Wallace Koopmans Artlog

The film point and shoot cameras that have a wide-angle of 28mm are a bit of an odd bunch and this one fits right in.  This Konica though is one of  the best of them optically.  It has very little vingetting unlike the Sigma 28 AF Zoom and much less distortion than others like the Fuji DL super Mini or the Konica Lexio 70.  The only other film point and shoot that seems to be as good is the Canon Z90W.

The zoom function operates in an interesting way with a single button.  The way it works is that it starts at 28mm and zooms in to 56mm and then starts back down towards 28mm so don’t go too far because it’s a long way back.

There isn’t much info available online about this camera likely because of its rarity but it appears to have a lens formed through 8 elements in 7 groups with apertures of 3.5 – 6.6 .  It’s also large and heavy which limits my desire to pack it around.  The Fuji Cardia is much easier to pack and the Canon Z90W is more versatile while also being smaller.   Sorry Konica Zup28W your good but not good enough.

Some images taken with various lenses on the Pentax Z1p with either Kodak Ektar or Portra 400.  When it’s important to me and I want to capture it on film this is the camera I turn to.  It can be very fun to play around with all kinds of different gear but sometimes I want to know that I am going to get consistent results yet I don’t want to use digital.  The images I have included here are not necessarily important to me but are a combination of having the camera with me and finishing off the roll.

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I’ve been forced to look for alternatives in having my film processed so I thought I would explore what the true costs of continuing to shoot film were for me.

So what did I discover? Well for one thing using less expensive film with 24 frames is a bit of false economy I might as well use the Kodak Ektar that I love so much because it works out to only pennies per frame difference over Fuji Superia. I also discovered that the instant film I am using isn’t prohibitively expensive. Yes it certainly is more than using 35mm film but it compares well to the cost of using medium format and don’t forget you get a print. What this chart doesn’t take into account though is just how much enjoyment I derive from using my film cameras. I might be slightly less inclined however to use a camera I know will give questionable results when it costs around $0.30 every time I click the shutter.

An update I’ve actually located a place that will develop C41 120 film at the same price as 35mm giving me a total cost of $1.22/0.82/0.61 per frame depending on the format I’m using.
 

I ran another roll of film through my new little Minox GT-E, the results aren’t bad but the spacing between the frames on the negatives vary quite a bit, they don’t overlap at all it’s just not great. Neither this issue or the shutter indicator not working is going to keep me from using this camera though, it’s small and fun.

More images from my Braun Super Paxette with the Kata 45mm f2.8 lens and Kodak Ektar. These ones were selected from the roll for their theme of old buildings. Part one can be seen here Braun Super Paxette Part 1

If you have read my blog for a while you may already know about my affinity for this camera. Super Paxette, Real Photographers dont crop and Super Paxette More Images This time around I used Kodak’s excellent Ektar 100 film. The only thing that might make this camera better for me is if I had some of the other lenses that were made for it. I have the 45mm Kata which is the most useful focal length but there were also lenses available in focal lengths 35mm, 50, 85mm and 135mm.

It should be mentioned that the lens is not the sharpest even stopped down around f5.6-f8 and the bokeh has an odd distorted look when it’s focused on something close. The film mask creates a look something like the zig zag scissors you use in preschool and the shutter release is in a completely unfamiliar location. The flip side of all those things though is that the lens is sharp enough for making good 8x10s. The Bokeh is a cool effect that can be used when making an image and the film mask is also pretty interesting and the shutter is actually in a comfortable spot.

I’ve selected 26 images from the roll of 36 for inclusion but broken them into two separate posts. All 36 turned out technically fine it’s just that sometimes I shoot similar shots or even pictures that aren’t that interesting. (Yes I still get to decide here what is interesting or not)

Like grampa’s plaid shirt the Ricoh 35 just keeps working. This camera wouldn’t win any beauty contests but those weird appendages on the lens are there to keep it held firm as you focus, not to be attractive. That attitude extends to the rest of the camera too, if it doesn’t serve a purpose it just isn’t there. The shutter is somewhat limiting topping out at 1/200 second and only having four other speeds but since its completely manual you can usually get an exposure that works.