OlympusAF-10

The Olympus AF-10 is a product of the late 1980s, the golden age of the autofocus point-and-shoot — a autofocus compact paired with a Olympus 35mm f/3.5. Some backstory: The AF-10 (sold as the Infinity Jr. / Quick Shooter Zen in some markets) was Olympus's mid-'80s answer to the Nikon L35AF — smaller, plastic, and half the price.

Format

35mm

Year

1985

Lens

Olympus 35mm f/3.5

Min. focus

0.9 m

Flash

Built-in auto

Battery

2× AA

The Olympus 35mm f/3.5 sits in the daylight sweet spot: sharp wide open, well-corrected against flare, and small enough to disappear in a jacket pocket. Standard 35mm keeps it compatible with whatever Kodak, Ilford, Fuji or CineStill stock you find on the shelf today. It runs on common AA batteries — you can resurrect one on a Sunday afternoon with whatever the corner shop has in stock. The built-in flash will fire whenever the meter decides it should, so learn the override before your first night out. Minimum focus is 0.9 m, close enough for a coffee cup or a face but stops short of true macro. Something that catches new owners off guard: the red-ringed 35mm f/3.5 is a genuine four-element glass design, not the toy plastic the body suggests. Best for street, travel and environmental portraits — 35mm is the all-rounder documentary photographers default to.

The Olympus AF-10 hasn't been swept up by the algorithm yet, which is the entire window — get one before the rest of the internet catches up. File away for later: predecessor to the AF-1 splashproof and eventually the µ[mju:] line — the DNA of every Olympus clamshell compact traces back to this body.

• §1The AF-10 (sold as the Infinity Jr. / Quick Shooter Zen in some markets) was Olympus's mid-'80s answer to the Nikon L35AF — smaller, plastic, and half the price.
• §2The red-ringed 35mm f/3.5 is a genuine four-element glass design, not the toy plastic the body suggests.
• §3Predecessor to the AF-1 splashproof and eventually the µ[mju:] line — the DNA of every Olympus clamshell compact traces back to this body.