In the late 80’s, Yashica, Canon, and Konica each brought out a half frame camera that had the automatic features of contemporary point-and-shoots. Konica’s entry, known in the US as the Konica AA-35 (elsewhere as the Konica Recorder), was the smallest of the three and offered the fewest features. Looking like a Disk camera, the AA-35 measures about 2.75 inches by 4.25 inches with a thickness of 1.4 inches. When a sliding cover is extended, the width increases to about 4.88 inches and reveals the 24mm f/4 taking lens plus focus and exposure windows. The built-in flash works well. The viewfinder has yellowish frame lines that stay visible at most angles. Film speed is set manually (100, 200, or 400). Though loading and rewinding are different from the usual p&s, the directions are good and neither process is a problem. The film runs from bottom to top, so the natural format is horizontal, but vertical format is quite easy with the AA-35. There is no zoom, no filter thread, no self-timer, and no flash options except on or off. It is a very good camera to hand to someone else for picture taking-- there’s not much that can go wrong. The AA-35 is a camera to have with you for recording most of the things that you would want to photograph quickly and conveniently, somewhat like a phone camera; it is powered by 2 AA batteries which are available very widely. In preparation for this post I looked at 4 or 5 negative pages from the AA-35 and I was a little surprised that most of them were pictures of people in groups, formal or informal. That’s probably what it’s best at; but, it can do other things, too, as I hope the following photos will show.
--A diptych from Stillwater, MN which has many antique stores--
--Another diptych, this time of Stillwater’s Commander Mill--
--An antique trunk for sale in Stillwater. I asked the proprietor if I could photograph it because I thought the address with its fine lettering was a good symbol of the original owner’s journey.--
--Sunrays after a rainstorm had passed through the Lake Superior shore near Two Harbors, MN--
