Whod'a Sussed? - Surprised by a Toshiba Tosner T-35F

I had never before heard of a Toshiba Tosner T-35F. Never heard of Toshiba making cameras either. Aren't they into electronics and printers? The only electrical component here is the flash. Which I never use.

Well, what drew me to this little plasticky thing? It was the price, of course! And most importantly! The Exposure Control! I like to have control, and this camera gives it to me.

On top of the camera there are two sliders. What they really control are (not the weather, dummy!) ASA & shutter time, i.e. between 1/125th and 1/250th of a second [ASA100=1/125; ASA400=1/250] and aperture [weather symbols] - consequently depth of field (focus). So, I control two shutter times and three apertures. That's a lot for a tiny plastic cube with a plastic (?) lens.

I am very happy with the negatives from the first roll exposed with the camera. They are very consistently exposed. That is down to me loading a 400 ASA (Fomapan) film and deliberately using the controls for every lighting situation.

The lens is really quite sharp. And given it's not focusable the focus is impressive. It's sharp at just over a meter at what must be f/5,6 (its maximum aperture).

Those are golfballs.

Close focus testing.

Conclusion: It's Not a point-and-shoot camera! What were they thinking? I think this one may compete with my Olympus XA when it comes to the combination of Compact and exposure Control.

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