So why the Canon Classic 120 circa 1999, well I needed a point and shoot that could ride Tonto with me at all times. Tried an Olympus XA2 and a Minox GT but they both soon went AWOL as I needed zooooooooom. I get tired of the restraints of a fixed lens while on the go. Also, having enough high maintenance cameras I wondered how low priced could I go and get good results with Boots 200 colour slide 36 exp film that goes for the Joker grinning price of 16.00 pounds for three rolls with pre-paid developing... Not to mention a Boots Chemist can be found on my travels so its always lock and load. Also, I noted the film gets sent to Fuji's developing address so my guess it's a Fuji emulsion to Boot (pun intended).
The lil Classic 120 caught my eye due to its superb build quality and rangefinder styleee, the rubberized front and curved thumb rest also inspire fast one handed use. The term future classic can be applied here for moi and that zooooom at a ridiculous 38-120 is a boon to getting the street and indoor shots I require on the fly. Okay, the camera is pretty much in control but that's the point and shoot of it for me. The last of the Japanese 35mm compacts were feature ridden before digital killed the film star and this baby even has an eyesight diopter adjustment wheel to carry me into old age. A simple 'best shot dial' is used on the rear for the following: Spot, Close-up, Portrait, Night, Auto and Personal (my favourite as it enable the user to customise and save various settings for instant use).
It isn't all plain sailing as the pop across flash always says a warm hello no matter what program is selected and a niggle as I never use it. Though for the price of a roll of decent film I have nothing but praise for this machine and its excellent metering. So, the upshot is that for 25.00 pounds a camera and three rolls of film with processing were had and a 'mate' was also bought to keep him company for 15.00. Optics and film wise I am satisfied and as much as I love my 'proper' film cameras the Canon Classic 120 is just comforting to have with me at all times like a Google phone and Swiss army knife.
Hi Ho Silver... Awaaaay.
Fuji Image Transfer
