Begging For Compact Cameras
Bellamy Hunt at Japan Camera Hunter argues for a new compact film camera:
One of the large makers needs to step up to the plate and make a compact film camera. And I am not saying this on a whim or with a wistful idea of halcyon days. I get more requests for compact cameras than I could ever fulfill, even if I had the cameras. People are prepared to spend nearly $1000 for an old Contax or Ricoh, knowing full well that it could simply stop working at any point and there would be nothing they could do about it.
Hunt’s point – that the current stock of compact cameras is dwindling, and getting more expensive – tells me that there’s a market for a new film camera out there, if someone would just take a chance on making one. And with more and more companies investing in film again, photographers need new tools to take advantage of those film stocks.
Compact cameras are my favorite kind of camera, and I’m not alone. The company that stepped up and started making new film cameras again would gain more than money – they’d earn a whole bunch of goodwill.
June 10, 2017 @ 12:28 am
I guess this depends on the reason for taking the photographs. My ‘family snapshots’ are wonderfully served by an extremely simple Vivitar UWS and a Konica Eu-Mini which are as compact as you can get and cost under £10. For more commercial work with more controls and facilities, then Lomography have a vast range of 35mm ‘toy’ cameras and films. They can be rather expensive tho.
June 12, 2017 @ 9:21 am
Sure. Some pros would prefer a higher-end, more capable film camera. Think wedding photographers.