Chinon Bellami
In 1980, Chinon introduced the Bellami. A zone focus compact with an unusual barn door lens cover.
Two things are striking about the Bellami. First is the size. This is a small pocket-size camera. The flash is removable to make the body extra small. The flash setup reminds me of the Olympus XA. The second thing is the barn door style lens covers. They open by pulling back the film advance lever. Nice trick once you understand it.
Operation is standard zone focus. The minimum focus is one meter and at 3 meters there is a green number. Set it there and with good lighting, you should have full focus from 3 meters to infinity. Basically, a point and shoot for everything more than ten feet away. I can work with that.
Shutter speed is 1/8th to 1/1000 of a sec. Shutter speed is controlled by the camera. The aperture is also out of your control. You do get to set the ISO (25 to 400) so you could use that to trick the camera up or down a few stops. Push the shutter button halfway and the meter will activate. If you are shooting in low light, a red light will warn you if the shutter speed is going to be 1/60th or less.
My Take:
I was not expecting much from the Bellami. I was pleasantly surprised. It is a small camera and very limited operationally. But that is the point. In the hand, it was easy to use and it fits in a coat pocket.
Would I trade a Contax T3 for one? No. Would I see it as an alternative to a Minox 35? Maybe, the Minox seems just that much smaller.
The barn door is a bit strange and the build quality is adequate but not overly amazing. I would give it a home as a take-along camera to stash in a coat pocket just in case.
Lens: Chinonex Color Lens 35mm f2.8
Film: Kodacolor 200
