Right on the heels of my awesome flea market finds (the Konica Big Mini HG and the Olympus T-20 flash) comes the Konica U-Mini. Found for under $5, this 35mm pocket point-n-shoot sports a 28mm fixed focus wide angle plastic lens that shoots at either f/6.7 or f/6.8 - I'm not sure which one. It also has two shutter speeds, 1/60sec and 1sec, a DX type auto ISO system with auto selections between 100iso, 200iso, and 400iso, auto film advance and rewind, auto flash with red eye, a tiny little LCD film counter, and a built-in lens cover that doubles as the power switch. This camera is also powered by a CR123 3volt battery which will be shared between my other Konica cameras.

The Konica U-Mini reminds me of the Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim with its all plastic design. Although not as wide as the Vivitar UWS's 22mm lens, I expect this 28mm lens to give me close to the same results. The camera arrived in mint condition with only a bit of dust on the lens surface which I wiped clean immediately. I'll be loading this camera up with a roll of film soon to test its worthiness as a Lomo camera.

A single roll of Seattle Film Works 35mm 200iso color film - expired June 1999. No doubt the layers of emulsion on this film has gone bad - how was this film stored? But I know no fear, I'll shoot it just the same! Price paid...10¢

A fully functional Olympus T-20 electronic flash. No corrosion in the battery compartment and the front diffuser is still pretty clear. I installs two AA batteries and the flash charged and fired. It's my first ever Olympus flash - I'll introduce it to my Olympus OM-1n later today. Price paid...$3.00

A Konica Big Mini HG (BM-300). It's dusty, dirty, and grimy - plus plenty of scuffs and scratches. I swiped the battery from my other Big Mini, dumped it in, and the camera came to life. I'll give it a good cleaning in the next day or so. The camera still had a partially exposed roll of Kodak 200 Gold 36exp in it - I rewound the film back into the canister and plan to have it developed. It was most likely ruined my someone opening the camera back....but you never know, there may be recoverable images on the roll. Price paid...$6.00

Just added to my collection of backyard shooters is the Konica Pop. A fully automatic 35mm camera featuring a Hexanon 36mm fixed lens that shoots at f/4 and a pop-up flash......nothing more. This camera is in near mint condition and cost me less than a fancy Venti drink from Starbucks. My new Konica Pop is a compromise because I still can't find the Konica C35 EF3 in good condition at a price I'm willing to pay. Both the Konica C35 EF3 and the Konica Pop are identical in shape, form-factor, looks, and features with the exception of the C35 EF3 sporting a Hexanon 35mm f/2.8 fixed lens. I'm sure I'll find one soon enough.

The four roll leather case is finished. Took only 30min's or so to complete, not counting drying time for the dye. The leather has no stitching, only 4 rivets and 1 snap holding it all together. The plastic case originally had a belt clip but I cut it off because it cluttered up the look of the entire case once the leather was added. I also stamped "35MM" and the word "Four" on opposing sides of the case - meaning four rolls of 35mm film....ha,ha. I'm happy with the results - project complete.

In the month of April my Analog Project 2012 features the Konica Big Mini-302. This camera released by Konica in 1990 is an automatic exposure 35mm point-n-shoot featuring a 35mm lens that shoots at f3.5, auto focus, automatic film advance and rewind, built-in flash, self timer, and options to adjust exposure values by a stop or two. The big Mini's design is of a plastic build, it's light weight, has an attractive sleek and thin profile with smooth rounded corners  - fits nicely into any pocket. This camera would make a great companion for no nonsense shooting in most any outdoor conditions. This camera also adjusts the ISO automatically - when using DX type film the camera will select an ISO between 25 and 3200 and when using non DX film the camera defaults to an ISO of 25. If I remember correctly, DX film has a barcode below the sprocket holes which is recognized by some cameras as well as machines used during film processing. I've noticed that several brands and types of film that I've used recently seem to have barcodes, but I'm going to have to take a closer look because whats the point of shooting if the selected ISO is incorrect for the conditions in which I'm shooting. My biggest two complaints about the Big Mini-302 is the slow auto focus and the power and shutter button being too close together.

My next leather crafting project will be another film holder. I found this hard plastic canister made to hold film on eBay for only a few bucks. The bottom is stamped "Material Corporation, Patents Pending, Made In Japan." and the top has a cool etched diagram of rain drops, 4 rolls of film and 3 big arrows pointing towards the etched diagrams of film. Perhaps it means that the case is waterproof and also contains rolls of film. There's also a belt clip on the side but I plan to remove it because I don't want to stitch leather around it. This project will have the same look and feel as my other two leather film holders - I need to buy more tooling leather but it should be done in a few days. After the completion of this project I'm planning to make a leather film box that holds 10 rolls of 35mm film.

Here's my latest vintage camera - the Olympus Pen EF. It's yet another half frame camera added to my small collection of half frame cameras. It's so simple to use offering the operator a full range of ISO settings (25-400), and the use of an internal pop-up flash....thats it.

The Pen EF has a fixed focus 28mm f/3.5 D.Zuiko lens - so you just point-&-shoot! The automatic exposure sports shutter speeds of 1/30sec. (at f/3.5) or 1/250sec. (at f/22). The exposure calculation is done via the selenium light meter and the chosen ISO. If you plan on using the flash as fill light during outdoor daytime shots or indoors with low light simply slide the front mounted switch on the front of the camera down and the flash will charge in less than 5 seconds. The flash requires a single AA battery - and I love the little flash ready lamp that glows orange on the back of the camera when the flash is fully charged....it's so old school.

The Pen EF was sold by Olympus between 1981-1983 and I think most sales were in Japan. Once again half frame cameras give you twice the exposures on a roll of film. Half frame images are 18x24mm each vs. 35mm images at 24x36mm each. I really do love the simplicity of these fixed focus (sometimes zone focus) Olympus cameras with their worry-free exposure system - they truly are great cameras. This Pen EF is now my newest and 5th half frame camera behind my Olympus Pen EE2, Pen FT, Trip 35SP, and the Diana Mini Petite Noir.

Extra Note:
I mentioned in a post on Instagram that I've limited myself to only shooting 24exp rolls of film in half frame cameras - a 36exp roll of film produces 72 shots and thats just too many. Due to the unique frame size I try to take several extra shots of a subject from a few different angles - then choose the best one in post. I end up with about 25 keepers out of 48 captures.