The
Fujifilm DL Tiara Zoom is a small
wide
angle zoom camera (28-56mm) for 35mm film. It belongs to the top section of
the ultra compact 35mm cameras. It has been released in 1996 in Japan. This model
has been sold in Europe in very limited numbers, it is quite
rare. Its main features are:
28
- 56 mm F4.5 - 7.5 Super EBC Fujinon lens, 7 elements in 6 groups,
autofocus with focus lock, min. focus 0,8m (wide), 0,6m (tele) Electronic shutter, 1-1/500 Size 116x63x34, Weight 202 gr. without battery 50-3200
ISO, automatic DX coding, self-timer, automatic film advance and
prespooling, time/date stamp possibility, manual focus in 17 steps, exposure compensation
Camera
front closed.
Camera
back. Next to the viewer green focus o.k. LED
and red flash obstruction warning LED, zoom and program multi-switch
with 4 LED, Film type
window, LCD
screen, SHIFT (setting) selector, DATE selector. If you press and hold
the SHIFT button, the 4 LED around the zoom switch will light up.
pressing the switch towards a LED will give access to: manual focus
mode, exposure compensation (setting returns to normal after each
photo, lock is possible), self-timer (1, 2 or 3 photos taken) and flash
mode (flash off set until camera switched off). Pressing the DATE
button selects date mode, pressing and holding the button sets date and
time.
On top: Shutter release.
Camera bottom. Tripod socket and film mid roll rewind.
Battery compartment on the right edge, takes a CR123 battery. Camera front open. Sliding the cover switches the camera on/off. Camera sets auto flash
as default. Flash guide number ~15 (m/ISO 100).
The lens only moves out a little to Wide position.
Lens in Tele position.
Back
open. It only opens a little bit, just enough to drop in a film from
the bottom. The film leader is safely engaged when you close the back.
Back
wide open. You have to unhinge a latch to do so. You should not do it
very often. The flat cable that connects the back panel to the camera
could break with age and wear and make the camera useless. This is a
problem of all cameras with back panel or buttons from those days. The
Fujis are not especially prone to this whereas the Leica mini(lux)
series and some others seem to be more vulnerable.
This
camera is easy to use, silde the cover open and it's ready.
Autofocus is responsive and works well. Putting a film is easy as well,
the back opens only a little bit, you drop the film and that's it. The
camera prespools the whole film and then winds it back into the
cartridge step by step. It has sufficient manual settings if needed,
even manual focus in 17 small steps. The only annoying feature is auto
flash set at start, which is the case with most ultra compacts.
It's a very good point and shoot camera
with a wide angle to normal lens, good picture quality, nice high quality finish in a very small and light pocketable body.
