I ended the last entry saying I’d finish up this series with some info on other film formats and boutique cameras. It was a while ago and not I’m entirely sure what I meant by the term boutique.
Boutique Cameras
I think it was an attempt to categorise those types of camera that have seen a spike in popularity owing to some exposure in the media, or get good reviews or write-ups in articles about film photography making a comeback. Sometimes they might have been used by famous photographers. Sometimes all of those factors can push the prices up, but on this blog we’re not interested in the unaffordable, so I’ll be picking out a few from my collection which are a little bit special and seeing how much you might have to pay now for an example or equivalent.
One photographer who was well-known for using everyday equipment was Andy Warhol. He took some strikingly stark portraits of celebrities with a Polaroid Big Shot, a large and strange camera designed solely to take single portraits from a fixed range – focus was attained by shuffling backwards and forwards.
However that camera was no use when visiting New York nightclubs and snapping celebrities in their more relaxed moments. I can’t promise any scandalous pictures of modern-day celebrities, but I do own at least two of his cameras.
Apart from the big shot, he was known to use, or was pictured with, a Minox 35GT, Konica C35ef, Olympus AF-1/AFL, Rollei 35RC, Chinon 35F-MA, Nikon AF and a more humble-sized Polaroid, the SX-70.
What I paid: Konica C35ef – £9.17, Minox 35GT – £38.98
Prices in 2025: Konica C35ef – £25, Minox 35GT – £50, Olympus AF-1 – £11, Rollei 35RC – £50, Chinon 35F-MA £23, Nikon L35 AF3 – £85, Polaroid SX-70 – £129
Toy Cameras
Another category of camera that is perhaps more likely end up on a display shelf than a camera bag is the Toy Camera. That’s a rather disparaging term, as these are not really toys like the franchise-themed ones aimed at kids, but genuine attempts at serious cameras, produced using toy-like materials. A few, such as the Diana, Holga and Lomo LCA are modern remakes based on vintage cameras.
What I paid: Lomography Diana F+ CMYK (modern remake w. accessory kit) – £36.00, Holga 120CFN (plastic lens) – £18.50, Holga 120 GCFN (glass lens) – £18.90
Prices in 2025: Diana F (HK original) – £19, Diana F+ (remake with accessories) – £37, Agfa Isoly (original metal camera the Diana is based on) – £5.91, Holga 120GCFN – £17, Lomo LC-A – £70
Other film formats
I’ve already posted about a number of medium format cameras, which use the largest commonly-available 120 film format, the Adox Golf, LOMO Lubitel 166B as well as the Holga and the Diana also mentioned above. They are an odd mix of cheap and simple vintage cameras, with a sprinkle of very high-end expensive cameras.
At the other end of the scale is the tiny 110 film used in the Pentax Auto 110, Minolta 110 Zoom, Voigtländer Vitoret and the Rollei Telepocketline and while there are big differences in the quality of the cameras, there is not a huge difference in prices. 110 films are still being made in a couple of places and there is a huge number of oddball cameras to try which cost nearly nothing – a decent number of places can process it, but it’s a tricky one to process at home as the film is so narrow (16mm).
The other film formats are largely the same, but with slight size differences. You may encounter the 620 format in some old Kodaks – it’s similar to 120 but uses its own spool size. The Kodak instamatic cameras use 126 film, with is basically 135 (aka 35mm) but in a cartridge form – there are ways to recreate the cartridges, but the cameras which used that format are all pretty basic. A late attempt to keep film alive was the APS (Advanced Photo System) cameras – they use a cartridge format with film a very similar size to 35mm but it has special coding on and lives inside a sprung cartridge, so it’s not possible to respool new film. No-one is making new APS film so you are left with dwindling old stock. It’s a shame because some of the latest, most advanced cameras used APS, but troubles with sourcing film and processing make it one to avoid.
What I paid: Lubitel 166V – £16.54, , Adox Golf – £12.00, Minolta 110 Zoom SLR MkII – £39.89, Voigtländer Vitoret 110 – £7.40, Rollei Telepocketline – £2.94, Pentax Auto 110 – £49.51
Prices in 2025: Lubitel 166V – £41, Adox Golf – £13, Minolta 110 Zoom SLR – £24 (MkI) £65 (MkII), Voigtländer Vitoret 110 – £13, Kodak Extra 12 110 – £3.79, Pentax Auto 110 – £35
Rangefinders
Rangefinders weren’t the first cameras, but they were among the first to look like what we would consider that classic camera shape now. They were the forerunners of the SLR camera and may have been the first to introduce interchangable lenses. Prices are high for German originals, the Former Soviet Union copies are a lot more available and affordable, but nice examples cost more than they did a few years back. The lenses usually come attached, as they usually aren’t a lot of use on modern cameras, unlike FSU SLR lenses which are much sought-after.
What I paid: Zorki 6 – £39
Prices in 2025: Zorki 6 – £53, FED 2 – £40, Kiev 4a – £67
The quirky
I guess that just leaves the unusual – the strangely-shaped automatics like the Fuji FZ-3000 and Samsung ECX-1 or the flimsy-but-somehow-awesome Vivitar Ultra Wide. I’ll see what I can find in the bargain buckets of the internet today.
What I paid: Fuji FZ-3000 Zoom Date – £4.14, Samsung ECX1 – £2.33, Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim – £17.00
Prices in 2025: Fuji FZ-3000 Zoom Date – £21, Samsung ECX1 – £18, Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim – £26 (original), £30 (modern remake “RETO”)
So, in conclusion, there are still some ok deals to be had and film photography doesn’t have to be expensive if you don’t want it to be.
Next time! With the newly-found fad of people using “old” digital cameras for quick snaps and Instagram posts I might dig out my old cheap digicams and compare them against what you can get these days and investigate how the current trends have affected prices.