SamsungMaxima Zoom 140

Released into the last full decade of mass-market film, before APS and digital fought over the leftovers, the Samsung Maxima Zoom 140 is a autofocus compact built around a Samsung 38–140mm f/4.5–10.5. For context, a long-zoom plastic-fantastic from the mid-'90s Samsung lineup.

Format

35mm

Year

1996

Lens

Samsung 38–140mm f/4.5–10.5

Min. focus

0.8 m

Flash

Built-in multi-mode

Battery

1× CR123A

The Samsung 38–140mm f/4.5–10.5 is the convenience play: a single optical formula that handles groups, snapshots and tighter portraits without ever leaving your hand. Film supply is a non-issue: any 35mm cassette from any lab works. A single CR123A lithium cell powers everything including the motor; still cheap and stocked at most camera shops. The built-in flash will fire whenever the meter decides it should, so learn the override before your first night out. Minimum focus is 0.8 m, close enough for a coffee cup or a face but stops short of true macro. A quirk worth flagging up front: sold under various names worldwide including AF Zoom 1450. The zoom range covers the obvious bases: groups at the wide end, half-length portraits at the long end, no lens changes ever.

Quietly underrated, the Samsung Maxima Zoom 140 is the kind of camera people brag about owning five years from now and ten times the price.

• §1A long-zoom plastic-fantastic from the mid-'90s Samsung lineup.
• §2Sold under various names worldwide including AF Zoom 1450.