Small Budget Friendly 35mm Camera

[JADoss23]

Looking for suggestions on a small point & shoot camera or rangefinder that's Autofocus, slim and reliable. My olympus is starting to crap out and looking for something sub $200. Prefer a slim design that's easy to slip away and not bulky. Thanks

 

[4season]

Looking for suggestions on a small point & shoot camera or rangefinder that's Autofocus, slim and reliable. My olympus is starting to crap out and looking for something sub $200. Prefer a slim design that's easy to slip away and not bulky. Thanks

At the moment, I don't know of anything which meets your criteria, particularly in regards to reliability. But it's possible that help may be on the way from Pentax in 2024 as per this video which was published early in 2023:

 

[Don_ih]

Get a Minolta Riva Zoom. Hard to beat for price and photo quality. And they're not as old as most others.

Or a Pentax PC35, if you want a prime lens. Although the price of those seems a bit high.

Skip Canon point-and-shoot.

 

[Helge]

Still relatively undiscovered, despite KR advertising it.
Effing boss looking, good lens and more durable than the 3001.
But there are many out there. Take your pick from any of the major brands, that you happen to find cheap and it’s probably going to be good.

Edit: Kodak also had Chinon make two Kodak branded versions of this camera.

Chinon Auto 2001 & Kodak VR35 K14 Review - Vision of the Future From the Past - By Thang Nguyen

This is a review of the Chinon Auto 2001 & Kodak VR35 K14 - the Kodak VR35 K14 is a rebranded and slightly tweaked Chinon 2001.

www.35mmc.com

 

[xkaes]

If you want a small budget & family friendly & reliable 35mm camera, I'll suggest you drop the AF. You automatically drop the weight, complexity & price. There are a ton of these that you can get for UNDER $15 with great lenses -- used, of course.

Perhaps the most were made by Minolta, followed by Yashica/Kyocera, and then others. Here's a list of Minolta's NON-AF viewfinder cameras. Most have manually-focusing lenses, but the models starting with the FREEDOM (near the end of the list), are all focus free -- although I should point out that most of the focus-free cameras were also sold with AF, for a few dollars more (if you REALLY must have AF). Most small budget, family friendly 35mm cameras used slightly wider lenses (28-38mm) with small enough apertures (f4-5.6) that focusing is irrelevant, since everything from 4 feet to infinity is in focus.

More expensive models have more features, like compact size, zoom lens, turning the flash ON or OFF, date imprint, film wind/rewind, DX coding, self-timer, tripod socket, viewfinder info, back-light control, +/- adjustment, etc.

http://www.subclub.org/minman/minfind.htm

 

[Paul Howell]

I have pretty good luck with Pentax IQs, seem to have held up better than entry level Nikon. I also have a few Chion which have good lens, early models use AA batteries. Overall I tend to use my first generations models as they were not Dx coded which allows me to use the ASA control to override the auto exposure.

 

[Eric Rose]

Nikon EM

 

[M-88]

Isn't "family friendly" what these point and shoot cameras were made for in the fiest place?.. There are zillions of AF cameras under 200$ price point. In fact, if OP doesn't want something specific like a prime lens or an all metal body, then why not buy a bunch of, let's say, 40$ cameras and once one of them dies, toss it into garbage and start using another?

 

[mshchem]

Pentax made nice AF point and shoot.

 

[lrlebron]

Ten Great Point and Shoot Film Cameras

 

[Sirius Glass]

The OP is in the US, so use the 800 telephone number as ask KEH what they recommend.

 

[xkaes]

The OP is in the US, so use the 800 telephone number as ask KEH what they recommend.

If all else fails, PUNT.

 

[Sirius Glass]

If all else fails, PUNT.

A punt is better than a FUMBLE.

 

[George Mann]

Nikon EM

I use an FG with both the 35mm and 50mm Series E lenses.

It is light and compact enough that it has replaced my Pentax point and shoot.

 

[Chan Tran]

I do not know of a rangefinder that autofocus. Many autofocus compact cameras look like rangefinder but they are not. However, I think a small (if small is what you want) SLR is a much better choice. Good working compact P&S cameras are not cheap any more. Also you would think P&S cameras are simple they are not. If you don't need AF then something like the Nikon FM, FE or EM would be good. If you need AF then something like the Nikon N80 is cheap and good.

 

[xkaes]

Looks like we'll have to wait until JA, the OP, defines what is meant by:

"Looking for suggestions on a small point & shoot camera ... that's Autofocus ... Prefer a slim design that's easy to slip away and not bulky"

To me, that is not any AF SLR I've ever seen.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I do not know of a rangefinder that autofocus.

Actually, many of the early compact autofocus cameras were rangefinders -- the rangefinder was, of course, automatically operated, with a projected spot of infrared detected by a narrow-angle sensor coupled to the focus mechanism. Some had a larger, fuzzier visible light spot to give aid to the user in determining where the camera would focus. When the shutter was half-pressed, the RF would lock in focus, and pressing the rest of the way would then expose the frame (almost universally with full-auto exposure control as well).

That said, auto focus and rangefinder aren't generally considered the same camera type. Most of us prefer cameras with at least the option for manual exposure and focus -- but there were a lot of these P&S cameras sold in the 1990s. I even own a couple (if they haven't been destroyed by corroded batteries in whatever box they're still in after my move eight years ago).

 

[Chan Tran]

Actually, many of the early compact autofocus cameras were rangefinders -- the rangefinder was, of course, automatically operated, with a projected spot of infrared detected by a narrow-angle sensor coupled to the focus mechanism. Some had a larger, fuzzier visible light spot to give aid to the user in determining where the camera would focus. When the shutter was half-pressed, the RF would lock in focus, and pressing the rest of the way would then expose the frame (almost universally with full-auto exposure control as well).

That said, auto focus and rangefinder aren't generally considered the same camera type. Most of us prefer cameras with at least the option for manual exposure and focus -- but there were a lot of these P&S cameras sold in the 1990s. I even own a couple (if they haven't been destroyed by corroded batteries in whatever box they're still in after my move eight years ago).

What I said that I don't know of any camera with autofocus and is a rangefinder. Of course before AF became popular many compact cameras were rangefinder but they were not autofocus. I can say pretty sure that the is no rangefinder with autofocus. With and SLR you can focus with the reflex viewfinder or autofocus.

 

[Donald Qualls]

You're misunderstanding how early auto focus worked. Send the beam, move either sensor or beam until the beam spot is in the sensor, that's your focus. Done automatically in 1/4 second or so. Triangulation without operator intervention is still a type of rangefinder. In fact, that's how almost all auto focus (other than SX-70 family) worked until digital autofocus from the sensor by one means or another became available.

 

[xkaes]

With and SLR you can focus with the reflex viewfinder or autofocus.

Mostly, almost completely true. There are AF SLR cameras that do not allow manual focusing of the lens -- and there are AF SLR lenses that do not allow manual focusing too!

 

[Chan Tran]

Ten Great Point and Shoot Film Cameras

The first one in the list the Minox isn't a P&S. It's a compact camera and a nice one but is not P&S.

 

[xkaes]

The first one in the list the Minox isn't a P&S. It's a compact camera and a nice one but is not P&S.

I have no idea which Minox model was on that list, but there are several Minox cameras that are definitely P&S -- and all of them a very compact & light.

 

[Kino]

Wasn't there an "auto focus" function on an early rangefinder based on the angle a camera was tilted? Seems I remember something of the sort; a weight moved the front element in or out depending on how far down the camera was tilted from level.

 

[Chan Tran]

I have no idea which Minox model was on that list, but there are several Minox cameras that are definitely P&S -- and all of them a very compact & light.

It's the Minox EL which does have aperture priority autoexposure but you have to manually focus using the scale. Hardly considered a P&S. The scale focusing was the reason I didn't buy it back in the late 70's. I chose the Olympus XA instead but they are no P&S.

 

[Trilianleo]

I miss my olympus infinity. Pocketable. Well under 200. Many nice cameras coming over from Japan on ebay.