Throwback Edit Version: I edited this in August 2024, checked links and converted it to the new WordPress format. While doing this I encountered some formatting issues, especially with the galleries.
When I got this camera for $1, yes one dollar, I didn’t notice that the film rewind crank was missing, I just saw the, “oooh $1”. I think this is a great-looking camera from 1975. The name of the camera meant C=compact and EF=electronic flash and it was the first compact camera to have an electronic flash. Surprisingly this camera takes regular AA batteries to charge the flash, and in this example, it still worked, fired up quickly and refreshed quickly. It is a zone-focus camera.
So why $1? It was probably because the metering system was not run by those AA batteries. It needed another battery to be placed in that round compartment on the back and that one needed to be the banned mercury kind. The first time I tried it I put a regular LR44 in there and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, it didn’t work at all, there was too much voltage and I got some weird exposures back.
This website which has lots of technical details, also mentions something I didn’t know, without a lens cap the battery is constantly drained by the light meter. The website also states that the camera is Andy Warhol’s favourite camera and is called ‘pikkari’ in Japan, which means surprise. That could be due to the flash being really, really bright!
As it was Mr Warhol’s favourite I thought I would try again. This time with a hearing aid battery which was closer to the 1.35V needed. I also set the film speed to a stop and a half lower than the film. So were the results any better?
Well, the exposure is better, but not perfect. Plus hello light leaks, where did you come from?
Ok, keep or sell..nope – bin…I found a C35AF for $3 that does not need the weird battery. I will test that out later.
Update: I found another one of these which worked perfectly, including the meter. I should have read this first as the metering was off a bit, but wow it was as sharp as a whistle. I am going to keep this one. The seals were also shot on this new one but it was still light-tight, I will change them eventually. Here are the shots from this new one.
I am amazed by the sharpness, given that it is a zoned camera. I would now highly recommend this camera.
Nice article and results! Just got the same camera and wondered what specific battery cell did you have best luck with? Looking for the same
Thank you for asking that question because I still have the last camera. I went to get it to try a battery to find I had left one inside which i never do. It was an LR44. The camera was set to 50ASA and I know it was a 100ASA film I used. So that is a perfect answer for you. Regular battery and one stop lower.