Ever shot a photo with one hand with the other bracing a pole? Over a blind fence? Panning a moving subject due to a slow shutter speed? Or how about simply using a scale focus camera and no meter to shoot a roll of film?
Sometimes one best shots are taken in situations where there may be little in the way of guidance or control. And sometimes, photography can be at its most fun when it's not a cake walk of perfectly metered exposure and/or easy focusing.
In the Summer of last year, as my frugality was ramped up to about the same degree as my Gear Acquisition Syndrome, I stumbled across a cheap listing for a compact little rangefinder camera produced under the GAF name, and couldn't resist. For about $14.50 total, I snapped up the GAF Memo EE rangefinder in unknown working condition and not knowing just what to expect from this model.
Admittedly, I knew I was flirting with danger with this pickup. Unlike some compact rangefinder models of the 1960's and 1970's, the GAF does not offer a manual mode, so snapping one up in an "as-is" condition leaves one at the mercy of the longevity of the rather primitive electronics within its confines. And neither that mercy nor any luck were on my side when the GAF arrived. I discovered a dead meter in this budget pick up.
The particularly tiny GAF Memo EE is loosely related to the Konica C35, and also has some near-identical twins with various other nameplates.
