The Nikon 600AF

[smithdan]

Found this little critter hiding in its leathery case in the back of a box of remotes in the salvage shed. I usually pay $2 for abandoned compact autos but as this one was a "Nikon" the staff had stuck a $5 tag on it.

I was taken by how small it was. It came to life when I pushed the on switch, the battery had lots left which is rare so $5 didn't seem so bad.

The previous owner's dog must have been using it as a chew toy..

..and although the display lit up and the lens carrier popped out, the lens cover was reluctant to open

..and needed coaxing with a gentle poke.

Most of these point and shooters from the last days of film had tons of fiddly features and zoom lenses, some so tele at the long end that the optical quality suffered. It was refreshing to find a compact that had a limited but useful list of adjustable bits and a wider than the usual focal length lens. The "macro" is a bit misleading but it does focus to about a foot which is pretty close.

In went a roll of HP5 and I took it for a wander around Len's farmyard.

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[compur]

Nice pics.

The AF600 is something of a "cult camera" and sells on eBay for around $100-$150 in mint condition. It is similar to the Lite Touch model but with a pseudo "panorama mode" that masks the top and bottom of the normal 35mm frame (so you're not really gaining anything with it). But, you don't have to use that and it is otherwise a cool little camera.

 

[Jeff G]

Some nice shots. Looks like it was happy to be wanted again.

 

[Derrel]

It made some nice photos for you!

 

[smithdan]

Nice pics.

The AF600 is something of a "cult camera" and sells on eBay for around $100-$150 in mint condition. It is similar to the Lite Touch model but with a pseudo "panorama mode" that masks the top and bottom of the normal 35mm frame (so you're not really gaining anything with it). But, you don't have to use that and it is otherwise a cool little camera.

I've seen these on internet forsale sites for that much!
I had one of the lite touch zooms but gave it to my granddaughter and haven't had a chance to try it.
back in the "1 hr. photo" days that pano feature must have been pretty exciting but not so much now with the half dozen finger pokes on any smartphone editing app.

There's an Olympus compact out there with the same fame. Still looking.

 

[smithdan]

It made some nice photos for you!

Not surprised, but it does live up to its name. Cute pocketable wee beast as well.

 

[smithdan]

another of that late 40's International.

 

[dxqcanada]

I remember that camera when it came out, was high end ... it had a pretty good lens in it, as you noticed.

 

[jcdeboever]

Very groovy. Things like that get me excited. I just ate a sprinkled donut.

 

[smithdan]

Very groovy. Things like that get me excited. I just ate a sprinkled donut.

...few days ago um er "wood", now donuts!! Be warned jc. Just loaded up the Exakta

 

[denada]

nice shots!

love this camera. fantasize about finding it or an xa for $5 like people always post in their instagram stories. i got my first one for a steal at $30, but when the shutter started sticking i immediately shelled out $100+ for a replacement.

28mm lens is awesome. wish the camera would remember the last used flash setting when turned on. the laughable panorama feature scares me cause it gets switched on in my pocket sometimes and nothing in the viewfinder indicates. fortunately i've always noticed. tell myself i'm gonna fill in the switch with epoxy, but that hasn't happened yet. i've also had that lens cover get pushed off its track -- sharing my pocket with car keys -- and not open correctly. fixed with a gentle poke like yours, but unfortunately i did not notice until after several frames.