Another toy camera – Meikai EL
film, photography, plastic October 10th, 2008
This is a Meikai EL, circa 1963. Bought on eBay, I was the only bidder!
As toy cameras go, this one feels pretty solid. The body is metal and plastic and the leatherette makes it feel like a “real” camera. The film advance is smooth, and there’s an indicator to let you know when the film is properly advanced. The lens looks like it’s made of glass. The door latch is solid.
The fake light meter surrounding the viewfinder give it away as a toy camera, and the fixed focus, fixed shutter speed lens adds to the toy camera gestalt.
The camera has 3 aperture settings – f/8, f/11 and f/16. If you’re not sure which direction stopping down is, the BRIGHT and DULL labels should help to match the weather conditions to the aperture settings. There’s an Instant and Bulb shutter setting next to the aperture setting.
The Meikai EL has an accessory shoe and a PC socket for flash. The instructions recommend using the Bulb setting for flash shooting – flash bulbs need a a slower sync speed, like 1/15th sec or so.
The pictures I’ve seen on the net have the simple lens elements, soft focus, toy camera look. I’ve shot a roll of 5-year-old Jessops 200 speed film on my lunch hour and should get it back from York Photo in a week.
Somewhere in my garage I have an old Vivitar 16M flash with a PC cord, I’ll have to dig it up tonight.
Meikai Links:
http://westfordcomp.com/classics/meikai/index.html
http://www.merrillphoto.com/MeikaiEL.htm
I’ve scanned the manual and put it here: http://www.kataan.org/manuals/meikai_el.pdf
October 16th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
[...] My original post/mini-review is here… [...]
November 17th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
[...] My original post/mini-review is here… [...]
December 26th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Hey there ifound your blog after googling for the camera. Just bought one myself and I am wondering what is the instand and bulb dial for? Thanks
December 26th, 2008 at 8:31 am
The Instant setting sets the shutter to one fixed speed, approximately 1/100th second.
The Bulb setting keeps the shutter open continually (or at least until you let go of the shutter release)
Enjoy, it’s a fun little camera!
February 3rd, 2009 at 5:03 am
Hi there, surfing on the net found your blog. Have a Meikai EL for sale. Any idea how much it could be worth on eBay or similar site? Thanks!
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:23 am
Mario, if you look on eBay you can check out completed listings. I’d expect to see Meikais selling for $10-$20.
February 3rd, 2009 at 10:46 am
Thanks for your prompt reply!