Camera Oasis

Spent some time this weekend sorting out my collection of 35mm film cameras. Way too many film cameras. And now there are a couple in the trash can. I'm a fan of 1970's era rangefinders, cameras that allowed you to hold the camera to your eye, look through a viewfinder, and focus on your subject. Some even allowed you to control the aperture or shutter speed. Olympus, Minolta and Canon made the best of these. Konica made some wonderful cameras, but later jobbed out the manufacturing to a company called Cosina. Then Chinon got involved. Ultimately, the move to auto-focus film cameras doomed the rangefinders. Not to mention the corroded electronics. Most of these cameras used mercury batteries, which seem to cause some degradation in circuit contacts. The camera above is a Konica C35EF camera. Happens to be the very first thing Dick Kidder stuck in my hands when I started my first newspaper job. So I'm sorta fond of them. This afternoon, I pitched two Konica C35EF cameras wit...

This may be useful for those of us with far too many classic film cameras, and no real market for them. Today, there's very little demand for the 1970s-era 35mm rangefinder cameras I love. I have a handful of really good ones: Olympus XAs, Vivitar 35ES, Canonet GIII QL17, and a few Minolta Hi-Matics. Plus a few that need a little work, but I simply couldn't devote time to resuscitating. These have "DOA" tags on them. And on their own, they're useless. But in trolling for a Konica Auto S3 on fee-Bay** the other night, I found 27 separate auctions for parts for the camera. Only one actual S3 camera, but more than two-dozen parts for sale. So if you have the patience and precision screwdrivers to disassemble and tag the working pieces of a camera -- and the skill to photograph them using your digital camera's macro mode -- parting out a non-working 35mm camera might be a way to get some value from that old buddy on your shelf. And, in case you're wondering:...

Over in Germany, all the camera companies are trotting out their latest concepts -- and a few actual cameras-- at the Photokina trade fair. Olympus served up this retro-looking concept camera, intended to evoke the 35mm, leather-clad rangefinders of the 1970s. I am an enormous fan of those classic rangefinders. They had fast lenses, mirror-less shutters system that made for quiet photography, and they took great photos. Among the best: the Olympus XA, a very compact rangefinder that delivered superb user control and great photos in a camera slightly larger than a pack of cigarettes. With the arrival of electronic autofocus technology, rangefinders quickly disappeared. C'est domage. Too bad. Today's Olympus point-and-shoots, I've found, leave a bit to be desired. They're neither leading edge nor especially user-friendly. I've owned one or two, and found them a little on the sluggish side. Olympus seems to be gearing itself to be the Mazda Motors of the camera wor...