I got this camera as a “for parts” buy on eBay due to it having a dead soldered internal battery. I thought I might try to see if I could change it or fit an alternative…how hard could it be? I am useless at soldering, but you can’t get better unless you try. The weird thing is, it is a half frame. Why would I buy a half frame camera with a non-changeable battery? Because they are rare, I saw the price they are going for on eBay and I was looking for something to do.

When this camera from 1985 arrived it was completely dead. No lights, no movement, nothing…so nothing to lose. Looking it over, it seemed pretty obvious the battery was in the bulky part where the handle was. So I began to look for ways to access it and saw a couple of screws.

Once they were undone there is a cover you can roll back if your fingers are nimble, but mine are not so I took off the cover and removed the whole section.

As you can see I am great at unsoldering, but suck at resoldering. Yeah for electrical tape…and 2 CR123 batteries. Let there be light.

But the light is no guarantee the camera fully works, only film will prove the camera’s true worth. Oh, and the camera has a button for taking photos of the TV. On this camera the button has been very well used, somebody loved their TV.

Here is my test film. On wide the flash pops up and works automatically. On tele, the flash does not work. That’s about all you need to know.

And back to not liking half-frame cameras. It is not even a cute camera.

Keep or sell: Sell. I know it is a rare camera and the value might increase, but it is ugly and not fun to use for me. I have the Olympus Pen FT…that is all the half frame I need.

Oh and you can find another review and manual here.