Point and Shoot Pity Party Part 6: Olympus Infinity SuperZoom 300

This is Part 6 of a recurring series on basic point and shoot consumer cameras, the details of which can be found here.

If a point and shoot and an SLR had a baby, it would be a "bridge" camera.  These viewfinder based cameras hit the market in the early 1990's marketed as a more full featured alternative to a point and shoot but designed with a more novice-friendly interface than an SLR.   Ricoh, Chinon, Canon, and Olympus were some of the primary manufacturers of this genre of camera.  I knew when I started this series that I'd love to snap one of these up to try out if the price was right.  I had all but given up on finding one when this one showed up in a nearby thrift shop.  Even after getting home and finding the camera working, it was particularly fiddly about loading film, but finally acquiesced and let me run a roll of some Ferrania film through it. 

The look of the Olympus Infinity Super Zoom tries to be intimidating, but tends to come off as a bit awkward to say the least. 

Name: Olympus Infinity SuperZoom 300

Format: 35mm

Type: Autofocus "Bridge" Camera

Year: 1988

Features: Single and Continuous Advance, Multiple Exposures, Macro and Portrait Modes, Infinity Focus Mode, Exposure compensation (-1.5 to +1.5 in half steps), Spot metering, Servo Focusing for moving subjects, self-timer, forced fill flash and force flash off.

Lens: 38-105mm f/4.0-5.6, 12 elements in 11 groups
Battery: 2 x CR-123 cells.
Manual: http://www.butkus.org/chinon/olympus/olympus_infinity_superzoom_300/olympus_infinity_superzoom_300.htm 

No Spartan Here! The Spartus Roxmar

The great thing about having a hobby shooting film in classic film cameras, and making the world aware of it is that eventually, someone will come along and help you feed your sickness! 

Not long after posting my article on the rather cumbersome Samsung Maxima 105, Mike Novak, a fellow member of the Facebook Vintage Camera Collectors Group, offered to send me a handful of cameras to borrow to which I could give a try.  Though he sent along a refinement of the Samsung Point and Shoot series, he also sent along a particularly charming camera that piqued my interest the most: The Spartus Roxmar! 

Surprisingly Solid Substitute! The Konica C35EF

I stood at the ready, estimated my focus, and fired my first shot with the Konica C35EF.  The needle had indictated an aperture of between f/5.6 and f/8, and the shutter had readily fired at my direction.  Since I was just a few minutes from home, this shot, and the ones to follow, were pretty much snap shots, and by no means critical; yet I still had my hopes they would turn out.  Still, this was a camera that, merely an hour earlier, seemed destined to be sidelined for a while, as my attention focused on more "elegant" members of my collection.

It was this adoration to one of these more revered cameras that actually forced this situation to begin with. I had just received a trio of 12 exposure rolls of expired 100 speed "mystery film" from Ultra Fine. While they surmised it to be Konica film, the labeling strongly suggested it was of Ferrania/Imation origins.  There was no better way to find out than to shoot a roll of it, develop the results, and check the film rebate markings. It seemed a perfect creative diversion to couple with errands on a pleasant October afternoon.

My chosen vessel for this bit of photographic sleuthing was an elegantly designed and well loved folding compact camera of German origin.  I had been waiting for a suitable chance to test out this camera, and this seemed ideal. I threaded the mystery film into the take up spool, and needed to only take up the slack and advance the film to the first frame to get this show on the road. However, no amount of winding or other manipulation would make the take up spool spin on the German mini. My little project suddenly needed an alternative device upon which to expose frames. Sure I could go with any number of other tried and tested members of the collection, but the thought of shooting this guess-focused camera had me looking forward to a new shooting experience that I was now deprived of.  With my time limited, I recalled the Konica C35EF, which I brought up from the basement, loaded up with the film, and set out to shoot.

The late 70's/early 80's look of the Konica C35 EF (known as the "Pikkari" in Japan) looks right at home in an office setting of the same era.  All we need to complete the picture is a dot matrix printer!