I didn't think I would like this camera until I finally tried it. Went to my daughter's volleyball game and shot a roll of 800 asa offhand from the stands. The bottom wind makes action shooting easy. Shooting with my left or right eye I could easily keep looking through the viewfinder while I quickly advanced the film. This action pulls the camera against your face (okay, my voluptious nose) and your finger stays on the shutter where it belongs. On a conventional camera I tend to pull the viewfinder away from my eye as I advance the film and my finger isn't always able to stay in a proper position on the shutter.
The camera back has an interlock and will never accidentally pop open. You have to throw the little lever in the recess to rewind.
The selenium meter still works. Selenium meters are nice because they do not need a battery to function. They are problematic because they all will eventually die. Radio shack does not carry replacement parts. Neither does Bell & Howell. I do not think that Canon has them either. Selenium cells do not have as great an EV range as the more modern sensors and electronics, nor are they as accurate. Still, I am amazed that this one still works and seems to be pretty accurate.
This lens is moderately fast at f1.9. I believe it is 5 elements in 4 groups and appears to only be single coated. I'm still searching for accurate specs on this lens.
This camera seems to feel heavier than the average rangefinder. The viewfinder seems to be a little darker than some of the others. There is parallax correction in the coupled rangefinder - a very nice feature.
I was very pleased with the pictures that this camera produced. With no lens hood and the arena lights shining into the lens at all angles I was expecting terrible flare but was suprised that it was well controlled. Contrast seems very good.
The following image was shot offhand in the bedlam that followed the game. We were the home team and our stands were packed.
f4 @ 1/60 second, 800asa
Kodak MAX, offhand
Next, we have a section cropped from the original 2800dpi scan (converted from TIFF to a moderately compressed jpeg file):
As I said, not that bad.
BTW, this camera cost me $13.00.
Yes, I'm having fun.
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