75mm Novar F/4.5  A low-end 6×6 folder from the early 1950s; my dad bought this one brand new.

Zeiss Ikon Ikonta 105mm Tessar F/3.5  Inexpensive 6×9 folder, and surprisingly good.

 

Large Format:

Century Petite No.1  A beautiful 4×5 camera from 1906 that still works great.

Folding Pocket Kodak No. 3A  very large folding cameras from a century ago, and they still work great!

 

Oddball cameras using 110, APS, and half frame:

Canon Elph Jr APS  Surprising image quality for a super small camera, better than some 35mm cameras.

Canon 110 ED  One of the very best 110 cameras, too bad it’s a 110 camera.

Contax Tix APS  Over the top image quality with an excellent Zeiss lens; will out perform many good 35mm cameras.

Expo Watch Camera  a century old ‘spy’ type camera that really looks like a pocket watch, and it works perfectly; check out the samples.

Hendren Enterprises Weekender A neat device with a 110 camera, probably pretty cool back in the 1980s.

Minolta 110 Zoom SLR MKII  A tiny SLR that’s much better than the currently available film.

Minolta AutoPak 460Tx  Uses 110 Cartridge film.  A fun and top quality ‘telephoto’ camera from the 1980s.

Mercury II half frame Tricor 35mm F/2.7   A nifty half frame camera with ho-hum image quality.

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