Great to see you back Keith. Never even saw this camera in Australia back then. Quite advanced for these cameras at that time. I like the Crap Cameras series. Cheers Marco.
Thanks Marco. It's not the most pleasant to shoot with but the results were much better than expected. The crap camera series is fun but my house is filling with 80s/90s plastic! I may sell some and carry on. Cheers, Keith
I have several of these cameras. They can do long exposures and multiple exposures and almost always accurate exposed images. Love these cameras. I just saw the images after I posted a comment. I was expecting a zombie type vibe with the music you chose.
Thanks voiceman. I find it fascinating that the camera manufacturers were using so much innovation towards the end of the film era, as technology gave us so much variation in ways to put light on to a film emulsion. The music is very much dictated by the length of the piece matching the length of the slide show. I add it in YT's editor and it isn't easy. Cheers, Keith (Zombie Photographer) 😁
I've looked at those Olympus models, I think every manufacturer seemed to have had one of these wierd looking 'bridge' cameras in their line-ups during that era. My personal favourite and one I want to pick up if I find a reasonably priced working one is the FujiFilm FZ-3000 ZoomDate which looks like a pair of binoculars out of Star Wars. You can't knock the images you got out of it though, Keith. It might not be pretty but it takes some good shots.
Thanks Andrew. When I got the first scan up on the screen I knew it was a good'n. It is an ergonomic disaster but the image quality makes up for it. I have been having problems with my 10 years old PC and it crashed twice while I was uploading the video. I have hoovered the heat sinks and fans and I am hoping this helps. Cheers, Keith
@theoldunsshot1005 I ended up biting the bullet a month or so ago and buying a new PC. Mine would routinely crash or quit the app. The old PC I had was designed for word docs and spreadsheets, not photoshop and video editing.
I've got the AZ 330 variant, excellent lens but not a great minimum focus distance, struggles with close ups of flowers and if I remember the 'half press' focus is far too sensitive so I ended up with some blurry shots as I was re-composing (bugger, I've just wasted 50p). I have to say I much prefer the Chinon's in this 'Z' camera format, just better designed for holding. I think the hand strap on the Olympus is just there to compensate for the likelihood of dropping it.
Thanks Iain. Of course I haven't tried the Chinon variant but I was pleasantly surprised with the quality from the Chinon Auto 3501 I bought in Moffat. Cheers, Keith
The short answer is No, not precisely. It really depends on how quickly you take you finger off the zoom buttons. But don't let that dissuade you. These 'Z' cameras, as they're collectively known, give you a different shooting experience with excellent lenses. There's just a bit of a learning curve.
Hi James. I have my own set of rules about shooting in graveyards and I like to think they offer valid photographic subjects. I tend to stick to old memorials where there is no chance of upsetting recently bereaved relatives. Cheers, Keith
Great to see you back Keith. Never even saw this camera in Australia back then. Quite advanced for these cameras at that time. I like the Crap Cameras series. Cheers Marco.
Thanks Marco. It's not the most pleasant to shoot with but the results were much better than expected. The crap camera series is fun but my house is filling with 80s/90s plastic! I may sell some and carry on. Cheers, Keith
I have several of these cameras. They can do long exposures and multiple exposures and almost always accurate exposed images. Love these cameras. I just saw the images after I posted a comment. I was expecting a zombie type vibe with the music you chose.
Thanks voiceman. I find it fascinating that the camera manufacturers were using so much innovation towards the end of the film era, as technology gave us so much variation in ways to put light on to a film emulsion. The music is very much dictated by the length of the piece matching the length of the slide show. I add it in YT's editor and it isn't easy. Cheers, Keith (Zombie Photographer) 😁
I've looked at those Olympus models, I think every manufacturer seemed to have had one of these wierd looking 'bridge' cameras in their line-ups during that era. My personal favourite and one I want to pick up if I find a reasonably priced working one is the FujiFilm FZ-3000 ZoomDate which looks like a pair of binoculars out of Star Wars.
You can't knock the images you got out of it though, Keith. It might not be pretty but it takes some good shots.
Thanks Andrew. When I got the first scan up on the screen I knew it was a good'n. It is an ergonomic disaster but the image quality makes up for it. I have been having problems with my 10 years old PC and it crashed twice while I was uploading the video. I have hoovered the heat sinks and fans and I am hoping this helps. Cheers, Keith
@theoldunsshot1005 I ended up biting the bullet a month or so ago and buying a new PC. Mine would routinely crash or quit the app. The old PC I had was designed for word docs and spreadsheets, not photoshop and video editing.
I've got the AZ 330 variant, excellent lens but not a great minimum focus distance, struggles with close ups of flowers and if I remember the 'half press' focus is far too sensitive so I ended up with some blurry shots as I was re-composing (bugger, I've just wasted 50p).
I have to say I much prefer the Chinon's in this 'Z' camera format, just better designed for holding. I think the hand strap on the Olympus is just there to compensate for the likelihood of dropping it.
Thanks Iain. Of course I haven't tried the Chinon variant but I was pleasantly surprised with the quality from the Chinon Auto 3501 I bought in Moffat. Cheers, Keith
Ha, jus got one those last week, film window light seal needed replacing, just running a test roll at the mo
Thanks vin. I think you will like the image quality. Cheers, Keith
It packs a punch!
Thanks. I agree. Cheers Keith
Nice images. I suspect the camera's bulk told against that style, Chinon made a couple that were similar.
Thanks grahvis. It is definitely bulky and the side strap makes it feel unbalanced, but it shoots nice. Cheers, Keith
Interesting video as always Keith. No feline photo bombing this time eh? 😁. It's usually "socks"
Thanks Iain. I normally film myself in the middle of the settee but Sox was asleep and I didn't have the heart to disturb him. Cheers, Keith
A very unusual design. Are you able to control precisely how far the lens zooms?
Thanks Kevin. To tell the truth I didn't notice anything untoward so I don't think it has definite stops like the Konica. Cheers, Keith
The short answer is No, not precisely. It really depends on how quickly you take you finger off the zoom buttons. But don't let that dissuade you. These 'Z' cameras, as they're collectively known, give you a different shooting experience with excellent lenses. There's just a bit of a learning curve.
How are you scanning your shots?
Thanks for visiting. I use a plustek OpticFilm 8100 which I really like although it only does 35mm. The software is Silverfast 8. Cheers, Keith
Taking photo's of graves a bit morbid.
Hi James. I have my own set of rules about shooting in graveyards and I like to think they offer valid photographic subjects. I tend to stick to old memorials where there is no chance of upsetting recently bereaved relatives. Cheers, Keith