The Ricoh FF3-AF Point & Shoot

Back in the early 1980s, we were being treated to a  plethora of small, plastic-bodied 35mm point and shoot cameras.  Few attained the cult-like status of the Olympus XA (1979), which I think set the bar for design, ease of use, and image quality. Of course, the XA isn't a true point and shoot, but the XA2 that followed it is. Incorporating a flash always made for a larger camera, and because of that, the XA series with the separate flash module always were smaller than the cameras that incorporated a flash in the body.  Ricoh, while not a household name at the time, produced some interesting cameras, and probably made cameras for other brands.  The Ricoh FF-3 AF was introduced in 1983, and while it does not exactly stand out in the crowd, it doesn't try to do too much, and that is a good thing.

The Ricoh FF3-AF is an autofocus camera with a 5 element 35mm f/3.2 lens.  The lens cover slides back and forth across the front of the camera.  Uncovered, the camera is ready to go.  You set the ASA (ISO) by rotating a dial to the L of the lens, and film speeds range from 25 to 1000.  This was 1983, remember?  The film advance and rewind are motorized.  The self-timer is 10 seconds, and I think the close-focus distance is about 1 meter,  There is a window on the film door, so I don't recommend the camera for IR film.  A green light shows up on the L side of the top deck to indicate that the film is winding properly.  Just below it, a light indicates the self-timer is operating. You manually select the flash (a good idea) by pushing a tab to the L on the front of the camera. Best of all, the camera needs only 2 AA batteries to operate.  There is a tripod socket on the bottom.  No fiddly controls, and everything makes this autofocus point and shoot a bargain buy if you find one.  I especially like the fixed focal length of 35mm, making it a good candidate as a street camera.  As I said, there are no truly outstanding features, but the sum total is a compact, easy to use camera with a very good lens.

I did something I rarely do with a new camera -- I loaded a long-expired roll of b&w film. I used a roll of 1988 dated Agfapan 400.  Because of its age, I set the ISO at 100 on the front of the camera. There is no DX sensor inside to set film speed, which I really appreciate.

Loaded up with film, the camera weighs 12.8 ounces.  It fits into a pocket on my photo vest (which is a vest from Duluth Trading).  I took it around with me on several outings, and shot the roll of old Agfapan 400.  While there was some base fog, the scans came out pretty well.  In fact, I am quite pleased with the results from this old film!

My conclusion -- it's an underrated point and shoot camera that isn't particularly common.  I think if you find one for less than $10, pick it up.  It fits into a coat pocket quite easily, and the images from it will be just fine.

Now, some of the images...

A Quick Review of the Nikon Lite Touch AF600

A while ago, I had this camera sort of drop into my lap. The Nikon Lite Touch AF, also known as the Lite Touch AF600, is a very compact 35 mm point and shoot with a plastic body, and a 28 mm f/3.5 lens.  As far as street cameras go, this could be a winner.  The camera has a retractable lens when not in use, and a blind that covers the lens when it is off.  The LCD on the top deck indicates the frame number, flash mode, and self-timer option.  The 3 tiny control buttons,which are rubberized for tactile feedback, are the on/off switch, flash mode, auto-infinity mode and self-timer.   The shutter button is on the far right, as is a rewind-button that is depressed with a ball-point pen, should you want to rewind the film before the roll is finished.

simple controls, albeit tiny buttons

in the off mode

Panorama switch to the L of the tiny viewfinder

turned on, with lens extended.

The back of the camera features a PANORAMA switch, which activates the crop mask inside the camera, giving you a 13 x 36 mm frame.  The flash indicator led is next to the eyepiece.  On the bottom, is the battery chamber (CR123A battery), and tripod socket.


Quick Specifications:

• Date Introduced - 1993
• Weight - 5.5 ounces
• Dimensions - 4.25" W x 1.5"D x 2.5" H
• Lens - 28 mm f3.5 fixed lens, 3 elements.
• Aperture range - f/3.5 - f/16
• Shutter speeds - auto, unknown as to the range.
• ISO range - DX-coded cassettes, 100, 200, 400, 1000.  Non-DX coded are set at ISO 100. Film reminder window on film door.
• Film transport - Autoloading, winding, rewinding.
• Exposure - automatic, autofocus
• Flash - integral, non-pop-up
• Focus range - 12" - infinity, "macro" close focus ability
• Power - CR123A battery
• Tripod Socket

Now, this is a small camera, about the size of some of the smallest one-time use cameras.  When you turn it on, the lens telescopes a bit from the body and the lens cover is supposed to retract upwards.  I say supposed to, as my example has to be coaxed upwards with a finger nail.  Not paying attention to this will result in unexposed frames. Apart from this, I like the camera -- it can easily fit into a pocket, and while I have only shot with it a bit, the images are respectable.  It certainly takes up little space, and is easy to carry along.  The viewfinder is tiny, as you would expect, and includes the crop lines fir the panorama mode.

The Nikon Lite Touch AF 600 retailed for $210 in 1993.  Pretty pricey for a tiny P&S!  On eBay, I see them going for nearly as much, though the range is mostly from $70-$165.  Certainly cheaper than a p&s with the Yashica T or Contax T name on it.

Overall, so long as the camera and LCD are in good working order, and the lens blind opens, this could be a gem of a camera.  It's rather unassuming, and there are few wide-angle P&S cameras that are as tiny and have a fixed 28 mm lens.  The panorama mode is of course, just a frame crop, but some may find it to be a nice creative feature.  It is fully auto, so you really have little to control except the flash.  You can set the focus to be on auto-infinity, which makes it a pretty quick camera to shoot with.  The self-timer can be set to take one or two images in quick succession.   The flash features red-eye reduction, auto, always flash, auto slow, and no flash settings.  Of course, the top buttons are tiny, so you have to use a fingernail to activate them.   I would probably use this camera more if I didn't have to mess around with the lens blind each time I turned it on. That may the weakness of this model.

Sample images, shot on Fuji Superia Xtra 400, and home developed in the Film Photography Podcast C-41 kit.

A P&S SLR- The Minolta Maxxum QTsi

A few weeks ago, I posted about my thrift shop purchase of a Nikkormat FTN and a Minolta QTsi. Since then, I have shot one roll of film in the QTsi, and can now say a bit more about the camera.
If you are looking for a camera that you can control to whatever level you need to allow your vision, this camera is not it.  BUT, if you want a P&S camera that has the ability of an SLR to accurately frame an image and focus on the subject, the Minolta QTsi may be the camera for the job.

The Minolta Maxxum series of cameras started with the Maxxum 7000 in 1985.  It was the first AF SLR with an in-camera lens motor, and started the A-mount series of lenses with contacts in the lens mount to control the lens from the body of the camera.  Other manufacturers shortly followed up with their own models.  It was also the end of Minolta's manual focus SLRs, with the last model being the X-700.  As Minolta progressed with the Maxxum line, they also changed the hot shoe flash connection from the ISO standard shoe to a proprietary Minolta mount.    In Europe, the Maxxum line became Dynax, so the Maxxum QTsi is the Dynax 303si.  Minolta made some great Maxxum camera bodies, as good or better than anything from Canon and Nikon, and certainly better than Pentax. However, their lower-end models were mostly plastics, just like the Canon Rebel series, and over time, Maxxums were never as popular as the big two.  The Maxxum 9 and Maxxum 7 models are amazing SLRs that never achieved the hoped-for market share, as Nikon and Canon were getting most of the business.  That brings us to the QTsi, which appeared in 2000, just at the dawn of the DSLRs.

The QTsi was an attempt to produce an SLR that your grandmother could use, if your grandmother had only used an Instamatic, that is.  But rather than belabor its target audience, I'll look at what makes this an ideal camera for anyone that wants to get a photo without fiddling with controls. Compared to the typical P&S with a small aperture, and slow zooming, the QTsi came with a 35-80mm zoom with a variable-max aperture of f/4- f/5.6, which is certainly comparable to the kit lenses on cameras from the big two.  You can control the flash setting, the program mode, self-timer, and AF or M focus, and that is about it. No aperture or metering shows in the viewfinder, just a green dot for focus confirmation.  A perfect camera for the kids, by the way.  It's lightweight, easily handled, and accepts any Alpha (A-mount) lens.  So, I guess if you could pair the body with a 50mm  A-mount lens, it would be one of those cameras that would be great for street photography.  Just whip it out and shoot.  You can find the manual for the camera here.

I put a roll of Kodak 200 color film in the camera and shot the roll within 24 hours.  I processed the film in the Unicolor C-41 kit (sold by the FPP store), and herewith are the results from the scans off my Epson V700.

I can find no fault with the metering or the focus, and every shot was as good as I could expect.  Like any p&s camera, you do give up some creative control in terms of depth-of-field, aperture priority, etc.  However, if those are not of concern to you, this camera deserves a look.  Yes, I paid $4.50 for the one I found, and there are lots of them around, often without lenses.  They take an easily found battery, and require 2 CR-2 cells.

Point and Shoot Review - Canon Sure Shot Max

This plastic-bodied, slim point and shoot from Canon appeared in 1991. Called the Autoboy Mini in Japan, and Prima 5 in Europe, it is a pretty sensible camera that does not try to do too much.  With its 38mm f/3.5 lens, the Sure Shot Max is a compact AF camera that fits in a jacket pocket and can be ready for photography almost immediately.  It has one odd little feature - you turn the camera on with the switch located on the lens bezel.  With the lens retracted into the body, it sure does have a thin profile.



Features:

• 3 point smart AF, prefocus is enabled.
• 38mm f/3.5 lens  (3 elements in 3 groups)
• Shutter: Electromagnetic programmed shutter and aperture. Range of f/3.5 to f/22; 1/8 sec - 1/250 sec shutter speeds, all automatic. 
• Self-timer
• Viewfinder: 85% coverage, parallax correction frame, OK to shoot indicator, flash-ready, red-eye reduction indicator, and close-up warning.
• DX coded ISO setting from ISO 25-3200. 
• Flash: Built-in, Guide No. 9 (at ISO 100). Flash can be turned off. Red-eye reduction lamp.
• Battery: 1 3V CR123A.
• Film winding is automatic, rewind automatic at end of roll. 
• Weight: 245 grams w/battery; dimensions- 125 x 68 x 43mm
• Tripod socket

My overall impression while using this camera is that it works pretty well as a walk-around camera.  I shot a roll of Kodak Tri-X over the course of a week, and found it was easiest to leave the camera on while in my jacket pocket, which means its ready to shoot.  One thing in its favor is the fixed focal length, which not only makes the camera lighter, but also more nimble.  There are a lot of P&S cameras out there that lack some of the features of this Sure Shot Max, and definitely many that surpass it, but I think Sure-Shot means just that.  It was a relatively cheap snapshot camera (okay, I paid 50 cents for this one) that is going to get an image in most situations.  I have not yet tried it with any color film, but it looks like it will get a spot in one of my camera bags to shoot with again.

Here are some sample images from lunch-hour walks around town:

Point and Shoot Review: Nikon One Touch Zoom 90s QD

During the transition from film to digital, many different manufacturers produced some very full-featured small point and shoot 35mm cameras.  Nikon's line of One Touch cameras, begun in the early 1980s, continued  with the One Touch Zoom 90s in 2002.  This compact P&S features:

• 38-90 zoom range (f/4.8 - 10.5)
• uses 1 CR2 3v battery
• macro mode (as close as 12 inches) 
• different flash modes (auto flash, anytime flash, flash cancel, slow sync and red-eye reduction)
• self-timer
• QD- quartz date for time/date stamping images
• Set infinity focus with no flash

The plastic-bodied camera in the same sort of champagne-aluminum finish as the Nikon N60 and some other consumer models, is lightweight, attractive, and has enough features for the snapshot shooter.  From Nikon's press release in 2002:

"Not only does it feature a new slightly thinner, lighter look -- the One•Touch Zoom 90s gives basic zoom picture-taking an extra touch of creativity and flexibility, Nikon style. The 2.4x zoom lens lets users frame subjects with ease within a 38-90mm range. Versatile flash accommodates most shooting conditions. Macro mode allows shooting as close as 30cm (12 in.) from the subject. Fully automatic operation makes it especially easy not to miss a photo opportunity, so everyone can enjoy taking pictures more."

That pretty much summarizes the camera's features and market.    From the Nikon site, here are the specifications:

• Lens:  38-90mm f/4.8-10.5,  5 elements in 5 groups
• Shutter speed:  2.6 to 1/250 sec.
• Viewfinder information Image size frame marks (with parallax compensation marks); Autofocus spot; Green LED indicators -- Lights up: Ready to shoot, Blinks: Flash being charged.
• Focusing Activated by lightly pressing shutter release button
• The shutter cannot be released when the subject is closer than 0.7m (2.3 ft.), 0.3 to 0.7m (1.0 to 2.3 ft.) in Macro mode (Macro button blinks);
• Infinity Focus mode available
• Flash fires automatically if the available light is low; Daylight Sync Flash can be activated
• Film speed setting ISO100, 200, 400 and 800 film automatically set.  ISO100 is automatically selected for non-DX-coded films
• Date imprint function (90s QD only) Printed date include Year, Month, Day, Hour, (24-hour cycle with no AM/PM) and Minute;  Leap year adjustment until 2049; Incremental correction of date;
• Power source: One 3V CR2025 lithium battery
• Dimensions (W x H x D) Approx. 117 x 64.5 x 49mm (4.6 x 2.5 x 2.0 in.)
• Approx. 117 x 64.5 x 53mm (4.6 x 2.5 x 2.1 in.) (90s QD)
• Weight (without battery) Approx. 215g (7.6 oz.);
• Approx. 225g (7.9 oz.) (90s QD)

So, the obvious question is, how well does this camera perform?  It does fit comfortably in a jacket pocket, and I found it easiest to set it at the widest setting of 38mm and lock the infinity setting, which makes it more usable as a sort of street camera.  I did not try the macro setting, but when the macro button is depressed, it blinks to let you know, and the flash goes off every time you shoot.

I loaded a roll of Agfa Vista 200 (made by Fuji) and took the camera with me to the Toledo Museum of Art last weekend.  I developed the film in a Unicolor 3-step C-41 kit.  Overall I think the images are pretty good. Not as sharp as I would like, but I have no idea what aperture the camera uses, since it's all auto.

Overall, I could not find too much to find fault with.  It's a medium-range camera that will give good results, and obviously, the more experienced photographer will find ways to make the best use of the various modes.  The downside is the limited ISO range of 100-800, as well as the top shutter speed of 1/250 sec.  However, considering that I paid 50 cents for it, it was money well-spent. Now, imagine if that was a digicam from 2002 - it would have been about 2.1 MP -- and you would be kicking yourself for not using film at the time.