52 rolls, 52 cameras, 52 weeks

And following on from last week we have another twin lens compact camera&hellip The Nikon TW-2D (also sold as the Tele•Touch Deluxe).

When it was introduced in 1987, Nikon claimed that the TW2/TW2D was the 'world's thinnest dual-lens, AF compact' (a claim that seems unbelievable 30 years on!)

Nikon TW2D

Another camera with 35mm and 70mm lenses, the TW2D also boasts a built-in 'soft effect' filter, activated by turning a ring at the front of the lens barrel. Like the Olympus AF-1 Twin, film speed setting is automatic but in the case of the Nikon it can be overridden (albeit with much button pushing).

I've no idea of the shutter speed range, the original instruction book doesn't mention it and for once Google has let me down too, but I think that the slowest speed is around ⅕ sec.

Let's see how it compares to the Olypmus AF-1 Twin!

I've been using another Olympus this past week… the AF-1 Twin.

The AF-1 Twin was introduced in 1988 and as its name suggests has a twin lens system, switchable between a 35mm wide-angle lens and a 70mm short telephoto lens.

Olympus AF-1 Twin

I like twin lens compact cameras, with a short 35~70mm zoom I usually end up using only the extremes of the range anyway and although it may not actually be true I like to think that two fixed focal lengths will give better image quality than a cheap zoom… Discuss!

The AF-1 Twin is a chunky little beast but still pocketable (the sliding lens cover negating the need for a case) and I've shot a roll of Ilford XP-2 super that I've had kicking around for ages with it.

Off on my travels for a couple of days so yet again I'm packing light with this Pentax Espio 145M super…

The various models of the Pentax Espio/IQZoom series crop up fairly regularly in charity shops and a recent trawl of the local branches turned this up just last week.

This is one of the more compact models in the range even though it boasts a 38-145mm zoom lens. Something I immediately noticed when I popped in a fresh battery was that the focal length in use is displayed on the LCD panel (as seen below). How accurate this is I'm not sure but I wish that more manufacturers had equipped their offerings with the same feature.

With shutter speeds ranging from 1/400 - 2 sec (1/2 sec - 1 minute in Bulb mode) and wide or spot AF it would appear to be a capable little beast albeit hampered by the slow f/4.8 - 12.5 maximum aperture. I'll be loading some Kodak Portra 800 to help minimise the shakes!

I'm travelling again this week so once again I'm packing something small and lightweight.

This little gem popped in a charity shop last year, complete with box, case, instructions and remote control for the princely sum of £8.75.

The Fujifilm Zoom Date f2.8 (also sold as the Silvi f2.8) was introduced in 2003 and is unusual in a number of ways… First of all is the zoom range of 24-50mm, I can't think of any other compact camera that features a lens that wide in a zoom. Then there's the f/2.8 maximum aperture on said lens (although according to Hamish Gill's 35mmc blog the programming doesn't often make use of that particular specification!)

The camera also has twin shutter release buttons and an option in the menu allows use of either one or both to be selected. I can't really see the point in that 'feature' though… There's also a 'Self Snap' mode that makes use of the 24mm end of the zoom lens, pre-dating the selfie craze by a number of years! Again, this isn't something I can see myself using…

(Perversely, I'm loading it with Kodak film… I'm such a rebel!)

I'm visiting friends this week and trying to travel light so will be packing this into my bag…

The Sure Shot M (also sold as the 'Primi Mini' and the 'Autoboy F') was introduced in 1993 and was one of Canon's incredibly successful Sure Shot range. I've owned a number of Sure Shot models over the years but this is by far the smallest and easiest to slip into a pocket that I've encountered so far.

With three separate buttons for the Flash on, Flash off and Self-timer functions the camera is very simple to operate. The lens is a three element 32mm f/3.5 and the shutter speeds range from 2 to 1/250 sec. There's not much else to say really, until I've tried it out anyway. I've modified the DX code on some more slightly out of date Fujicolor C200 film to ISO 100 and loaded that to be going on with.

Incidentally, Ffordes Photographic are currently listing a number of old stock (but new) World Cup 94 limited edition versions of this camera, should you be interested…