Chinon CE-4 and Pentax SMC 50mm f1.7 – Think Different

This is a review of the Chinon CE4, but first a little background. After Pentax revealed their plan to design and manufacture new Film cameras I had a sudden urge to use a Pentax. Something small and which could replace a Rangefinder, Pentax has been a master of this in the past.

I had a good look at the famous tiny Pentax MX and ME with their compact size and HUGE View Finders.

I do like a camera with a huge View Finder, my Contax RTS II has a large and bright one – and judging by the reviews of said Pentax cameras the VF is at least as big and possibly bigger.

My search lead me to try out one before buying and I found myself in the London Camera Exchange shop in Colchester where there was a Chinon CE5 with power winder and grip, I had a good go at handling it and was very impressed. The VF was large and bright, the grip was good and comfortable and the wind on lever had a lovely ratcheting feel and action which I immediately liked a lot. I then returned home and never got round to buying it.

Fast forward a couple of months I was on eBay and there was a mint Chinon CE4 body on sale on auction – I took a punt and bid £15 not thinking I’d win it, but I did. Yes, I initially wanted a Pentax, but as the old Apple advert used to say; Think Different, in the days when Steve Jobs took over from Gil Emilio and Apple weren’t the awful mass producing, all conquering and boring behemoth they are today.

The Chinon CE4 arrived in a few days and I instantly took a shine to it. It was plainer and more classically designed than the CE5, diminutive and well formed.

When compared to my Contax RTS II, the Chinon CE4 was quite a bit smaller and I actually preferred the ratcheting feel and sound of the wind on lever. I was very impressed with the Viewfinder – it was HUGE, bigger than the CE5’s and I spent a long time switching back and forth from the Contax to Chinon comparing them – The VF on the Chinon was larger!! What? Larger than the RTS II?? Noo! But it is, only noticeable when repeatedly comparing the two, the largeness is off-set by the slight extra brightness of the RTS II’s VF which is about perfect. The Chinon also has a split Image and Microprism collar which is so much nicer and easier to focus with than the stock FS-1 Microprism collar in the Contax.

Trawling the internet for reviews I discovered that the VF in the Chinon CE4 is the same as that as in the Pentax ME Super, which means it’s the biggest VF in any 35mm SLR. Man, I thought, this Chinon is a hidden gem! The Pentax gets all the accolades but this has only a  slightly larger body and has more or less all of the ergonomics and functions of the Pentax. But saying that, I still prefer the RTS II as it’s almost as large – in fact, hardly noticeably so, and it’s brighter and well, it’s a Contax!

The Chinon CE4 is made of metal and plastic, mostly metal with a good solid feel and heft without being heavy. In comparison the Contax RTS II is a brick – it’s heavy, solid and all metal – an obvious Pro camera compared to the Chinon.

The Chinon’s wind on lever has a nicer feel than the Contax and it’s Shutter button has a lovely damped sound – very pleasing to use and to hear.

I needed a lens, so I bought the Pentax SMC 50mm f1.7 – a beautifully made lens with lovely construction, very compact size and distinctive orange coating. This was again a bargain from CEX (Computer Exchange) costing me £20.

So for £35 which is approximately $45 US I got myself a nice compact Aperture Priority SLR with a fast 50mm lens. Not bad!

It’s a very easy camera to use – on the right is the Shutter Speed dial, with an Auto (Aperture Priority) option. The right dial is ASA/ISO.

Huge bright VF with Shutter speed indicated on the left, easy to focus and with the added benefit of a pleasurable to use wind on lever and shutter.

The weather has been crap and had been all Spring, so finding the time between work and other stuff to do some photography was tricky. I live in a picturesque part of the country and 2 minutes drive from home on the school run I drive past the Mistley Towers and the Stour Estuary – the ancient boundary in East Anglia between the land of the East Saxons of Essex and the South Folk Angles on the northern shore in Suffolk.

Mistley has many myths and legends – including that of Witchcraft and was home to the infamous Matthew Hopkins – the Witchfinder General as portrayed by Vincent Price in the Film of the same name.

Mistley Towers you can read about here

On a rare fine day I made a point of taking my Chinon CE4 (and my Casio ZR800 which is always with me) to photograph the Towers. The weather was lovely with blue skies and fluffy clouds – perfect to get some contrasty photographs of the Towers. I do like the look and texture of yellow beige stone when in sunlight with good shadow you get fantastic tones. I loaded up a roll of AgfaPhoto APX 100. This isn’t Agfa APX 100 (I believe Rollei RPX 100 is the original Agfa APX) it’s a unique Film made by Harman for AgfaPhoto and I really like it’s characteristics.

I stopped the car and as usual metered for the shadows then reducing the exposure by 2 stops to get them at around Zone III. The rest should then take care of itself. With a Yellow Filter attached (Thank you Don McCullin – he said he always shoots with a yellow attached and so do I).

I took some photos of the Towers and a few other features then went home where I took some more photos around the woods. After finishing the roll I eagerly went indoors and got everything ready – my developer of choice is the superb Bellini Duo Step – the easiest and quickest and most reliable Developer I’ve ever used. I looked at the camera and pressed the little button at the base in then rewound the Film – or so I thought. After a minute of rewinding I was a bit perplexed and stupidly opened the back – exposing a great swath of it! I closed it, checked and started to rewind again – this time carefully checking the button and the feel of it – correctly this time. I was by now sweating and vexed – I couldn’t believe I’d done this and now it was a case of damage limitation and a hope that most of the Film was ok.

After developing I was upset to see that I had lost about 15 frames. Anyway here are some of the Photos which survived.

I was very very pleased with the results which needed little work in post processing.

Overall I think this little Chinon CE4 set up would be perfect for most people – small light, quick, a pleasure to shoot with and excellent results with that sweet lens and the exceptionally good Light Meter. Small enough to replace a Rangefinder – the Huge VF is extraordinary. So Think Different and try one out.

Alas for me I’ll be moving this on. Over the years I’ve developed some pains in my thumb joints and it was painful to shoot with this. I need enough grip on an SLR to use my fingers to hold it, I use my right thumb to press the shutter. This was awkward as it’s diminutive size meant there wasn’t much to grip onto – and in some cases, especially when holding it vertically quite painful and very uncomfortable. I simply couldn’t get comfortable with it.

All photos Chinon CE4 Asahi Pentax SMC 50mm f1.7 Yashica Yellow filter Agfaphoto APX100.

Chinon CE4 camera shot with Olympus E1 50mm f2 Macro

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