Boots 35AF – This Boots is made for shooting

And that is what it does. Yeah, I know, but I couldn’t help myself not to bring Nancy in this story. Fun fact, it is the only camera in my small collection to have a panoramic switch. I bought it from Boots, 1993 or 1994, I believe. The store in Watford was pretty well stocked up with film and some 3 models of point and shoot cameras (they even had a couple of 110 models). And yes, the 110 format was kind of popular too, as far as I remember. The compact cameras fashion of the 80s was still very much there in the 90s, going out by the 2000s or so.

This camera comes from an age when the point and shoot were seen everywhere; many times, there was a small queue to purchase film and to bring films for processing in the Boots pharmacies. The digital kiosks which are now a must for even corner shops were not yet public, for the digital was in its infancy. My computer still had a floppy disk, and the internet (for me) was a couple of years away, and when it came, it came in the form of my first subscription to Freeserve (anyone remember those days?). I recall strolling Sunday afternoon in the Cassiobury Park was a chance to see all sorts of cameras, and the point and shoot ones were ubiquitous.

An interesting camera, about which I have read mixed reviews. It would appear that while some people bought this fully knowing it’s a Sunday one, so to speak, some other people bought this camera expecting it to be on the par with a Nikon or a Canon, which they’re obviously not. This is a simple point and shoot thing, drop a film in, snap around, take the film to the lab (sorry, to Boots), get some decent photos to show for your pains and repeat during your next holiday. That’s it. Anything more than that, you will need a different camera, if you’re expectations are higher than your regular point and shoot thing. So, why the disappointment? I mean, it’s this type or a disposable one.

Anyways, I do recall the main reason why buying it: the panoramic function. Never had a camera that could do this, so I was intrigued. For the price I paid, I got a decent thing, with some really good options: red eye reduction, an automatic winder / rewinder of the film, drop-in cassette and auto loading the film leader, a very good flash and (barely) readable frame counter. Nice in the hand, and good plastic. A viewfinder with a center-spot comes in handy, and the panoramic guide lines are there to, well, guide you.

This Boots 35AF lens is not a Summitar, but it’s not a piece of a shabby glass either; this is a Ricoh 34mm, at 1:4,5, with automatic shutter. Prone-ish to flare, but it delivers what is supposed to deliver. By the way, the DX code reader is present on this camera. A mid-roll rewind button, together with the self timer, both on top plate. Made in Taiwan (ROC), if you really must know this. And as already said, really sturdy thing it is too.

A ready lamp is on the back of the Boots 35AF, and this stays on for about a minute or so, after you close the lens cover. I guess is a way of offering the chance to immediately shoot if you need to do so, without waiting for the flash to charge. Obviously, once a minute has passed, the lamp goes off, but once you open the lens cover, the camera is instantly ready to shoot, lamp coming on immediately.

The frame format could be changed between normal and panoramic, by means of a switch on the top side. The panoramic thing was made possible by a horizontal extra frame inside the film lens housing, sliding in front (for the panoramic) and going back right under the lens (for the normal). I hope this makes sense.

The photographs affixed here are taken on Agfaphoto APX 100 film. As the cassette didn’t have any DX code label on it (a reload), I am surprised at how decent the camera treated the film. Not being able to discern between film sensitivities other than reading the DX, this film came quite all right, I guess.

And of course, an example of the camera’s panoramic mode.

One gets mixed feelings getting back to using the oldies like this Boots 35AF. if you were shooting film in the late 80s early 90s, you know what I mean, for sure. It’s nice to let yourself taken back to those days when digital was just a minute article in magazines, without much apparent impact on our future lives. Boy, were we wrong, for what an impact it had.

But we still have the film. Life is good.

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