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A Taste of Things That Weren't to Be.


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<p>Dating from the early 2000's, this delightful little camera was then the smallest APS format camera produced, and it may still hold that record. In the closed position it measures a mere 86x54x29mm, weighing in,(without it's CR2 battery), at 135 grams. Under it's sleek titanium skin it packs a host of typically APS features such as Mid-Roll Change (MRC), date/time imprinting, triple frame-format selection, and print quality improvement (PQI) for communication with the printer. It handles a range of ISO speeds from 25 to 3200, with AE in the hands of a programmed electronic shutter with speeds of 1/2 to 1/500th of a second. Focusing is adjusted by an active infa-red system with a focus confirmed signal in the very bright optical viewfinder. It has a multi-mode inbuilt flash with a power that belies it's tiny size. The lens is a very competent 24mm Fujinon f/3.5, three elements with Electron Beam Coatings (EBC).</p><div>00bgSg-539429684.jpg.3c854c9e768e55a082c930f964a237d4.jpg</div>
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<p>It's a very pleasant camera to operate, straight-forward and un-complicated; anyone who feels at home with the much larger Olympus Mju would enjoy this camera. It turned in an exemplary performance, with a film of consistently crisp, well-exposed and very colourful negatives, the overall quality far exceeding my expectations. It serves to demonstrate the path film could have followed; a tiny and sophisticated package capable of excellent results in the most untutored of hands. I attach a selection of images; the film was Fujicolor Nexia F100, scans from the Fuji Frontier.</p><div>00bgSj-539431584.jpg.e6bb34753f0d2ab5496cb46605efee44.jpg</div>
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<p>Gorgeous results, color and sharpness are astonishing. River 001 is likely my favorite of the bunch, followed very closely by Avenue, Westpack, and Doorway. Very nice.</p>

<p>I never had an APS. A buddy had (probably still has) an Elph IX that I thought was a fabulous design, but APS died too quickly for me to have a chance to play with it. A lot of the features seemed to me to be nonsense, but the smaller size of the kit looked ideal and I kind of wish I'd bought one. Or two.</p>

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<p>I have (and briefly used) a very nice Canon Elph, which had a lot of nice features and made good exposures. But already by the time I had it, development possibilities were diminishing, and it became uneconomical to use. It's a pity, because it was a pretty nice package, and a few of the theoretical advantages of the film would have been good if they were actually implemented. The ability to impose dates and the like magnetically on the film was very nice, but nobody who developed it could extract the information. I was surprised, too, that framing options like panoramic shots were not actually real. APS film does not require even spacing for frames, and I thought at first that this meant panoramic shots could be truly panoramic on the negative. Instead, they were just crops as they are on 35 mm, a waste of technology.</p>
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<p>Nice work yet again Rick. I've never seen or heard of such a camera before. Certainly a small package that's big on results. I especially like River 002 and those bright colors on number 11 are definitely eye catching. I'm wondering, have you ever had a camera that you couldn't make look good?</p>
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<p>Rick beautiful images from an intriguing little camera. There's no doubt that the manufacturers put a huge investment into APS and produced some lovely kit. But I would question your statement "Had it not been for the onslaught of digital capture this little camera might well have been the forerunner of a generation of new film camera technology." My recollection is that APS was pretty much dead in the water well before digital conquered all, and that technologically advanced 35mm compacts, and 35 mm film SLR's, with much automation and motorised film wind and rewind, were preferred by many photographers to APS. The theoretical advantages of the APS system were never really appreciated, and many photographers were disappointed that not only were the negatives smaller than 35mm. but the panoramic formats were achieved by cropping, resulting in even smaller negatives. I guess there were also ongoing issues of processing, and lack of transparency options, which didn't help. But yes, a brilliant little piece of kit, and super colourful results.</p>
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<p>I've owned one APS camera, Nikon's Pronea, and it took really amazing images, much like your camera Rick! But you simply MUST stop posting about APS cameras. I don't need another system and you make me want one. :)</p>

<p>Better yet, can we all go back to 1995? I mean, things were good then - we weren't terrorized, we had Kodachrome, and my beloved Lupo was still alive... </p>

<p>... and I was also too poor to afford practically anything, I had no wife nor two wonderful kids, and I hated my job. </p>

<p>Eh. I'll stay in 2013, unless I get really really t'd off.</p>

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<p>The Tiara 1000ix is one of those cameras I've wanted for a long time, but never quite enough to pay the asking prices on eBay. Glad to see the 1000ix is not just a pretty face but can also deliver great images. The take-apart body is for me faintly reminiscent of the Rollei A26, another pocket camera at the high end of a "consumer format." IIRC there was a Fuji 1010ix which was identical to the 1000ix apart from having a non-titanium shell. </p>

<p>What was "Caution" from? From the carts (? trolleys) it looks like a grocery store, but the colors suggest Ikea. Except there isn't one in New Zealand so far as I know.</p>

<p>Did you find fresh APS film, or if not, how old was the roll you shot? I recently had the good fortune of being able to buy lot of past-date APS at bargain prices. Actually we'll see how good that fortune was, as some of the film expired in the early 2000's and it appears to have been randomly stored. Nonetheless, I can now play with my APS purchases relatively guilt-free: my processor says he can and will develop and scan at the same price as for conventional C41 35-mm.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the responses; it <em>is</em> an interesting little camera. I'd agree with your opinion regarding the negative aspects of APS, <strong>Matthew</strong> and <strong>John</strong>; my reference to the technology of the Tiara was more in regard to the miniaturization of the system to a point where a very capable camera with a reasonably-sized negative could truly slip into a pocket or purse. It's hard to convey it's tiny dimensions; here's a pic of the camera next to a fairly average Olympus Mju.</p><div>00bgab-539503584.jpg.a5aa23730f99749f68d0ff91fdeb16d1.jpg</div>
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<p>Thanks, <strong>Patrick</strong>. I think 2013 has it's advantages. Sometimes I wish I were back in 1995, knowing what I know now...If you think this model is expensive, <strong>Michael</strong>, while digging around for information for this post I came across an Asian auction for what is apparently a rare titanium version with a f/2.8 lens, produced only for the Japanese market, and the asking price was heading for the stars. The "Caution" pic was taken outside one of our "Briscoes" stores, a homeware chain. The Nexia I used had a 2011 expiry, but it had been coolstored in the family photolab, and I think there's a few rolls left. Not much demand, these days...</p>

<p>Thanks,<strong> Fred</strong>; APS definitely passed me by, back in the days, but I have one other APS camera I'll post some stuff on, soon. Thanks<strong> Cory</strong>, I'll have to put much of the credit for the nice bright images squarely with the camera, and thank you <strong>Mike </strong>and <strong>JDM</strong> for your responses.</p>

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