Lex35

Decided to go 3 for 3 with cheap plastic cameras this week.  This is an entry from an earlier blog about what I think is one of the best 35mm cameras in this category. If you are one of the few who saw that entry I have changed a few words and added to and redid some of the images in the gallery.

A search shows that there are several versions of the Lex35. Some have a built in flash and there is a fairly sophisticated version that has auto rewind and DX coding. My Lex35 lacks those features. It is one of many cheap plastic film cameras that were made either to be given away or sold for very little. I found one post from 2006 that said the Lex35 was being sold by American Science and Surplus for $1.50.

Technically there isn’t much to the Lex35. It has one shutter speed which I would guess to be around 1/125, and one aperture that looks like f11. While it may sound funny to talk about build quality with a camera of this sort, the Lex35 does seem to be a little sturdier than most cheap plastic cameras. The film advance and rewind mechanism are quite good. One feature that this camera has is a fake panorama mode. There is a sliding switch on the back of the camera that turns panorama mode on and off. You can see the change of modes in the viewfinder. When scanning the negatives sometimes I like to leave the black upper and lower borders that this mode makes.

Overall I like the Lex35. I especially like the look it has with black & white film.  And I think some of the images are of a little better quality than I would expect from this type of camera.

So if you find yourself wanting to get beyond the often sterile images that digital offers, than maybe a cheap plastic camera like the Lex35 might be a good escape.

Lex35 Gallery