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.

My prototype leather dark slide holder ended up being the final product. I re-stitched the edges which made the leather fit perfectly around the holder. I had planned to attach a lanyard but the whole thing fits in my back pocket so well that I decided to leave it as-is. The dark slide is housed inside a hard molded plastic holder thats normally attached to the back of a Hasselblad A12 film back with adhesive strips. You can find them online for under $20. I tested my finished projects ability to protect my Hasselblad dark slide if I accidentally sat down with it in my back pocket. It totally works - my dark slide survived and emerged from the holder as flat as when it went in.....Project complete!

 

In the month of March my Analog Project 2012 featured the Mamiya U. This camera released by Mamiya in 1981 is an automatic exposure 35mm point-n-shoot that features a sharp 35mm Mamiya / Sekor f/2.8 lens, shutter speeds that range from 1/8sec to 1/500sec, a built-in pop-up flash, 12sec self timer, and an underexposure warning alert. With zone focusing, this camera is easy to use and serves as a great all-around pocket shooter. I think this camera is best suited for simple daylight shooting with 200 speed film and not too dark indoor shots with 400 speed film as long as you use the built-in flash. My little DIY thumb-tack shutter release button has held up very well over the past year - it saved this camera from a life of never being used as it would have sat on the back shelf. It's another in a series of big bulky PnS from the 80's that I've added to my collection - I seem to have a soft spot for this style of 80's retro cameras. In my opinion these types of cameras (80's point-n-shoots) sits squarely in first place as an alternative to over priced boutique cameras that are all the rage in the Lomography scene.

Check out my YouTube Ch. for a quick video about this camera.

When looking through the viewfinder of most medium format cameras of this type - up moves down, down moves up, right moves left, and left moves right.....plus the reversing of any additional movement. All of this can cause one to loose their sense of balance within the viewfinders frame. After using my Bronica ETRSi over the past few years I've learned to recover quickly but I've always longed for a built-in level for days when I'm just not feeling it. This is a Hasselblad Spirit Level which attaches to the side of the Hasselblad 500 C/M accessory rail. When the bubble inside the liquid filled chamber settles within the center circle, the camera is level.

Just finished stitching together another leather film holder. This one is for a single roll of 120mm film. The plastic container courtesy of Rollei Retro 100 Tonal. I stamped the lower portion of the leather with the numbers "120" to represent the film type. It turned out so well that I went back and stamped the numbers "35" on my previous leather film holder which holds dual 35mm film rolls. My stitching needs more practice but with each leather crafting project I'm only gonna get better. Next up is a dark slide holder....stay tuned.