Fujica Half Review
Background
The Fujica Half camera is a beautiful little brick of a camera. Despite its heft, it is still fairly pocketable and meets all my criteria for a go anywhere sort of camera. The main reason I bought it was because the high quality fuji optics and I knew this camera was capable of some excellent images. I bought mine pretty cheap on eBay and (big surprise) it came with a broken meter, but unlike some cameras, this one works great without a meter and still has fully manual function. I have an old Canon Demi with a broken meter that works great as long as you know Sunny 16 or Sunny 8 pretty well. This camera is sturdy and solid aka heavy. I would not hesitate to bash it around a bit or use it for a weapon and I believe it could "take a licking and keep on ticking".
The Camera
In use it's got a simple range focus, 28mm lens with focal presets for portrait (~3ft), groups (~8ft) and infinity. I found the group setting was perfect for almost everything. The viewfinder is really nice and it even shows the shutter speed (if the meter was working) There is full aperture control from f2.8 to f22 and a nice selection of shutter speeds from 1/30, 1/60, 1/125 and 1/300. With a roll of Kodak Ektar, I set the aperture at f8 and the shutter speed at 1/300. So I used the camera more like a point and shoot, but if at any point the lighting conditions changed, I could adjust exposure. This worked great in the field and I found myself only wishing for the meter on a few occasions. I chose to bring this camera on a surf trip to Oaxaca, Mexico and in an effort to simplify my life it was the only ( film) camera I brought on the trip. It was a great little camera to stuff in a sturdy pocket (I repeat this camera is heavy) and grab snap shots around the city or countryside.
The Pictures
The images produced by the Fujica Half, were a nice breath of fresh air. Much like Fujifilm, they had a cool, contrasty feel and lended themselves well to the subject matter. The viewfinder and the images are well coupled. I did not have any issues with framing or alignment that can often plague other viewfinder cameras. My horizons were straight and nearly perfect, which made me very happy. There were a few images with light leaks and while I enjoy happy accidents, I will need to replace the seals moving forward.
The Fujica Half camera is a beautiful little brick of a camera. Despite its heft, it is still fairly pocketable and meets all my criteria for a go anywhere sort of camera. The main reason I bought it was because the high quality fuji optics and I knew this camera was capable of some excellent images. I bought mine pretty cheap on eBay and (big surprise) it came with a broken meter, but unlike some cameras, this one works great without a meter and still has fully manual function. I have an old Canon Demi with a broken meter that works great as long as you know Sunny 16 or Sunny 8 pretty well. This camera is sturdy and solid aka heavy. I would not hesitate to bash it around a bit or use it for a weapon and I believe it could "take a licking and keep on ticking".
The Camera
In use it's got a simple range focus, 28mm lens with focal presets for portrait (~3ft), groups (~8ft) and infinity. I found the group setting was perfect for almost everything. The viewfinder is really nice and it even shows the shutter speed (if the meter was working) There is full aperture control from f2.8 to f22 and a nice selection of shutter speeds from 1/30, 1/60, 1/125 and 1/300. With a roll of Kodak Ektar, I set the aperture at f8 and the shutter speed at 1/300. So I used the camera more like a point and shoot, but if at any point the lighting conditions changed, I could adjust exposure. This worked great in the field and I found myself only wishing for the meter on a few occasions. I chose to bring this camera on a surf trip to Oaxaca, Mexico and in an effort to simplify my life it was the only ( film) camera I brought on the trip. It was a great little camera to stuff in a sturdy pocket (I repeat this camera is heavy) and grab snap shots around the city or countryside.
The Pictures
The images produced by the Fujica Half, were a nice breath of fresh air. Much like Fujifilm, they had a cool, contrasty feel and lended themselves well to the subject matter. The viewfinder and the images are well coupled. I did not have any issues with framing or alignment that can often plague other viewfinder cameras. My horizons were straight and nearly perfect, which made me very happy. There were a few images with light leaks and while I enjoy happy accidents, I will need to replace the seals moving forward.
Conclusion
Would I buy one? Yes/ Maybe, if you already have a half frame or two, you probably don't need this camera. But if you are new to half frame photography, this is as good a choice as any, provided you have some photography experience. If you want auto exposure and full manual control in a compact package this thing is pretty great. In fact, I am not sure it has any equal in this regard. Since it's relatively flat it's more pocket able then similarly featured half frames like Pen EED or Pen D2 or Yashica Half. and it has more features than some it's flat lensed brethren like the Olympus Pen/ Pen S, Canon Demi or Agat 18k.
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