The Halina 35x is the smallest 35mm camera I own, made by Haking in Hong Kong in 1959. It is a copy of the Ranger 35 made by Nihon Seiki. It’s quite compact but heavy. It has the general layout of a miniature Leica, and you remove the entire back half of the camera to load a film. One difficulty is that the shutter has to be cocked before each exposure, with a lever on the lens tube, and if you forget, then you’ve wasted a negative.
- Lens: 1:3.5 / 45mm Halina Anastigmat (triplet, front and rear elements single coated, middle element uncoated)
- Shutter:
- Two-bladed leaf shutter, with speeds 1/25-1/200 seconds plus B. The shutter is not between the lens elements but behind the lens.
- Synchronised for flash (‘M’-synchronisation) with a PC socket on the lens tube. Cold shoe on top of camera.
- Aperture: 1:3.5-1:16 without detents.
- Film advance: Winding knob, with mechanical frame counter (this counts downwards).
- Rewind: Knob. Film rewind-release is either beside the shutter button or on the base in some examples.
- Filter size: accepts A36 (36mm) push-on or clamp-on filters (same as collapsible Elmar etc.).
- Shutter release button threaded for a cable release.
- 1/4 inch tripod socket in base.
- Dimensions (width x height x depth): 114 x 76 x 67 mm(4½ x 3 x 2⅝ inch)
- Weight: 550 g (without lens cap or film)
