I’ve remained mostly housebound today, with the exception of a quick trip to the local shops for some food and other essentials – and as my wife was with me, that was in the car rather than walking it there as I usually do these days. I was amused to see that the car parked beside ours had been converted into an “RV”. I’ve seen plenty of vans that have been converted, but this was a family estate car that had a cooker, cupboard and fridge, along with electrical sockets fitted in the rear. It looked like a fairly professional job had been done, but I can only image the amount of back-twisting maneouvering that would be required to carry out tasks in a space maybe three feet wide by three feet high!
I spent the rest of the day doing some other film-related tasks.
Firstly, developing a roll of Delta 400 that I finished shooting about a week ago. The process went smoothly and the negatives look good (although I haven’t scanned them yet). Some of them do look like they have noticeable dust on them though, which hasn’t happened before, so I might have issues when I do get around to scanning them.
I also scanned a roll of Fomapan 100 that I shot during my trip to Magpie Mine a little while before the country entered lockdown. The shots on that roll look quite nice, and I will post some here later in the week. The camera I used for the roll, my Yashica Mat 124G, has developed some haze on the taking lens and is currently away for a service, but the shots on this roll aren’t, for the most part, showing any signs that they’ve been affected.
Today’s photo was taken on the same day as visiting the mine as I walked back to where I’d parked my car.
Canon Sure Shot Supreme & Ilford Delta 400.
Taken on 16 March 2020
Steel City Snapper photography 
That is an exceptional photo. Very nicely done. I think I’m going to have to start looking for a Sure Shot Supreme. I’m very impressed with what that point-and-shoot is capable of.
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Thanks P. I’ve used a number of Sure Shots, all of which have produced nice looking photographs. The Sure Shot Telemax and Z135 are both models I use and can recommend too.
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Out of the three, which do you prefer?
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Hi P.
I’m not sure if I have a preference. Image quality-wise they’re all good IMO, so it probably comes down to features and handling.
The Supreme is the oldest of the three models. It has a fixed 38mm f/2.8 lens. In terms of control, it has a self-timer and a slightly fiddly way of preventing the flash from firing (it’ll trigger automatically in low light otherwise). You can lock focus with the usual half-press of the shutter button too. Otherwise it’s pretty much point-and-shoot. There’s a slight touch of softness at the edges of the frame if I go looking for it, but nothing that’s really noticeable in normal conditions.
The Telemax has an f/3.5-6 38-70mm zoom lens. It switches between focal distances via a switch, but won’t stop anywhere in between – it’s one or the other. The viewfinder has framelines for each focal length. It has a dedicated mechanical flash switch, meaning you can set it to the off position and never worry about it firing unexpectedly, which is very welcome. A self-timer and half-press focus-lock are about the only other controllable features. I think it loses image quality at the 70mm end, so tend to use it at 38mm most of the time.
The Z135 is the most recent model. It has an f/3.6-8.9 38-135mm zoom lens. The zoom is constant, allowing you to stop anywhere in the range, and the viewfinder zooms to match the focal length. This model has a bunch of different shooting modes to choose, including macro. The modes (including flash) ar controlled via a flip-top LCD and small, slightly fiddly buttons. Flash auto-fires unless turned off. The setting isn’t remembered when the camera is switched off, which is a pain, but no too much trouble. Like the Supreme, I’ve noticed some very slight sofness at the edges of the frame in some shots. Again, really nothing serious, and it may be that it only happens at certain focal lengths / apertures. The Z135 is the largest of the three models, although still easy to drop in a jacket pocket. As with the Telemax, I tend to keep it a 38mm, but I will use the zoom if necessary and it sems to hold up reasonably well.
My Flickr albums for all three cameras can be found here:
Sure Shot Supreme
Sure Shot Telemax
Sure Shot Z135
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Wonderful. Thanks for the detailed reply. Your personal experience with the cameras and their quirks (which all point-and-shoots have) definitely helps me gauge which is likely best suited to my usage. But at the end of that day it sounds like they’re all very capable, and your photos clearly demonstrate that. Thanks again.
P.S. I don’t think I’ll ever understand why all point-and-shoot cameras didn’t have a manual on/off switch for the flash. It’s one of the most frustrating aspects of point-and-shoots. Due to that alone I’m leaning towards the Telemax.
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Glad to be of help. I fully agree about the flash thing. I wouldn’t mind so much if the camera remembered my last setting, but few models do. The Telemax is a nice little point-and-shoot – it’s the only film camera I have that I’ve owned from new – it was a gift from my parents about thirty years ago.
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Thirty years of what I’m assuming was pretty consistent usage and still going strong, huh? That’s impressive, especially if you’ve never had it serviced in any way. I’m leaning more and more towards the Telemax. Thanks again.
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I’d love to say so, but it was actually sat in a drawer in my office for twenty years. As I got back into shooting film, I decided I’d give it a try – I’m a much better photographer now than I was when I first got the camera – and I was very pleased with the results. My big regret is that I didn’t spend more time making photographs when I was younger. The wisdom of hindsight, eh? 🙂
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Indeed, and you’re not alone; I have the same regret. We just have to try to make up for it now by shooting lots of film. 🙂
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I’m trying my best to do so! 🙂
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