Nikon L35AF vs Konica A4 vs Pentax PC35 AF-M vs Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

My foray into film photography began in an unusual way during the Covid lockdown. While many start small, I dove straight into the deep end with a medium format Bronica SQ-B. To my surprise, the first roll of film I developed was a flawless in every way. Little did I know at the time how rare that success would be, as the many imperfect rolls that followed soon taught me to appreciate that initial success even more.

Medium format photography was an exhilarating experience, but practicality eventually led me toward 35mm SLR cameras. Over the years, I found myself switching back and forth between the two formats, often lugging both the hefty Bronica and a 35mm camera to my shoots.

Everything changed, however, when my wife and I welcomed our first child. Suddenly, carrying the Bronica was no longer an option. I settled on 35mm SLRs, but even then, I quickly realized that parenting and film photography posed a unique challenge. Every walk or short outing with a baby felt like a military operation. There simply wasn’t time to frame a shot, manually focus, or fiddle with aperture and shutter speed. Yet, I was determined to document those precious early years on film.

This is where point-and-shoot cameras entered the picture. I began researching and, as expected, found myself drawn to the same models often celebrated by YouTubers and bloggers — though I avoided the exorbitantly priced icons like the Contax T series or Yashica T4. I acquired three different models, hoping to find the perfect companion for my needs: the Nikon L35AF, the Konica A4, and the Pentax PC35AF-M.

In this post, which is by no means intended as a full review, I’ll share my thoughts on these three point-and-shoot cameras, along with comparison photos to highlight the differences in performance and image quality. To take it a step further, I added a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D paired with a Nikon F100 to compare the image quality of point-and-shoot cameras against a 35mm SLR.

Whether you’re a seasoned film photographer or just starting your journey, I hope my insights help you appreciate the beauty of shooting with a compact camera.

Bellow the information on each camera, are the photos I took for the test to judge yourselves, all colour photos were taken on Kodak Vision 250D, within 20 minutes apart and all were developed on the same tank by me. Black and White photos are on Agfa APX400, also developed in the same tank. Now that I see them all together I should have taken more in B&W as they are more indicative of the lenses sharpness.

Nikon L35AF – The hype is real

• The bigger and heavier of the three, with a metal film door, feels much more sturdy than the others and has also passed two crash tests by our toddler!
• The lens definitely has a character to it, (35mm f/2.8) spunchy and sharp in the center, considerable vignetting in the corners. It produces by far the best pictures of the three to the point I feel like I am not missing anything if I bring solely this camera with me. It is the only of the three that I would use for “serious” photo shooting and has become my go to, even over a 35mm SLR sometimes.
• You can choose the ISO yourself, very convenient for pushing film or shooting with respooled cartridges, which is how I use it.
• The autofocus might seem antiquated, with a needle moving between icons of 1 person, 3 person and landscape but you can understand if it had misfocused and I very rarely got a misfocused negative.
• It has a thread for filters on the lens, a rarity among point and shoot cameras, I have attached a UV filter so I never worry about scratching the lens.
• This particular camera is actually the Nikon L35AD, which the exactly same as the L35AF with the addition of data back. Too bad it will only go up to 1999!

This the first of 3 models, there is also AF2 and AF3, I have also owned the AF3 but I got very mediocre results and also had a very loud screeching noise when advancing the film, perhaps it was a faulty unit I had but I doubt it.

Konica A4 – The pocket Ninja

• The smallest and lighter of the three, most modern and quieter also.
• It has a small LCD screen that shows the the frame counter and flash operation
• The ISO is set only automatically as it has contacts to read the film canister, I had to scratch ISO 125 film cartridges to turn them to ISO 250 for shooting Kodak Vision 250D.
• So small it can actually be pocketable. The lens completely flushes with the body when the camera is turned off.
• The tolerances are very tight, the back door will not close properly if plastic refillable film cartridges are used, having said that I did not have any light leaks even if the door was clearly not closed properly
• The autofocus feels like a modern digital camera, very fast, a beep and green light confirms the focus. It also has a button that when pressed allow for extra close focus which proved a super useful feature for family photos.
• This camera is highly praised for the lens quality, (35mm f/3.5) I took some of the best photos for family moments before selling it.

I would keep this one just for the small form factor and ease of use but I could keep only one and it wasn’t it.

Pentax PC35 AF-M – I wanted to love this so much, but I couldn’t.

• Feels very sturdy and has a great feeling in the hand, the body construction is very rigid.
• The lens cover opens in very satisfying way when pressing the cover button and is spring loaded. Definitely the coolest of the three if you want to get noticed.
• It has contacts for ISO reading but you can also set the ISO manually IF there is nothing to read on the film cartridge.
• The lens can be impressive at times (35mm f/2.8), specially on some B&W photos I took, sadly I couldn’t take advantage of it for reason explained bellow.
• This particular camera was the third(!!) sample I had my hands on, because as it seems the Pentax PC35 has a weak point. Contrary with its rigid body construction the shutter release system is can easily malfunction and jam. Specifically, the shutter release button is a loose plastic component that, if pressed too firmly, can cause the system to jam. This happened to the first sample I bought online, the second had the same issue jamming every other frame even if pressed gently, also on both the battery door was loose and had to be taped for the camera to work. The third one seemed ok but I had lost my trust and was just waiting for the jam to happen again so I was very reluctant to load a 36 exp. film and take the camera with me for shooting. Hence I sold this one even before taking the main photograph for this article.

Very disappointing.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D – The “nifty fifty”

What can I say about this lens, cheap and sharp, the important is that the quality of the outcome is just superior, it is good to remember that for 99% of point and shoots will not take better photographs than your cheapest SLR with a decent lens.

On the other hand you can carry point and shoots always on your pocket…

…As for my preference, the Nikon L35AF is a clear winner. I sold the other two to make room for a Zeiss Super Ikonta. Here are a few extra shots taken with the Nikon L35AF

You can find more photos on my instagram page

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