Scameras - What Are They & Are They Worth It?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 เม.ย. 2024
- Scameras, you see them all over eBay and similar sites, often for absurd amount of money, so what exactly are they and are they worth the money? Let's take a look.
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So this is the 90s equivalent of modern dashcam conversion "4K UHD DIGITAL DSLR CAMERA"
Yep, basically, but they charged far, far more for them.
more like late 2000's webcam coversion
My wife's uncle bought a "Minota", which he swore was a Minolta. He didn't pay the silly amount suggested here. We had to tactfully point it out to him that it was not a Minolta.
When you see "optical lens", you know you're dealing with idiots.
How else would you differentiate between an optical lens and a masonry lens?
I want a camera with a gravitational lens
@@AllonKirtchik Magnetic lens for me 🤣
Acoustic lenses do exist though. About as rare as acoustic cameras, perhaps a bit less so.
trust me, the people that made these things were far from idiots! They knew exactly what they were doing...
I recall an Amateur Photographer article on these cameras. They compared one to a disposable camera. The disposable camera beat it in all areas. AP could not find any redeeming feature on these cameras and advised people not to buy one.
Yep, oddly enough I had an exhibition opening and we shot a disposable at that recently, and can confirm that was also better than this mess of a camera.
I seem to remember that in the late 90s one of the camera magazines actually tested one of these. One of the conclusions was that if you remove the plastic "lens" from the front the picture quality goes up. They found out it was no better than a disposable camera.
In Hungary we call these cameras, especially when they are mimicking SLR cameras: kamumatik, where "kamu" means fake, "matik" is from automatic (we write this word with a k, not with c).
it's probably also a pun one the name on one of these cameras. i've seen several of them with a "Canomatic" brand
In Russia We call these Kameras "robho" because thats what they
In Japan they are called Kamikazera --------------- Aim at subject ----- die laughing.
A coworker came to me many years ago with a camera flyer that had been left on his windshield. He said, “Is $50 a good price for a Minolta Maxxum camera?” I took one look and said, “Well, it would be if it was a Maxxum, but as you can see, this is a ‘MaxIM’. Stay clear!” 😂
And at a local camera, for display only, is a really amazing “Canon” (legit looking logo) that’s all plastic and GOLD! Crazy.
When I used to live near London in the 90s, I'd go into the centre about once a month and see these auctions in action along Oxford street. The guy on stage would seem to be selling insanely good value items for £1, £5. Once people were worked up into a frenzy and trained to bid, they'd start selling shit like faux leather briefcases, 35mm SLR cameras etc. for £60, £100 etc. I took a look at these SLR cameras and they were very similar to cameras shown here - hulking big cases that looked the part, but were obviously trash. I used to stick around for the £1 frenzy because they did sometimes throw something interesting into the bags of people (including me) who won on those early stages. I've still have a Soviet era radio in the cupboard that I won in one of these.
A friend of mine needed an SLR for a photography course and one of his relatives offered to sell a couple at a bargain price. When he went to see them one turned out to be one of these "scameras" and the other was a Canon but wasn't an SLR despite looking like one. Eventually he found an Olympus OM-1 with 3 lenses for a very good price.
My dad bought a "NIPON" soft plastic lensed camera at an illegal pop-up auction in a London warehouse. He gave it to me, and I used it for years as a kid, the pics always came out looking really interesting! You can get good pictures from a cardboard pinhole camera with enough imagination, loads of people want unexpected/unpredictable results. That's why Lomography is so popular. There's no such thing as a bad camera... etc.
Bad cameras, on an objective and subjective level, most certainly do exist, and while I agree that you can get an interesting/good picture out of them, that doesn't stop them being bad. That however misses the issue behind scameras, it's not just that they are bad (and they are), it's that they were deliberately marketed and sold as something they were not, something that persists to this day (and the comments here back that up). A pinhole camera costs almost nothing to make, scameras were sold for the equivalent of £500-£600 in today's money, and people were scammed out of a lot of money for a bad camera. Lomography, as in the cameras, also exists in a totally different place (and I own two of them - a Holga 120 GCFN and a Sprocket Rocket), they are 100% up-front regarding the limitations of the cameras, ensuring that people make an informed choice, something scameras never did. Add in that both of my Lomo's are built to a substantially higher build quality than any scamera I've handled (and that's a number in the hundreds).
I agree. Probably 99.9% of the art appreciating public finds most excellent photographs boring after a short time. If they have no intrinsic value, they end up in the garage sale. The weird and mysterious photos will attract art people for decades. The same goes for art paintings (which is where I come in).
my favorite off brand Scamera is the 'YoShitA'
Sadly the real Yashica name is now just a cheap license and is used for lots of cheap crap
At least it has some accidental honesty in the name.
Good video. I'm 76 and started taking pictures in the 50's. Film has always been a challenge even with quality cameras. In America alone, there must be at least 10 billion slides/photos that are out-of-focus or worse due to people not understanding how to use their cameras. I still shoot film occasionally but the latest digital cameras really spoil ya. Back in the 50's, if I got 6 good pictures out of a 12 roll I was thrilled. Thanks
Many thanks
I remember those overhyped auctions. Thankfully I never went to one but a friend did and bought two of those "DLRs" ( Duff Lens Ripoffs) for his daughters. They were so proud of them I didn't have the heart to tell them but they soon discovered . Yes, these can still be found on eBay . Cheapest I've seen ? "£20 + £5.00 UK postage ! What a flaming liberty!" as Nan might say.
I got one in a job lot and felt it was my duty to make sure it never hit the market again by smashing it to bits with a hammer. Thank God I wasn't tempted to waste a film in it. Good'n. keith
Good man
Nice video Gidion. I went to London in the early ninety's and came across an auction just as you describe. I bought the English book 'White Fang' for two or three pounds. Its still somewhere in my book collection. My knowledge of Cameras prevented me from buying a camera as the one you show 😂
I remember one guy at work who was pleased as punch to bring in a camera to show me he bought from a random guy in a pub, £25 for a 'Cannon' camera..he never lived that down!! Still chuckle about it to this day
Someone was trying to sell a Yoshita ECX-35AF that takes design cues off a Minolta Dynax 5000 for $80 on our local version of eBay. The funny thing was that someone else was selling a real Minolta Dynax 5000 for the same price at the same time!
Yep that's the mad thing, you can get really good film cameras for less than these......'things'
Although it's a terrible camera, you got an entertaining video out of it 🤩
I have seen those scameras being sold in magazines. In the 80s they went 18 CAD. I could tell they were bad quality from the viewfinder and fake pentaprism. I don't want to be a camera snob but I am glad my dad got me a good 100 CAD point and shoot camera.
Your dad did you well
Hi Gideon, great video. Saw an "Olympia" camera at a car boot with a hammer style flash attached. They were asking £40 for it. Told them it was a fake but they didn't believe me.
It's amazing that people are still falling for these.
@@gideonliddiardphotography Well, I think it is even more likely that people fall for these today. The days of film are long gone and only some enthusiasts like us still use it, while everyone else is snapping pictures with their phones and think that the build in AI is magically making them better photographers. Just think about that time when Samsung phones tried to detect when you were taking a picture of the moon and then replace it with some high res image from the internet and everyone was like, "wow, I'm so good!" Apparently you just have to put a label on it with the newest buzzword and there you go: Instant cash! ;-)
@@gideonliddiardphotographyThey need to believe, because they've probably overpaid for it. Lots of flippers get excited over anything remotely looking like a camera.
My mate bought one at an auction, showed it to me, I bought it off him for what he paid for it (a quid) I then stood on it , never, ever seen such a crap thing in my life and as you rightly say these in the 90's were all the rage, saw some with off camera flash for the "pro" look. I stayed loyal to my 1969 Zenit E, still have it, still love it.
Used to see them here in The States, where I managed a camera store and lab, often they were a premium for subscriptions or memberships. Time magazine gave them away with subscriptions, but much more basic. This has been gong on since the 1950s with the Fotron cameras which were sort of decent but were proprietary in terms of film and the processing. People were much happier with the basic Olympus Trip we sold them for less than some of them paid for the scamera.
Yep - so much better available at the time (and now) for the money
9:04 The photos you took with it are pretty awesome though. Nice one.
I have a bunch of p/s Meikai Mango / Quickshot dl cameras. got each for like $1-$10. same model, differing branding. I took one apart once, to adapt the fixed lens, and found the metal/lead interior weight. according to pamphlets that came with these things, they were selling fake slr cameras as well as printers and other random consumer electronics. but the point and shoots by meikei, all have improper fixed aperture plates (aperture plates are all uniformly offset from the center), resulting in extremely unique focal effects, much like a holga. knew about the scam, but wondering why the line I found is so weird, specifically
My stepdad had a Panamax! cant remember where he got it but i advised him it was a fake. Was never used and i think it still sits at my mums house
"A combination of the words 'scam' and 'camera'" I'd never have guessed!
I remember the advertising for these in magazines when I was a kid; I remember hating the fact that they wasted a page or two in my favorite magazine.
Great advice, thanks for sharing.
Glad it was helpful!
I'm my collection I had a set for them about 6 of them. Alas they went when downsizing, I do expect their value to increase. I kept the holgas and dianas plus accessories as the value of them has increased.
The cfgl does make the better pictures of the bunch.
Some absolute degenerate on eBay was trying to sell one of those DL-9000s for over $300, I think from Turkey. They're fun to see pop up on the circlejerk subreddit from time to time but I hate how often I see them in person for sale.
Hey I worked in photographic retail in the early 90s too! (And yes, I saw lots of these as well, including the Canon-branded ones).
I know a genuine Panaphonics when I see it. And look, there's Magnetbox and Sorny.
I doubt it's lead inside. Lead's quite pricey.
well said, good video.
Much appreciated
Personally, I used to look at the fake cameras (Including some listings) that it was sold on some big online shopping app.
But luckily, I never bought them. Because of how bad they are.
I would prefer a real film camera like my USSR film camera from 1974. (Zenit E)
I've got one identical to yours as a TAMASHI MX7500 FMD system Maybe the lead is worth something? I can barely see through the viewfinder
I've got one of those that actually say canon on them, but the battery contacts are just missing... Would have loved to shoot at least a 12 shot roll i had laying around
My brother and I were watching this and we burst our laughing at the curved film path & pressure plate. 🤣
Excellent - great to hear
It reminded me of the old Kodak Brownie 127 of years ago.
That lump of metal in the base is probably the only valuable thing in that camera, scrap value.
I want more scamera reviews
Any that turn up in Job Lots I will be sure to cover
"Focus free"
It's also quality free.
It is indeed
"No quality so... no focus" they tought to themselves, "so the focus free its not really a lie, also, the lens looks quite real and powerful so... power optics? " XD
I have seen these used on Law and order during scenes with reportrers. I laugh when I see it. I guess no one knows photography on the show or just doesn't care.
So basically a pinhole, holga ,they still try to sell them on fb marketplace. I chuckle when they more than $20 . You slapping that camera like will Smith 😊 black and white looks nice
Nice Canon A-1 on the shelf behind you. (Top-left).
The battery door falls off on the ae1
If you can get one for like a fiver and you are into the whole toy camera stuff i think they can be quite fun.
Or any of the other "focus free" point-and-shoot cameras.
In the realm of toy cameras the term "focus free" is almost a badge of honour. You know you got some quality rubbish then.
I paid a pound for mine and it's still not worth it, just about any cheap fixed focus camera from the likes of Boots, etc is better made and a better option for a toy camera.
Advertised as af ? , actually it's a fixed focus. Some up market model were equipped with a colour top monitor,i ? n reality a silver mirror where the flashgun sits. Wise enough not to purchase,so I don't know what the fixed focus represents. Oh forgot to mention it had auto wind. 😄.
Is there ANY chance that you can show us examples of your findings,,,,,, Or even better....... Samples of YOUR photos?
Did you not watch the video? It has sample of my photos taken with it.
😂 Could these scameras become collectors’ items? Seriously though, wasn’t the price of around £200 comparable to legitimate makes at that time?
New entry-level SLRs back then could run from around £150 to £400 depending on what it was and if it was manual focus and manual wind, or full auto everything. So the scameras, that 'appeared' to be auto-everything were sold as being a bargain (which they most certainly were not). I don't think they will ever be really collectible (as in gain value), as so many of them were sold, and once people ran a roll of film through them, and saw how bad they were, they got packed away. Which is why so many you see on eBay, etc. look new.
I remember those stores - it was so obviously a scam that I wonder why anyone bought them.
High pressure fake-auctions and people getting carried away and thinking they are getting a bargain.
These scam auctions operated from pop-up shop units in areas where there were gullible tourists - Oxford Street, or seaside towns
I remember these things floating about but I cannot conceive how anyone would be stupid enough to fall for them. If you know nothing about cameras then make sure that what you are considering a has a recognisable name on it and do some research.
High pressure sales and people getting carried away, an unfortunate scam that worked far too well.
How long before Lomography is reproducing these?
To be fair Lomo have far better quality control and lenses!
Who inspected that and put a gold "Passed" sticker on it?
No idea, but I suspect they were not paid a great deal to do it....
A long time ago I bought 2 cameras for $5.00 each. They were a great investment. The photos were very beautiful. Both 35mm film cameras. The photos were so clear, and the colors were vibrant as well. I don't have any complaints about cheap cameras at all.
There is a modern equivalent of that scamera - the Yashica Y35. A pathetic attempt to introduce a 'digital film cartridge' in a very cheap and nasty camera.
I'm a huge user of original Japanese Yashica, but the new iteration of the company is just some generic Chinese (or Taiwanese?) corporation punting out old tat.
Nothing changes.................🙄
Yep, I've seen videos of those, they look really terrible, and not in a good way
Your thumbnail annoys me - it's WORST cameras, not WORSE cameras. On the positive side it made me click your video lol
kind of a vibe tho
Waste of fine film.
Are you being serious? I think anyone buying one of these thinking they're getting a Nikon for the price of a pizza deserves to be scammed. They're a cheap point and shoots fun cameras . Lomo sell cheap point and shoots for a hell of a lot more.
No one deserves to be scammed, and at the time (the 90's) they were sold for a lot more than a pizza, even against a Lomo these things suck, a disposable camera has better image quality (and I'm not joking).
@@gideonliddiardphotography Well don't buy one then.
cool stuff