After trying a Vivitar recently, I decided to try another of their point and shoots. There is something about them I like…probably their cheapness. To prove a point I got this, very slightly damaged one for 99p. As you can see in the photos, the plastic cover on the front is missing, but this should not affect the photos…unless it was tinted for density.

Finding information about the camera on the net proved to be very difficult indeed. So I am going to write anything I could find here to ease anyone else’s search.

The camera didn’t have a very long production run. It was manufactured in South Korea between 1990 and 1992. The website I just linked to had this photo on it…

This image has the most information I could find.

Aperture range: f4.5-6.7
Macro focusing: from 65cm
Dx coding: 50,100,200,400,1600
Batteries: 2 x AA
Electronic Flash: fully automatic, there is no turning it off
Self timer: 10 seconds
Motorized film loading, advance and rewind

If you can read French, you can tell me anything I have missed. And that is it, basically all I could find. Any other website really just says it is a point and shoot. I didn’t find any other reviews.

So what are my thoughts for this 99p camera, was it worth the money?

Well, unless it absolutely didn’t work or the photos were badly out of focus then yes. How can you complain at that? I took a roll of Fuji 100 on a walk around my local nature reserve. Prior to that I also tested the flash in my house…here is that spooky photo.

As you can see, I took it fairly close to the subject, my chatter chimp that no longer chatters. I used the macro function which automatically fires the flash. Even at a close range, the exposure is great. The flash is fully automatic in the regular position too, you cannot turn it off. That is a shame.

The camera boasts a MASSIVE zoom…not. Seriously 38-60mm, what is the point of that? I tried two different shots to show the difference.

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The difference in the two shots is…in English…bugger all. I also think the 60mm version is a little softer. If I use the camera again I will probably only use it at 38mm. Though the macro is a viable option too.

You can tell by the sky that it was a dull afternoon walk, my film was quite a slow one. Both shots show the camera wasn’t fooled by lots of sky or underexposed in a darkish setting.

The 320z is slightly bigger than you would want for a point and shoot, but balance that with the fact it uses AA batteries and I think you have a cracking, cheap little camera.

Here are the rest of my shots.

A very muddy walk in the woods…I love my wellies!

This a great little…wait..lots of ellipsis post…medium sized point and shoot that can be found for a very cheap price…if you don’t mind an automatic flash.

Oh and if you want to read another “poundland” challenge post, try this one by Canny Cameras. It just shows there are bargains out there if you look.