HISTORY OF THIS CAMERA
My professional and private background is all about electronics, audio and 'The Arts' but NOT photography! My photographs on this website will atest to that (it's the best I can do with the equipment I have!)
Recently I have been asked by an associate/friend to 'look after' their collection of photographic equipment and small format film projectors and stock due to their serious ill health and his inability to look after this gear any longer. Most of the gear is original Japanese marketplace equipment, his country of birth. This is one of the vintage 35mm film cameras, a very dated camera but pretty 'cool' in it's own way!
I do not pretend to know a lot about this gear, in my younger days I had a 'box brownie' and I think later a 'super ubeaut' Pentax SLR camera so my experience with these old point n' shoot film cameras is pretty well zilch.
PLEASE read the description below completely and decide if this camera may be of interest to you.
There are no returns or refunds offered, this is second hand gear and offered 'as-is' but I do try to give some information in the TESTING section of this description.
KYOCERA Point N Shoot Camera
Technology: 35mm Film (Analog)
Model: P.mini 2 PANORAMA
Kyocera 32mm 1:3.8 lens
Released to the market around 1993
Special features are:
Panoramic mode
Full electric film winding, backwards/rewind and forward
Date stamping direct to film (date set by the user)
Japanese consumer market model, this was purchased retail in Japan and is not an Australian import model
Designed and made in Japan
Supplied with the carry wrist strap
NO batteries supplied (uses 2x AA size, Alkaline is best)
NO carry case
Lens is protected by a front "slide" and when open, this also "fires up the camera" ready for use.
Underside has a threaded hole for tripod mounting
Weight: 150g (no batteries fitted)
Dimensions: 117mm wide x 53mm front to back and 64mm high
TESTING:
Testing limitations: I do not have any 35mm film rolls, which means I have visually inspected the lens and viewfinder to the best of my abilities and checked the electronics/electrical operation.
Here is what I discovered ...
Upon inserting the batteries, the camera comes "alive" with a 1 showing in the top LCD screen. It appears this screen is always active as I could not figure out how to turn the camera 'off'. Open the front lens protector (easy slide movement) and the camera now responds to the various buttons on the top and at the rear of the camera. I checked that I could enable the Flash and 'took a photo' - the flash works fine. I then used the timer, which starts at 10 and counts down to 0 and then takes the picture (I can hear the shutter operate and the flash operated) I don't know if this timer period can be changed. If I open the rear of the case and then close it, the motor operates to wind on the film which would normally have just been inserted. I checked I could move backwards and forwards on the 'film' - all seemed to operate properly.
The battery terminals are clean with no rust observed and the thin plastic strip is intact, this comes in handy when removing batteries.
The lens looks to be clean and without scratching but I did notice two small Black dots on the viewfinder screen which seemed to be 'inside'.
Topside LCD screen is monochrome (no backlight) and there appears to be no cracks or screen damage i.e I could read the text or graphics fine.
Both the battery compartment release and the rear camera case release work correctly and are not damaged.
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
Clean
NO physical camera body damage at all, but of course there are various LIGHT scuff or handling marks but none of these are of any significance (in my opinion)
Almost all labelling is unworn but the rear sliding switch to change the mode to Panoramic has suffered some graphic wear, this isn't an operational issue just cosmetic.
Control buttons are all present, clean and do operate as they should although those control buttons are very small 'use a pen' type of operation - very fiddly in my view. This particularly applies to the date setting controls on the rear of the camera.
Battery compartment lid works fine and inside it is nice and clean with no signs of previous battery leakage.
In summary, this camera is a nice example of dated analog film technology aimed at the everyday user. Funny thing about these ... while doing some research I learned that old 35mm film camera are back in fashion (in Japan at least)! A bit like the throwback to vinyl records. I have no idea where one could purchase the film let alone have it developed but I guess an enthusiast will have the answers to those questions.
I have now packed this camera into a sealed clear plastic package to maintain the present condition and keep out airborne dust.
The camera is supplied WITHOUT batteries as Australia Post is very adverse to sending equipment with batteries installed.
