FILM STARS Building bridges

John Wade charts the rise and fall of a brief 35mm boom

- John Wade

Towards the end of the 1980s, camera sales began to decline. The reasons were twofold. First, compact cameras had become so hi-tech that, with the exception of interchangeable lenses, single lens reflexes (SLRs) didn’t have much more to offer. So photographers stopped following the traditional route of moving up from a compact to an SLR. That led to a fall-off in SLR sales. Secondly, the fact that the average compact did so much meant that there seemed little point in upgrading to newer models when they hit the market. Which led to a fall-off in compact sales as well.

What was required was a new breed of camera to entice punters to start buying again. It needed to have the versatility of an SLR, though not necessarily reflex viewing, with the ease of use of a compact. And so the 35mm bridge camera was born. Today, most are still usable, and many are super-cheap! For reasons about to become apparent, however, stay clear if you are left-handed.

1987: Yashica Samurai X3.0 GUIDE PRICE: £80-120

Although an unusual shape, the Samurai is a 35mm SLR that shoots half frame 18x14mm images, 72 to a roll of 36-exposure film. It looks like a small camcorder, used one-handed, the index finger of the right hand falling on the shutter release as the other three fingers slip into an indentation in the body for a firm grip.

The 25-75mm f/3.5-4.3 lens zooms at the touch of a toggle switch, a flashgun pops up above the lens, programmed exposure is automated with shutter speeds of 2-1/500sec. Film wind is motorised, and there's a self-timer plus a date/time printing facility.