Bootsale Camera - IDEAL COLOUR 35

Hi guys,

I just got my first film developed from this lovely little hand held 35mm German camera.  So, I thought I would post a few of the results and give you a bit of insight to the gem.

The Ideal Color 35mm - Produced in the 1950's in Germany

I picked this sturdy, 35mm up at a car boot sale in Bangor, Co.Down one calm Sunday morning.  The sale wasn't that busy as this was December and it was rather cold by the sea in the morning never mind the rest of the time.
It set me back a whopping £5.00, after a haggle down from £10.  Thus, walking away feeling twice as good.  I was a camera up, and didn't feel as though I had been completely robbed blind.
A quick test saw that the shutter and aperture seemed to be working ok.  We all know there is nothing worse than picking up a broken camera, but you can't go far wrong with old 35mm.  Provided there are no light leaks into the body of the camera, the lens doesn't appear damaged and there's nothing suspicious rattling around inside, then you should be onto a winner.

Film is easily put into the camera - Only issue being, there's no window to show if your film is winding correctly. 

The film I used was a 35mm color Kodak ISO 400, 36exp that thankfully, since the apperance of Poundland in my local town, can be purchased for £1 a roll.  This has been a godsend, as before, ordering batches from e-bay and being constantly involved in bidding wars for cheap 35 mil film is never fun or on ones top priority list when it comes to fun.


I equipped myself with the camera for a day or two over a week and snapped away.  Some shots indoors, some outdoors, daytime, evening & some dimly lit indoor situations.

Club Mono Poster, Belfast City, Northern Ireland.  Taken on an overcast afternoon.

From using a lot of Lomography cameras out and about, I'm a bit out of the way of really taking time over my shots.  Lomography are a photographic society mad about analogue photography and mad in the technique of how their images are taken.  It's all about being spontaneous! - But more on the wonderful world of Lomography on a later post :)



I approached this first film with the 'point and shoot' method.  Mostly for the purpose of getting through a film to see if I had a working camera to add to the collection, or whether it was another e-bay listing for parts.

Stormtroopers & other random Sci-Fi happenings in Belfast City.  Very odd indeed!

The camera feels strong and well built in your hand.  If not, perhaps a little small to grip sometimes, even with my tiny hands!  Otherwise, it does feel rather nuke-proof as I throw it into my backpack, not having to worry about silly plastic attachments protruding and breaking off.

The underground crossing & it's graffiti.  Belfast City, Northern Ireland

The shutter speed is easy as pie to operate.  You are given a choice between 25, 50, 100 and B (for bulb, which is as long as you like)  The aperture operating the same way.  You have F16, 11, 8, 5.6, 4 and 3.5.

Shutter speed and aperture settings are quick and easy.

As I return back to Donaghadee, the winter evening is dim, and the lighting in my room is hardly worth mentioning.  Opening the aperture and moving shutter sppeed to 50 gave slightly blurred results, but they had some character none the less.  Which is the best thing about using this sort of vintage camera.  The element of surprise.

My room.  Picture, wall, flag & bass

I continued to remain snap happy over the next few days.  I headed into the recording studio at college where I used to study music to assist on a few recording sessions.  It was dimly lit for filming in the live room, and even darker in the editing room.

Setting up for a live session & podcast recording.  SERC college, Bangor, Co.Down

A very dim mixing desk and a few of the guys.  Would have said an ISO 800 would perform for this type of low light

Home again, it was time for a quick self-portrait mirror shot, as standard!  The lighting hardly wonderful here as it was the evening.

Self-portrait.  Ideal Color 35mm

Soon enough it was time to get the film developed.  Although I can process 35mm & 120mm myself, I unfortunately didn't have any chemicals for color processing handy at the time, so it was off to the photo lab in Bangor, and negatives are processed there and put onto disk for around £2.50, which is better than paying for a full set of prints!

I was super pleased to see results and the little German 1950's camera is locked and loaded again for use again soon.  Would be a lie to say I wasn't looking forward to it.

Would definitely recommend of of the great, reliable vintage cameras if you are looking something worthy of use, but not exactly a rare find, to add to your collection.

Getting ready to go to processing....it's the Roxy All star style today :)

If anyone is interested on more info on this camera, or any camera for that matter, I strongly recommend checking out 'Camerapedia' - It's part of Wikipedia, so as you can imagine, it's a hive of information, not all of it probably accurate, but a source at least!

Camerapedia's info on the Ideal Colour 35mm

Will post again soon, debating the idea of a bit of a learning topic for beginners and a bit of the history of photography too.....

Laters!