More Empire Made

[nikkortorokkor]

I'm awaiting the delivery of a Halina 35X Super, complete with ER case, box and manual And a Sekonic Leader De-Lux meter with manual.

I've copied the vendor's pic and posted it here:
picasaweb.google.com/Tooheym1/Cameras/photo#5081211145579224946

I find something quite poignant about the fact that I was the only bidder for this cheap little kit that was, nevertheless, someone's pride and joy 45 years ago.

Also a wee bit disappointed that the Super lost the faux rangefinder housing of the 35X, but then if I really want to become a Haking collector, there is plenty of opportunity.

Confirming Peter's comments in the Empire Made thread, Hakings are quite common in New Zealand. Obviously the Empire preference extended to our far-flung ex-colony.

All that changed in 1958, however, with the collapse of British butter prices, with disastrous repercussions for NZ's Balance of Payments.

In a radical attempt to improve the BOP without cutting gov't spending, Labour's minister of finance Arnold Nordmeyer introduced the infamous 'Black Budget' which not only heavily taxed alcohol and tobacco, but also put hefty tariffs on imported luxury goods like cameras. Empire made or not, the Haking would've been taxed into oblivion by Nordmeyer.

Consequently, from the 60s to the mid 80s Hong Kong became the favourite stopping off point for Kiwis on their inevitable trip 'home' to the old country. Cheap Hong Kong wannabes like the 35X lost favour to wizz-bang Japanese models bought at discount prices in Hong Kong's dodgy camera shops. Lets face it, if it was a choice between a 35X Super and a Hi-Matic, which would you choose?

Still, I'm pretty chuffed to get the Halina in all its shiny glory.

[PeterW]

G'day Michael,

Not often you come across these little Halinas in their original boxes and with the original transluscent plastic lens cap.

About ten years ago dozens of Halina 35s came crawling out of the woodwork and turned up in flea markets and car boot sales, usually from private sellers who were clearing out before moving.

They usually sold for 50p or £1 ($1.50 to $2 US). I bought several of them. I'm not quite sure why, but they looked attractive and they were heavy - all genuine metal.

The ordinary 35X was probably the most numerous, and I've got four of those. I've also got a Super like yours, slightly different styling from trhe 35X, and with a lever wind, a Pet - right at the bottom of the heap with a B & I shutter and Achromat lens about f/11. There was also a Micronta 35 which was just a name variant for the 35X, very similar to but not to be confused with, the Microntas from Cosmos in Japan.

I think Hakin borrowed the idea from Yamato in Japan because he saw a way of undercutting Yamato in Commonwealth countries which still subscribed to the old Empire Preference scheme.

Most of the Yamato models had the name Pax but variants were also named Atlas, Barclay, Hilka, Konair, Pal, Rippa, Skymaster, Starlite and Tac. Some were renamed for US importers. A couple had coupled rangefinders. The only one I've got is a basic Pax Jr.

They were never quite as numerous in the UK as the Halina 35s, but didn't fetch much more at a boot sale, even with crf.

Then they all seemed to dry up and I wish now I'd bought more variants at that price. A few people did, and tried to collect the whole range, and all the Yamatos as well, but some of these were quite elusive.

A few weeks ago I saw a 35X Super on a stall and picked it up. The stallholder told me it was £10 - "very collectable". I put it down again. No way, José .

PeterW

[nikkortorokkor]

You are a great source of knowledge, Peter.

I paid NZ$25 + NZ$6.20 for the Halina 'kit'; looking at my currency converter, that's just under GBP12.00 , which I think is pretty reasonable, considering the ephemera and meter.

I'm looking foward to trying the Halina with some trepidation. My first 'real' camera was a handmedown 1953 Voigtlander Vito BL, a handsome camera, but one which required much of the novice photographer.

The VBL had a beautifully bright but horribly imprecise plain glass viewfinder, and being left eyed, I was left wondering why my images looked nothing like what I was seeing through the window! Add to this the vagaries of guesstimate focussing and selenium metering and it is a wonder I made any images at all! I have since learned to shoot with either eye (though I'll still 'snap shoot' with the left) but admit that I still harbour a grudge against the venerable German camera manufacturer for that view 'finder' - and I use the word in its loosest possible way. There are still no Voigtlanders on my shelves!

So I know the workload that is ahead of me with the Halina. Still, as others here have shown, it is possible to make arresting images with such humble fare: so no excuses, eh?

Looking on Trade-Me (NZ's internet auction site), there are three Halinas up for grabs, but nobody seems very interested in them. The best is probably a 'faux finder' (can I copyright that?) 35x with a cludy lens for NZ$10. No takers so far. The TLRs also come up, usually garnering little interest.

PAX also show up down here, I bid on a pretty CRF with tele adapter and accessory shoe finder that eventually sold for NZ$37.

[PeterW]

You are a great source of knowledge, Peter.

Thanks for the compliment, Michael, but only half-true. I have however, got a reasonably good filing system of info I've collected over the years. Comes in handy at times.

You'll soon get used to guesstimating distances and exposures. I did put a film through one of my 35Xs years ago. Quite a good performance from a cheap triplet lens. Album prints, 6x4 inches, looked good. Even 8x6 was reasonable but at 10x8 it started to show its limitations compared with expensive lenses, but some of that might have been me. Despite being quite heavy for its size, I found its small size difficult to hold rock steady compared with bigger cameras, specially at an indicated 1/25 sec. Strange that, because I can still hold my early Retinas which are about the same size very steady.

PeterW

[nikkortorokkor]

The 35X Super arrived this arvo and my gosh, it's shiny isn't it! I must admit that the Halina could never be mistaken for a quality piece of optical engineering, everything calls out cheep cheep, from the too-shiny chrome to the papery leatherette and the malnourished ER case. It makes my Yashica J look sophisticated!

Mind you, the Halina does still click, where as my Yashica will need a CLA if it is to fire reliably (it fires for a day or two after being flushed, but gums up again at the most inopportune moments). Maybe rugged simplicity wins the day after all.

The bonus is that the Sekonic L-8 is reading beautifully and is complete with 'incident attachment' (though not the stupendous plug in 'light amplifier' shown in the handbook). I'm wondering if the original owner paid as much for this marvellous wee lightmeter as for the camera itself!

[PeterW]

Hi Michael,

'Cheap and cheerful' is the phrase I usually use for cameras like the 35X. But I think they were better built than most of the later cheap plastic 'focus free' point and shoots that poured out of the mould like peas from a pod.

I've heard of many examples like your Yashica J shutter. Sometimes it takes a loooong time to get the old oil out. Longer still if someone's put graphite dust inside. I know Tomosy recommends it in his books, and I doubt if he'd recommend anythng without trying it. Indeed, who am I to say that the great Tomosy is wrong?

But twice so far I've had to clean up the resultant mess inside before I could get the shutter to fire at all.

IMHO - and that of Deckel who made Compur shutters - graphite, molybdenum disulphide and other low-friction additives should be kept far, far away from a leaf shutter.

OK, rant over. You can come out now.

PeterW

[nikkortorokkor]

Rant away, Peter.
I have to admit that when trying to encourage a sluggish AE coupling on my Hi-Matic 7 into life, I got a bit too enthusiastic and discovered the effects of contaminating the shutter blades. Luckily a single flush put things in order, but I've become more circumspect with lube. I'll heed Deckel's advice with gratitude!

I also agree with your opinion of the cheap and cheerful 'real' cameras like the 35x as preferable to plastic cameras. OK, so Haking were not above throwing in a bit of visual camouflage, but in the end a decent album-worthy image could be made on one of their cameras (as you pointed out earlier). That certainly isn't the case with the majority of plastic instamatic.

Also, unlike the aformentioned Hi-Matic 7, the 35x and the Yashica J are simple enough for me (a monkey with a brick) to work on without tears of confusion!

The ephemera that came with the 35X Super is kind of fun. I'm pleased that my Halina is 'moderately priced' while 'incorporating all the features found on the more expensive type of cameras.'

[John Parry]

Hi Michael.

First things first - give it a go. It may work perfectly and save you having to lash out on a digital !!

Second, any chance you could go back into Photobucket, open up those pictures, and reduce the size to 800 x whatever? Photobucket does it automatically for you. Reason being that the width of those pictures (1024 pixels) distorts the whole of the "View last 50 posts" window.

Thanks, and regards - John

[nikkortorokkor]

thanks John.

Sorry about the width. I'll modify ASAP.