Chinon Belami AF

image by Chi Bellami (Image rights)

The Belami AF made by Chinon is a point and shoot 35mm autofocus camera. Its lens is covered by a single "barn door" and its name contains only one "l"— in contrast to the original Chinon Bellami, which had two of each.

The camera is activated by pulling open the single front door. The Belami AF has a built-in flash that is always on and charging when open (shortening battery life). There is no off switch for the flash, but holding its door closed with a finger will turn off the flash and allow photos using natural light or in locations prohibiting flash.

Lens is a Chinon 35mm f3.9. The shutter is limited to two speeds: 1/60 and 1/125 s.

Power came from the "new" CR123A or DL123A 3volt lithium battery rather than AA or AAA standard batteries. The camera uses DX coding to recognise film speed, and defaults to 100ASA on non-coded films - however it will only operate at 100 or 400ASA, whichever is closest to the film speed.

It was also sold in Germany by Foto-Quelle as the Revue AF 35 Mini.

image by Romuald Swieconek (Image rights)

Links

• Lionel's Chinon Belami AF overview at 35mm-compact.com (in French)
• Belami AF Manual on Mike Butkus' site