Compact Archives - Facts, notes and thoughts about vintage cameras and other trifle matters

October 6, 2023

Voigtlander VF 135

Voigtlander VF 135 In the mid-1960s, Voigtlander, a time-honoured brand in the industry, had felt the brunt of the up-and-coming Japanese camera industry. After making quality cameras for decades, they needed to broaden their local and export market to capture the base of the user’s pyramid. The time of the Klapp style has long gone, and the quality Vito, Vitessa...

35 mm/Compact/Rangefinder/Voigtlander/West Germany Comments: 0

October 5, 2022

Petri Color 35 E

Petri Color 35 E Fully Automatic Petry Color 35 E user manual Current values Petri Color 35 E Ihagee Exa 35 E Brown Phokina Compact 35 S Cosina Compact 35 S Petri Micro Compact In the 1960s, photography became accessible to all walks of life. The rigid contact print formats gave way to the Kodak 135 format, so old-style...

35 mm/Compact/Japan/Petri/Viewfinder Comment: 1

September 28, 2022

SEM Kim / Baby SEM

SEM Kim / Baby SEM SEM Kim current value SEM Baby current value Sometimes I feel I have to find another hobby. Looking for camera information online yields either an avalanche of primarily copy-and-paste information or hardly anything of value. Some years ago, I searched for Taron cameras, which coincided with the release of a movie starring a certain Taron...

35 mm/Compact/France/SEM/Viewfinder Comments: 0

November 28, 2021

Olympus XA family

Olympus XA family model list About four years ago, I drove to Peterborough to pick up two Olympus Pen F. The seller suggested he has a few other cameras, which I always love seeing. It ended with an apple crate full of odds and ends, with which I happily drove home. A week later, the seller called, suggesting even more...

35 mm/Compact/Japan/Olympus Comments: 0

March 8, 2021

Carl Zeiss Werra family

Carl Zeiss Werra camera family model list For current Werra prices, see camdex.ca Prologue I can think of no mechanical product that celebrates 65, yet still looks fresh and is usable. 65 years are almost three generations, where technology, style, use, materials, and so on have evolved. Today, a product made just a decade ago is of no use and...

35 mm/Carl Zeiss Jena/Compact/DDR/Werra Comments: 11

August 5, 2019

Olympus Trip 35

Olympus Trip 35 Lovely little camera, cute to Olympus design tradition. fits well into small and large hands, is lightweight, and simple to use. Little wonder that they are plenty of them out there. Almost a point-and-shoot camera. Settings are scant, the distance by estimate, ASA setup, and recommended aperture. By the light meter, the camera decides what shutter speed...

Compact/Japan/Olympus/Viewfinder Comments: 0

August 5, 2019

Olympus 35 RC

Olympus 35 RC There are petty cameras, there are not so. It would be an endless discussion about which is which. Within the scale of the pretty camera, the Olympus 35RC has a seat at the very top. Be it within the entire camera universe, for sure amongst the rangefinders. Toy companies have the ability to simplify the design of...

35 mm/Compact/Japan/Olympus/Rangefinder Comments: 0

June 25, 2019

Nasco Galaxy

Nasco Galaxy Nasco Galaxy current value This little camera caught my attention at an online auction. Always looking for odd cameras, I looked it up and found little information about it, where writers relate its pedigree to different dynasties, None seem to have any basis. McKeown’s relates it to Taron PR, a camera as obscure, admittingly a look alike. It...

Compact/Japan/Obscure/Rangefinder Comments: 0

June 5, 2019

Olympus 35-S

Olympus 35-S and 35-S II Olympus 35-S / Tower 18 user manual Olympus 35-S current value Olympus 35-S II / Tower 35-S current value Two cameras of the same name, of different crop and slightly different. A common phenomenon in the camera universe. The German manufacturers are notorious for producing step-up models marked with the same name, perhaps for a...

Compact/Japan/Olympus/Rangefinder Comments: 2

Category: Compact