plastikcam.com       35mm Toy (Video) Cam

This is toy or fake video cam with a 35mm photo camera inside. I did not find any information on the net, so if you have some, please share it with me. I remember having seen it in the 90s as a prize in doubious lotteries.

From the outside this camera looks like a 90s electronic video cam. It has even a mock folding screen device, which contains a second viewer. To know a bit more, I have taken it apart (and reassembled it). Inside is a basic motorized fixed focus camera. It can detect the ISO coding of the film canister, the presence of film (it winds the film automatically to the first photo), it winds the film to the next photo after each photo taken and it can detect whether flash in necessary or not. Whether it has different shutter speeds or different apertures, I do not know for certain, but pictures taken with it let it presume. In any case, there are no long shutter speeds.

Its main features are:

35mm lens, F6.3, focus free, 1m-∞
Shutter ?? Apertures ??
Size 123x103x85,  Weight 467 gr

jpg/35mm_toy_IMG_9934.JPG
Camera front closed. 

jpg/35mm_toy_IMG_9945.JPG
Lens uncovered, "screen" device deployed.

jpg/35mm_toy_IMG_9938.JPG
Camera back. Viewer and film window. The viewer is square and very approximate. A LED in the viewer lights if flash will be fired.

jpg/35mm_toy_IMG_9935.JPG
Right side. There is a tiny mecanical film counter under the "screen" device.

jpg/35mm_toy_IMG_9939.JPG
Left side. On/Off switch, shutter release, mid roll rewind. Grip.

jpg/35mm_toy_IMG_9942.JPG
Camera top.

jpg/35mm_toy_IMG_9943a.JPG
Second viewer. It shows the wrong format. It's landscape, whereas the camera is portrait format.

jpg/35mm_toy_IMG_9944.JPG
Camera bottom. Tripod socket and film compartment unlatch.

jpg/35mm_toy_IMG_9948.JPG
Film compartment.

jpg/35mm_toy_IMG_9963.JPG
The cam taken apart. A hand soldered circuit, quite some wires and lots of glue.

jpg/35mm_toy_IMG_9964.JPG
The other side. 2nd circuit for On/Off switch and a big lead block around the battery compartment to make the plastic camera feel more solid.

This is a basic point-and-shoot camera, focus free. The flash fires when needed, but cannot be switched off. Framing is difficult because of the sqare viewer (and the wrong 2nd viewer), it goes haywire for short distances, as the viewer is quite far away from the lens. The extra glass in front of the lens is prone to reflections. Picture quality is mixed, in any case better than expected. I  suspect that the lens stays wide open, but there are various shutter speeds. It gets exposure right from dusk (even with the flash fireing) to bright sunshine. From short distance (less than 50cm) to about 2,5 meters pictures are fine. However mine does not focus to infinity. Pictures are blurry in greater distance, be it subdued light or bright sunshine. The center is sharper than the edges which are slightly shaded as well.

It was obviously made as a fake video cam which can take quite usable portrait photos.

back