Konica C35 EFP Review – by Dexter Robinson

I’ll admit, I’m not the most qualified of photographers – far from it. I’ve been shooting for about 2 years, and only got into shooting film by being tight fisted and a bit scared of the complicated looking menus and buttons on a digital camera. Soon did I learn that although the kit would be cheap, the addiction for film wouldn’t!

I started off life with an Olympus OM-1N, 28mm lens and a flashgun that didn’t work. I love this camera & it has gone all over Europe with me & has helped me learn the essentials of photography. Since then I’ve picked up a couple more lenses, 2 OM10s, a Polaroid 600, a digital Fuji X-T10, Mamiya 645 Pro TL, a couple of P&S and our main protagonist the Konica C35 EFP.

I was in the market for a cheap and reliable point and shoot to take to Glastonbury 2014 with me. I was loath to take my SLRs as they were fairly large in comparison, prone to damage & didn’t have flash for after dark fun. I often keep an eye out on Gumtree & saw this very one in Swansea, complete with original box, instruction manual, case, lens cover & wrist strap for a grand total of £8.

There are a number of sites that list the full specs and history of the Konica C35 EFP (see here and here) so I won’t cover that in great detail. The EFP version is the budget plastic version of Andy Warhol’s favourite camera, with nothing but a CdS cell activating a low light warning bulb in the viewfinder to help with metering.

The Konica C35 EFP is apparently one of the first cameras to come with a built in flash, powered by 2 AA batteries. There is a small button on the barrel that you should press if using the flash close up to shade the lens from any flare.

The aperture ranges from F4 to F16 (more info in the second link above). Focusing is done with your legs & roughly 5 feet to infinity is what I work with.

There are two film speed settings on the barrel, 400 ASA & 100 ASA – I’ve only ever shot cheap Poundland Agfa Vista 200 through it at 100 ASA & have loved the results from it. Friends have commented saying the results look like they’ve been through an Instagram filter – pity they don’t realise that the filters are based on film!

It’s a bit of a chunky plastic beast this one. You’d definitely be able to take someone out with it but due to its size and heft it does help with steadying the camera, especially one handed and after a couple of beers (as intended). There’s no way you’d get this in a back pocket without a fight, so typically I hold this in hand or chuck a shoelace through the two rings & string it around me.

The results that the Konica C35 EFP produces have surprised me – the camera was untested before taking to Glastonbury & although some of the pics are out of focus (as I didn’t realise the focussing zone was what it is until after/had had one too many beers!) the results are great. Colourful, with a slightly washed out retro vibe with great sharp results when using the flash. Colours don’t jump out at you but this may be down to the cheap film or the cheap scanning at my local lab, which again I’ve got nothing but praise for.

So with nothing to do apart from load and wind the film, focus, press the shutter & possibly add in some flash this is a shining example of a point and shoot and was perfect for the week I spent at Glastonbury.

Here are some examples of stuff that I’ve shot with the Konica C35 EFP – as you can see it’s come out with me more and more often, although now I think the flash is on its way out as it doesn’t fire every time ☹ I’ve just picked up a Nikon L35AF for the grand sum of £1 which may take over as my beer camera!

Thanks for reading, you can see some of my work on my Flickr, Instagram and Behance pages.

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