Saturday, 30 August 2008
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Epic Edit's $50 Camera Project : Fuji Nexia Q1 APS Camera
Epic Edit's $50 Film Camera Project:
Fuji Nexia Q1 APS Camera
I was at a photolab stocking up on film for an upcoming trip when I spotted the little Nexia in the product showcase. It must have been sitting in the showcase for so long that the sales assistant was surprised when I asked to see it. Taking it out of the show case, she told me that it was an APS camera.
I skipped the APS generation entirely. I went from autofocus 35mms in my childhood and youth, to the digital age. The APS cameras and films came out at a time when I had just left school and started working. I was living from check to check, so any “cutting edge” technology of that time was out of my budget.
So when I saw that the price tag was $40 (Singapore dollars, about USD30) I decided to get it to check out what “APS” was about.
Unfortunately, the Fuji Nexia Q1 is not the camera to own to explore APS technology. It is a simple P&S with a 22-44mm zoom lens. Instructions that came in the box were simple – what distances from subject the photographer should stand at which zoom settings.
The Nexia comes with an autoflash, which to my irritation later, can’t be turned off. So that bane of all autofocus, autoflash cameras– red eyes, was a common indoors problem in my photos. To counteract the irritating autoflash, I’ve only taken to using the Nexia in bright outdoors light.
I’ve run 5 rolls through this camera since I got it about 3 months ago – I’m showing the most recent roll in this submission. The colour distortion is totally from the film, which is expired Advantix 100 from 2003. As a contrast, I’ve included a few shots from the 1st 2 rolls which I had used fresh film for.
What’s really convenient about APS in general is the drop-in film loading. If I had a drop-in loading camera in 1990, the year my college class visited the gradually unravelling USSR, I wouldn’t have lost my shots from a whole day’s excursion to Leningrad. But that’s another story altogether.
Another plus for the little Nexia is its ergonomic, slightly futuristic, circular body and its light weight. In this respect, it beats most digital cams and the LC-A as a good camera to have with you at all times. Slip it in your pocket and you could almost forget it’s there. Its relatively lower price also means that if it gets stolen or lost, it hurts your pocket less!( In fact, I’ve seen used and new Nexias going for about USD$5 on Ebay.)
Although it is a “Made-In-China” product, the Nexia is put together well enough that it doesn’t have the faults which makes it a “toy camera” - the sort of equipment which sometimes, in a serendipitous moment, create an unexpectedly rich image that doesn’t show you what your eyes see, but what it sees.
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The album for this review can be accessed here : http://photo.xanga.com/toycamper/albums/f2d2b42536303d
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