This one could be one of my favourites, if not for the fact that it takes the most irritating film in the world: 127. I don’t mind the format itself, except for the fact that it is nearly impossible to get unless you cut it down yourself, or stick to black and white. I do plan on getting one of those Filmhack gizmos eventually, because I need some more variety in my 127 cameras.
To start, it’s such a cute little thing, it weighs nothing, and it has two entire settings: colour or black and white. The plugs on the side of it are for a flash, which I do also have but couldn’t be fucked to dig out from its box, but I don’t have any bulbs for it. Also, I don’t do a whole lot of indoor photography anyway, so I haven’t had any fucks to give for hunting down the correct bulbs for the rig. They’re one-time-use bulbs, which makes it even more expensive and troublesome, so I just sort of use these as outdoor-only cameras for the most part.
This right here is why I love this camera though. And to be honest, it’s why this one works so well in daylight anyway. So many cameras are set up assuming the user is going to be looking through the rangefinder with their right eye, but I cannot do that what with being kinda blind in that eye. I have to use my left, and then my glasses get all messed up, and my face winds up uncomfortably pressed up to everything, and it’s just weird. This one has two different ways of framing your shot, and neither of them involves putting your face up against the body of the camera.
The one I use is the lens on the top. Even taking a photo with my phone, you can see how crisp and clear the image is. The little shield that folds out keeps extra light from reflecting off into your eyes, and you get a bright, vibrant image to see what you’re doing. It is a mirror image, so it takes some time getting used to, but it’s a fun way to shoot just in general. It’s also got a sport rangefinder, but I don’t much fancy that one. It’s meant to be faster, or something, but once you get used to the one on top, you can get pretty quick with it as well.
I still have some film in here I need to run out, but its guts are the same as the Starmatic.