Tag Archives: fujifilm

Fujica Auto-7 Date

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I hate this camera. Strong start, but really I do, simple as. I am not sure if it is because of the issues I had using this example or my dislike of Fuji right now. How can a firm that is called Fujifilm and based its existence on film and film users abandon film? Rant over…I think it is the actual camera’s fault.

My first complaint about this camera from 1981 was the loading mechanism. The last photo in the group above shows a tiny slit where you push the leader of the film in. I attempted this two times and both times the film was not loaded correctly. I tried one more time, after abandoning the camera for a while in a huff, and this time it accepted the half used roll I was trying. I think this system is supposed to make things easier, but I found the opposite to be true.

The second issue I had with this camera was setting the date. I could not see anywhere to see what I was actually setting it to. If there was a display in the viewfinder, it was not showing in this example. I ended up watching this Japanese video.

It shows many lights in various places. On my example, most did not work, except the very bright focusing aid on the front of the lens barrel. The flash ready light never lit, the red film advance never lit, and the light above the viewfinder never lit either. As for the flash itself, it worked intermittently. If I pressed the shutter partway until I heard a beep, then pressed it the rest of the way…it sometimes worked. It never worked if I did not hear that beep.

Setting the ISO by the dial on the front of the lens was also troublesome. Like most cameras with this dial system, it was just too stiff.

Oh and it has zoned focusing.

But did it actually work? I put in some fujifilm 100 (grrr) and finished off a roll I used on another camera.

Barely. I had a look on the Lomography site for this camera and their examples had the same washed out look. I know it was a dull day, but still.

In the phrasing of someone I know, this camera is a pile of Sugar Honey Icecream Toast. Though I may have got some of the foods wrong, I love the clever way of trying to hide rude words from teachers…it never works, we were kids once too…scary thought.

Keep or sell: I am not keeping this, I am not selling this. It will go in my own junk pile unless someone wants to give me a swap or postage fee. Wanter beware.

Polaroid Sun 600 vs Instax mini 8

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So I found some expired Instax film in a junk bin so I decided to compare it to Polaroid Originals. I don’t think it is a fair comparison, but it gave me a chance to use both types of film again. I was unimpressed by the last Polaroid film I used and was by the Instax. I ordered a pack of colour and a pack of monochrome. It is quite expensive considering you only get 8 shots in each cassette. I found 3 packs of expired Instax in a junk bin which I got for $10, considerably less.

I tried the Polaroid in a Sun 600 camera.

This camera from 1983 has a built-in tongue, which is important as detailed in this super blog. But I found the original tongue was just not long enough and whipped back scratching the polaroid and exposing it in the first few seconds of development. This was an issue as it damaged the sensitive photos and overexposed them, as you can see in the scans below.

You can clearly see the scratches and overexposure in these crappy photos. The black and white film was much more resistant to the scratching, but it is still there as is the exposure issue.

I did try and combat the exposure issue by placing the film box over the photo exit slot. That way the photo slid straight into the box and received less light. Awkward and impractical, plus ultimately it didn’t work.

I have decided to try one more time with this camera and film type, but first I will install an impossible frog tongue.

I have reloaded the photos into the cassette as I noticed the flash still charged once all the shots were taken. The cassette has the camera power source. That means I can use these exposed polaroids to check my success with the installation of the frog tongue and that it stays in place without ruining another cassette. I am still unimpressed by Polaroid, I can’t believe I am willing to try again, but I don’t like giving up.

So how was the expired Instax film, was it better than fresh Polaroid Originals? I loaded it into a new Instax Mini 8.

Each cassette was at least five years old and I had no idea how it was stored. Here are some of the 30.

Ignore the writing, I was making notes for something, but due to the state of the results, I gave up on that project. Yeap, these suck too. So the moral of the story is…Originals film is very, very sensitive and expired instax sucks. I will buy more fresh instax for sure as I love that stuff, the only problem is people steal the photos. As for the Originals, I will try one more time, watch this space.

Fujifilm Nexia Q1 APS

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This is another cute little aps camera which I found still in the box with all the documentation and plastic wrapping. I don’t think it had ever been used as the scratch film was still waiting to be removed from the front of the camera.

There are a ton of these cameras from 2001 to be found on eBay, and most in great condition. They were manufactured in China and was to be worn around the neck. The website I linked to before says that it is made like a sports item, a stopwatch, but it is not waterproof or sturdy. I agree it does feel very flimsy, but very comfortable to hold. It has an automatic flash and one speed of 1/100th. That it is, a very simple point and shoot.

But did it work. I tried some expired Voigtlander XR200 to find out.

As you can see it worked well in regular conditions but struggled with low lighting. I did like using it and for a night out I think it would be a great camera. It has no zoom, so there is no getting close to flowers but it would be great for a quick landscape or building photo.

Keep or sell: I am not sure it is worth the effort of selling for the price I will get, mint or not. I will keep it until a swap or friend wants it.

Tiara ix-z nexia 2000 MRC

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I bought this on the way home from a party and I was slightly, just slightly drunk. It was in a great shop which I do recommend. But I do not recommend doing what I did.

The reason being, in the shop the assistant had trouble turning it on or getting the film door open. But I wanted it. It was so pretty.

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When I got it home it turned on, but the damn film door would not open again. I looked online for solutions and saw a few people had posted the same question….but no solutions. I found this site for the previous version that said to remove the sliding cover, but that didn’t seem to be the case for this camera.

In the end, I gave up and smashed it, pulling the sliding door off. It still did not open, but it was so much fun doing it. I finally got the door open by using a screwdriver as a lever.

Would I buy another…only if I see it in a junk bin which seems unlikely as the name “Tiara” is sort after in 35mm terms. In APS terms, it still holds weight, but not much.

Fujifilm Silvi 70

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After the last fuji camera I reviewed, which had no information, this at least had a little out there. Mostly it is in Japanese, but google translate is awesome these days.

It was very clean throughout and fired up immediately with a CR123 battery. It looked and acted like a typical point and shoot camera.

You can find lots of details about it on this page, though as I said it is in Japanese. It was released in 2001 and discontinued 4 years later. This was the cusp of the film/digital threshold. As such it has all the technical power you would need in a point and shoot, such as DX coding and quick autofocusing.

If you need an easy to use, efficient point and shoot, you could not do better than this camera.

Here is my test roll.

As you might be able to tell, I used an expired film. I also have a sort of new hobby…photographing Star Wars figures. It gives me something else to photograph. I don’t do it a lot, but you might see more popping up on this blog in the future.

Keep or sell: Selling on eBay

 

Fujifilm Instax Mini 10

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This really isn’t the kind of camera I buy. It only takes ten shots, it is bulky, poor and small photos….and then I remembered the bronica. That is big, bulky and only takes 15 shots..good shots, but still only 15, plus I had to buy a new scanner to use it. So here was this “cheki” little camera for only $7 when new ones cost waaaaay more than that. So I thought what the heck and added it to the pile I was already wombling.

The “cheki” is formed from the Japanese habit of shortening foreign words or phrases, this times it stands for “check it”. This was the first version of the instax line and came out in 1998. Just when other film cameras and polaroids were going the way of the dodo. This one has been going from strength to strength, so much so that a new version was just released in 2015. Luckily, unlike most products, the film available today still fits the older version of the camera. This website tells you all you need to know about instant cameras.

This one is very easy to use, it has two settings for the focus distance. It automatically focuses on less than 3m, if you want to take shots further away you have to make a switch and the lens moves position.

So for that cheap price did it work? Well I almost didn’t have proof that it did. I took it into work and quite honestly it cause a mini riot with some of the Japanese staff, “ooh cheki checki..does it have film? Take a picture!!” and four shots were quickly gone. So I decided to quickly use the rest of the film on ‘stuff’ and a selfie so the photos would remain in my possession.

 

BUT once I finished the cartridge I also lost the camera. If my Japanese friend could not have the photos then maybe she could have the camera??? It was cheap, you will find another?? I can use it with the kids?! It’s for work!.

So no keep or sell…just a STOLEN! Ok, I did find another and bought it, they really are fun 🙂

And you do not have to shake it like a polaroid picture, though some people still do it.