While I'm not a big 35mm shooter, for a couple years I've been wanting some kind of simple, yet nice (and cool) 35mm point and shoot. I'd considered the Ricoh GR-1, but the price is a little bit high, and I'm just not that keen on buying something for that much that is used and is all digital (aside from the film), meaning I have no way of fixing it myself. I don't expect anything to last forever (except maybe my Snappy, even if it is built entirely out of tape with a shutter and a lens), but I at least wanted something new out of the box, without any previous, possibly emotionally damaged history (oh, wait, that might be my dating preference). So, finally, I decided on the Fuji Natura Classica.
A very attractive camera, I think. Also small and very light. Plastic body, nice grippy leatherette skin. So, besides looking nice, what makes this stand out from other point and shoots? Well, the secret lies in the Natura name, and the little NP logo. It was pretty much specifically designed to use Fuji Natura film, which is a 1600 speed color film. What's the big deal? Well, it's built to take shots indoors and at night...without a flash. Whaaat? Yep. 1600 is just very light sensitive, and while I'm sure this can be done with an expensive SLR (I've never actually used 1600 before), there aren't any PAS cameras that do this, except for the Natura. And it not only works with Natura film, it works with any 1600 speed film. And it also works with 800 speed film. Below that, NP mode doesn't work, and it meters for normal speeds, so you'd have to use the flash. The purpose of the NP mode with fast film is that you get more natural colors and light without the harsh flash. Does it really work? You bet it does. More on that in a bit. First, let's look at the camera and some of the settings.
The Classica features a wide 28mm lens with a base f-stop of 2.8. Not as low as the 1.9 of the original, and not at wide as the 24mm of the original. Not sure what difference the small f-stop change makes for these PAS cameras. It's easy to load and if that's difficult for you, or this is your first camera, you probably won't be buying this camera outside of Japan.
Because this is a Japan-only camera, it is a Japanese camera. Meaning...no English. Even the buttons on top are Nihongo.
This is probably the only confusing part when using this camera. It is a point and shoot, after all. There are a few adjustable settings, but, for the most part, the camera does all the work. Here is a translated explanation of how to change the menu settings.
The first thing you probably want to do is turn off the date stamp, as it is on by default. Just cycle through the window with the arrow button until the date is selected. Then use the right upper button to cycle through the date options until it says "off". Then set it by pressing the lower left button.
The other thing you might want to do is turn off the beeping sounds the camera makes. It's a very quiet camera without the beeping...you can't even hear the shutter fire. You just hear the film advance to the next shot. This was a bit tougher to figure out. While holding down the lower left button, press the upper right button until the sound menu appears. "boff" means no sound.
On to the other, more important setting...NP mode. I'll let the manual explain the basics.
I have no idea how 1600 speed film acts in a regular point and shoot. This is, quite honestly, my first PAS since my Kodak Disc camera I had when I was 12. I should say my first automatic PAS, as most of my toy cameras are 'point' and 'shoot'. But, I have to say, not really knowing what to expect, I was amazed. I'm used to just giving up shooting when the sun goes behind a building or the clouds are too thick. And inside? Only if I can do a 10 second exposure. I have a flash on my Holga, but it almost burns a white hole in the center of the film, it's so harsh. And it only reaches about 3 feet in front of the camera. So, this is seriously a very new experience for me.
As I'm not much into color film, I loaded a roll of Fuji 1600 Super Presto black and white into the camera (and developed with D-76 1:1). What I gathered from the manual is that the camera is smart enough to know when to use NP and when not to. Makes sense, as your pictures would be blown out if the exposures where the same as a night shot. These were taken in full sun.
Certainly sharp and high in contrast. So how does it do in lower lighting situations without a flash, using the NP mode? Here are a couple inside shots, very dim lighting. In fact, the truck shot was very dark...the camera could see more than I could with my eyes.
So it works well in black and white! I won't bother with the flash, as it's no different than any other PAS with a flash...tends to wash thing out, etc.
Next, I went through a roll of Fuji Natura 1600, film that was designed specifically to be used in this camera. Or maybe the camera was specifically designed to use the film. We start with full daylight. This is 1600 speed film that is supposed to look 'natural' in daylight and low light without a flash. This shot is probably around noon with full sun.
Nice, sharp image. As with the black and white film, it seems to be on the edge of overexposure. But maybe that's just because I'm used to Kodak 400 and cheaper 35mm cameras. These next two shots were taken in a very dark abandoned building. If I had used one of my toy cameras, I might have gotten a couple strips of light, but no image. This is what the camera is designed to do, without a flash, and it works quite well.
I know the shots aren't that impressive, but it really is amazing that these are just 'point at and shoot' photos in a very dark room, with no flash. I mean, seriously, the camera adjusts better to the shade than my eyes do. The detail is incredible, and the colors are as accurate as I imagine they would be, considering that I couldn't see the colors all that well.
The shutter does slow down in very low light, so things will blur, but I didn't get any blur from camera shake with static objects. I prefer black and white over color, but it works well with both.
I think it's a fantastic camera for what it does. Sure, it's a little low on the feature list. The only manual control you have over your photos is to turn the NP mode on and off and some minor exposure adjustment. You can do the same things you can do with most PAS and digital cameras. like meter a different area (by pressing partway down on the shutter button), reading a different focal point and then shooting something else, etc. But that's about it. The camera does such a wonderful job by itself, though...none of that really bothers me. It really is the ultimate indoor/low light camera. I can see this as a great all-around camera. I can use for my artsy shots, and I can also use it for travel/family shots. I can't wait to go on vacation and shoot indoors without a flash. Imagine going inside castles, churches, temples, etc., and getting perfectly exposed shots all the time? And it's so stealthy and quiet, you can shoot without disturbing others, or shoot where you aren't supposed to shoot (not that I ever would...Ghibli Museum, here I come).
Read my full reviews on my blog:
http://moominsean.blogspot.com/2008/01/black-and-white-by-technicolor.htmlhttp://moominsean.blogspot.com/2008/01/fuji-natura-classica-color-trials.html