Tag Archives: af

Yashica T AF

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This camera was a complete gamble. I know I usually buy cameras that are in junk bins and are a gamble, but usually they don’t cost much or I can test them a little in the shop to check them. But this for this one I could not test it at all and it was electronic so there could be things wrong that I could not fix. The price of the camera was $25, so it was more than I would usually spend on a broken electronic camera. I figured I could at least sell if for parts and get some of my money back if it didn’t work. At the end of the day it was a Yashica T and I probably would not be able to afford one in any other circumstance.

As you can see it was fairly clean with just a small crack on the lens cover. The flash did not stay retracted, but it still worked when I put in two AA batteries and slid the button. Also it seemed to want to load a film when you opened the back door. When I pressed the shutter the lens cover retracted and it seemed to take a photo. It activated 4 times then stopped completely. I opened the back once more, and again it tried to load a film, but then the shutter button would not do anything and the lens cover didn’t retract. So the shutter was stuck or sticky. Bugger. I did a search online and found this video.

That seemed to be exactly what my version did, maybe I could fix it too. I followed the video and did the same thing. Low and behold it worked. I pressed the shutter many times and fake loaded it many times, it carried on working. So now to test it with a film, but holy moly I was excited at the prospect. I liked how the lens cover retracted for each shot then returned to its original position. So there would be no forgetting the open it for shooting or closing it for protection. But that movement added to the electronics and might add to the issues. I also liked the slider which turned on the camera as it covered the shutter button when it was turned off. No bag shots with this camera. Plus the flash is off until you slide it on, so no random flashes

Here is the test roll, or half a roll as I had previously used it on another test camera.

I tried a few repeat shots, with and without the flash to see the difference and how the camera coped. For outdoor infinity shots, it seemed to cope very well and the exposure choices were great. For the closer shots, like the flowers, the focus is a bit off. So the minimum focal length can catch you out. I would suggest at least 2 meters to be sure.

Introduced in 1984 it was a top of the line point and shoot. The camera has a shutter speed range of 1/30 to 1/700 seconds, and has film choices of ISO 50 to 1000. Of course it has a Zeiss Tessar lens, but for me I have other cameras that performed better and I don’t think that has anything to do with the sticky shutter. For instance the Pentax PC35 AF which is turning into my favourite non-zoom point and shoot.

Keep or sell: It sold immediately.

Minolta 7000 AF (Maxuum 7000)

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I read about this camera online somewhere. I have a feeling it was Jim Grey’s blog, I am sure it was on another one as well, but now I can’t find it now. All I know is I saw the photos of the camera and thought, “ooh pretty”. Then I saw one for sale on an eBay charity shop and a few clicks later it was mine. It was a charity case honest.

 

Why did I want this camera? Well, if you read this blog it says how this camera “rocked the entire photographic world”. It was the first true autofocus SLR. I think this blog and this blog have the best descriptions of all the features. I think it is pointless to write more when there is already so much out there. Posts like this let you know what I read and introduce you to some great blogs. Also, I love the graphic on this page that lets you know where it sits on the scale of Minolta cameras, but now I want the 9Ti.

Ok, so apparently a great camera. How did my example do? I took it for a walk in my local reclaimed colliery. I decided to take photos of as many different trees as I could find.

 

I tend to keep cameras on auto, not because I am lazy or don’t know how to work them, but I like to see what the camera chooses. I found this one seemed to underexpose a little. One of the blogs I read and linked to said the camera matches the aperture to the type of lens fitted. So a wide angle lens leads the camera to choose a small aperture for landscapes. This could be the reason for the underexposure, but as I had a zoom lens on there is no guarantee I had the lens set to 35mm. I would like to try this camera with a 50mm lens and see the difference.

Keep or sell: I wanted to try it again with a different lens, but it seems I either left or gave that lens away in Japan. Now the camera has been sold, so obviously it didn’t rock my world.

Two Nikon TW Point and Shoots

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I looked through my list of cameras tested and realised there are surprisingly few Nikons on there. So, this post goes some way towards addressing that. I was recently hunting through some junk bins and came across two versions of the same series. The total price for both was $3.

Yipee! Of course, I bought both, then I went further and put the same kind of film in each, Fuji Acros 100. AND to go further I took both cameras out on the same kind of day…unfortunately dull, humid and rainy.

So the first film I finished was from the Nikon TW2D.

This camera came into production in 1987 and was Nikon’s first autofocus point and shoot. There is a button on top to switch between 35mm and 70mm. There is a slider on the front which turns on the camera and opens the shutter cover. As you can see there are also buttons to control the flash, continuous shooting and midroll rewind. On the side of the lens barrel is a slider for soft focus too. Unfortunately, the zoom motor for this example was faulty and struggled to control the lens barrel extension or retraction. The camera seemed to work fine in the 35mm position, but struggled to do anything if you tried to set it to 70mm. Anyway, here is my test roll.

Hmm, there are a couple of nice shots, but on the whole, these are seriously underexposed. Bless this little camera, it really tried hard, but it just didn’t work. BUT, if the exposure had worked it would be a great camera. I would recommend it if you can find a good example.

And on to the next, the Nikon TW20 AF.

This one was a bargain, $1 for the camera and case. This one was produced a couple of years after the TW2D from 1989. It also has a button to switch focal lengths, 35mm and 55mm. The former camera had the first autofocus, this one has the first red-eye reduction. For a point and shoot it isn’t the smallest camera I have ever tried, even a little ugly on which I agree with this great blog. But I love sliding lens covers so that redeems it in my book. The lens cover also protects a few other buttons such as the self-timer and flash suppression. But was it a bust like the $2 camera?

This camera is AWESOME! All the more for costing $1. Remember it was a very dull day and I was using 100ASA film. For the most part, the exposure is great, plus the focal length button worked well. I really enjoyed using it and would recommend it if you can get a good example.

Keep or Sell: The TW2D is in the bin, but I kept the TW20 for a while. Eventually, I sold it to reduce my collection.

Kyocera 210-AF

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After the bother I had with the 230-AF, I was left with a lens and no body at my house in Japan. I waited and waited and finally, I saw this 210-AF. Eureka I now had a full set again and maybe I could sell or give it away…providing all worked well.

There is very little about this version on the net, just a few Japanese sites. This one says it was released in Japan only in 1987. It worked a lot like the aforementioned 230AF, so I am not going to go into detail here…especially as this was my test roll.

Two shots only. After a few shots it became very clear there was an issue. It only worked efficiently in manual. In auto mode, an exposure of 8 seconds was always chosen no matter what settings the camera was on. I just could not see any way to change it. If it had worked I think it would be an awesome camera. I really liked the 230. I think I will play with it a little longer before giving up on it completely.

Olympus Trip AF

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I love the Olympus Trip, so when I saw this one for $3 I didn’t even think about it, mine. This trip was released in 1984.

This one needs two AAA batteries to run the flash and the light meter. If there is enough light a green indicator shows in the viewfinder and the shutter works. The camera selects one of two speeds, either 1/85 or 1/120, which is not much of a choice really. There are also two choices of film speed which can be set on the side of the lens. It really is a camera of TWO.

The lens has a cover, which was really stiff on this example. I tended to leave it open while I was walking around with it as it was a pain to move the position. The film wind and rewind is manual.

Here is my test roll.

Well, the exposure is spot on even with the difficult backlighting of the windows. I took this camera on a location walk for the movie “Your Name“. Luckily I took another camera because this one has obvious haze…though not obvious when I loaded the film. Would I buy another version of this camera? No, I much prefer the original, it is far superior, though I only have this hazy version for comparison.

Keep or Sell: I put it in the bin.