I bought this from eBay on a whim. It was mislabeled by the seller as the AF35M minus the II, but a look at the Canon Camera Museum shows it really is the II from 1983. I wasn’t really bothered which version it was, as I haven’t tried either, plus it was sold for parts. Given it was priced at £7, I didn’t expect much from it.
I loaded two AA batteries and hoped for the best…it wasn’t good enough, it was still dead. I figured, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I tried cleaning the battery contacts with vinegar. They looked clean, but sometimes there is a fine layer of ‘something’ preventing the circuit from completing. AND….voila, it started making noises, slow, laboured noises. As with a few I have seen online, there was an issue with the battery door. It was still attached, but you had to press it down to activate the batteries. When I pressed it, the camera fired up, the lens cover opened, and the junk film advanced. Even the flash fired. Now that the lens was viewable, I could see a dull spot on the front element that I could not remove. Finally, the viewfinder section was ‘wobbly’. It felt like it could fall off at any moment. I added some Gorilla Tape to this section, which not only held it in place but also added a light seal just in case.
I loaded it with a roll of Exeter pan 400 and went for a quiet morning walk in Leeds before heading to the cinema to see an early showing of “Project Hail Mary“, which I loved.
Here are the results.
I was surprised to get any results as the camera felt on the verge of collapsing throughout the roll. It was a cloudy morning, and the results are a little soft and flat. I wasn’t sure if the dull spot on the lens caused that. Then I saw this review, and their results have a very similar tone, so maybe that is the ‘look’ the camera produces.
Well, that was fun, a return to the good old days of pure junk cameras. Here is another review with much better photos, but ultimately, they were taken with another, less-than-perfect example. I am not sure this is the most robust camera in the world, and I won’t be looking for a replacement.
A small but surprisingly capable plastic brick from the 80s. The photos are lovely, and for £7, it’s pure fun.
Exactly, less than a roll of most films.
The Sure Shot line generally was pretty, pretty good. Strange that the earlier (1981) AFML35 (“Super Sure Shot” in North America) was superior to this model (but slow; noisy, whirring). Had an incredibly sharp 40mm f/1.9 lens; ISO 100 or 400 only. Been looking for a replacement for some time – alas, the delicate quality of most has not survived the years; still-working copies are pricey.
I haven’t been able to find a working one I could afford either. They seem pricey given they might fail at any point.