All cameras are film tested unless new and sealed in packaging. Any repairs or modifications will be described. If it runs on batteries, they will be included.
Cameras
Minolta “Talker” AF-SV (a.k.a. The Yappatron) – $75
35mm f/2.8 Normal-wide lens with infrared autofocus.
Shutter speeds between 1/2 ~ 1/650 sec.
Programmed auto-exposure.
Can use 25 ~ 1000 ASA film, sensitivity is set manually. Use it to push or pull film, or as an exposure compensation control.
Pop-up flash activated by thumb switch.
Self timer.
Auto-load, motor advance and motor rewind.
Takes 2 AA batteries
Comes with lens cover and original strap.
You can make it talk by sliding a switch on the back. It will softly yap at you if you trip the shutter while the camera is empty, or if it thinks you should raise the flash. It won’t pop it up for you, but it will nag you to do it. If the switch for the talking feature is held in an in-between position, you can make it speak Japanese.
Buy it quick before I decide to keep this one for myself.
Kalimar Spirit AF – $55 (New old stock)
35mm f/4.5 Normal-wide lens. A follow-up model to a popular low-end compact camera with infrared autofocus capability paired with a plastic lens.
Shutter speeds not stated by manufacturer, but I suspect it is a single speed leaf shutter fixed at 1/125.
Programmed auto-exposure.
Reads film DX codes, but its ISO range is not specified. Stick with 100 ~ 400 ASA film.
Flash manually activated by a switch. An indicator LED will suggest flash use in low light, but this can be ignored.
Auto-load, motor advance and motor rewind. Has an indicator showing whether the film is properly loaded and running.
Takes 2 AA batteries.
Sealed in original retail packaging with strap and manual.
Canon Snappy Q / Canon Sketchbook (AKA: The Sunfish) – $69
35mm f/4.5 Normal-wide lens. (Fixed focus, aperture controlled by film speed switch on its face)
Shutter: Fixed at 1/70 second. Pan and track to capture moving subjects in sharp detail with blurred and flowing backgrounds.
Programmed auto-exposure.
Rated for 100 ~ 400 ASA 35mm film, but nothing stops you from loading faster or slower film.
Automatic flash, can be forced off. Easy to trick into “flash always on” mode. Cover the light sensor with a finger, half-press the shutter button, and watch in horror as your sunfish pops a red rocket.
Mechanical self-timer lever.
Drop-in loading, motor advance and motor rewind.
Takes 2 AA batteries.
Has a switch that allows you to shoot through the textured lens cover as a “sketchbook filter.”
Dreamlike pictures. Comes with strap, pouch, and instructions.
Canon Sure Shot BF – $89 (New old stock)
32mm f/5.6 Wide-angle lens (Fixed focus)
Shutter: AE sets 2-speed shutter between 1/125 or 1/45 sec.
Programmed auto-exposure.
Reads film DX codes. Uses 100~400 ASA 35mm film.
Self timer, LCD frame counter and flash state display.
Takes 2 AA batteries.
Auto-load, motor advance and motor rewind.
Strap included. The viewfinder is really big.
Minox 35 EL – $150 (Professionally overhauled)
35mm f/2.8 Normal-wide lens.
Shutter: 1/500 sec. max speed, slowest shutter speed between1~30 seconds depending on film ASA setting. Shutter button threaded for cable release.
Aperture priority auto-exposure. You set the aperture, camera sets shutter speed.
Film speed (ASA 25-800) set by selector wheel on bottom plate.
Hot shoe connection for flash.
Takes a PX27 battery.
Detachable back. Manual load, manual rewind.
This is a seriously tiny device, just about the size of a deck of playing cards or a pack of cigarettes. Design-wise, it’s about as small as a camera like this can possibly get. Just disappears in the pocket of your jeans. Certainly there are smaller film cameras, but those take weird film. (Which I happen to sell.)
Fed 5B & Industar 55mm – $80
Industar 55mm f/2.8 lens (L/D designation for lanthanum glass.) It is an L39 mount lens, and is compatible with the full Leica Thread Mount system and the Leica M mount with accurate rangefinder focusing.
Shutter speed manually set from 1/500 to 1 second with a bulb mode. Shutter button is threaded to accept a cable release.
Advance, exposure, focus, load, rewind, everything is manual. Nothing is automatic except for the frame counter.
Rangefinder focus patch in viewfinder. Diopter adjustment possible for glasses-wearers.
Hot shoe for flash connection. Synchronization at 1/30 sec. and below.
No batteries needed.
The Fed 5B is heavy. It is as gravelly today as it was the day it slid off a conveyor belt somewhere in the Soviet Union, and it will be just as clunky when your grandchild finds it while cleaning out your sublet tiny home in 2084. It also may or not have been made by orphans, I didn’t really look into it that deeply. It will make you a better photographer and outlive you- and you won’t even be the first one it outlived. Could it be that orphan tears are the ideal lubricant for camera mechanisms? I digress. The Fed 5 and included Industar 55/LD lens is an inexpensive and utterly reliable entry into the Leica “LTM” rangefinder ecosystem, which has been around for nearly a hundred years now and still has lenses and equipment being made for it to this day.