I saw this camera being sold for parts on eBay for a ridiculous 99p. So I bought it. The issue mentioned was the battery door did not click other than that it worked. I figured if I kept it out of diving depth it should be fine. I have only ever tried one Sea & Sea camera, which was not a success. I was excited to receive this one.

When it arrived, I was amazed by how clean it was. Whoever owned this, they really looked after it. The back would not open, the o-ring was very tightly sealing it shut. After releasing the air pressure, I managed to get it open only to discover a film inside, bugger. I had just fogged half of it, half was still in the cassette waiting to be shot. I wish I had known that as I love found films. The battery cassette was much easier to release and I put a couple of AA batteries in then replaced it back in the slot. It did not click as the listing said, but it stayed down and powered the camera.

I checked out the camera’s functioned while the back was open. The shutter did not seem to open when fired and the shutter button seemed a bit faulty, the flash also did not fire. Was I duped? I tried reloading the film and once that was inside the other issues magically went away. I fired past the fogged section and went for a wander around Leeds. After using the remaining film I got it developed right then and there

This camera was produced around 1989. Or maybe 1993. This article was published in 1989 so that date wins. It was made to reach depths of 45meters.

Though it does have DX coding, it has an odd way of dealing with the information. It really only accepts 100 or 400 ASA film. Anything over 400ASA is treated as 400. Anything under 400ASA is treated as 100. It has a fixed shutter speed of 1/100th, but the aperture can be changed. Basically, you set the aperture to the smallest one, f22. If, when you press the shutter halfway, a red light comes on in the viewfinder, you move the aperture a step lower. If you reach f3.5 then turning the inbuilt flash on is the next step.

Regardless of all that, did this 99 pence example work?

Here is the remainder of the found film.

Gosh, they are quite nice. The film may have been expired, but it was also stored very well. There are a couple of repeat shots where I changed the distance selected, it didn’t seem to make a difference.

I was looking forward to trying the camera again while on a wet holiday. But when I took out the batteries for storage purposes, the holder refused to stay inside the slot. A tiny piece of plastic that hooked under a catch had finally fallen off.

I looked for a replacement holder or another parts camera, but none could be found. So I decided to glue a piece of plastic to the area.

I used a liberal amount of super glue, glueing my fingers to it in the process. Once it had set I filed it down to the right size. I figured it might work and even if it didn’t it was only 99p. I could always just store it and wait until I stumble upon another broken example.

Ok moment of truth….it went in and clicked in place 🙂 but it no longer powered the camera 🙁

Bugger. Not sure why and I have another version to try so no big loss.

Keep or Sell: It is a little bit broken. So storing for now.

I could not let it lie, it worked goddamn it…so I thought about it and sanded down the plastic I added to make it shorter….and it came back to life. Still keeping for now, but I have a beach loving friend who might like it.