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“The JC45 35mm compact camera from Jenoptic is a very...”

written by sassolungo. on 08/12/2002

Good Points
lightweight, wide zoom range

Bad Points
a very low max. aperture spoils *many* opportunities.

General Comments
The JC45 35mm compact camera from Jenoptic is a very lightweight rangefinder camera with a large-range finder-coupled zoom lens, 35...140mm. That means it has one of the fundamental flaws of all those zoom lenses, viz. a very small aperture: only f/3.9 at 35 mm, and f/10 (!) at 140 mm. That makes it virtually impossible to shoot technically good pictures at anything but optimal light. If the light is optimal, however, satisfactory shoots can be taken with that camera, the focus is good when compared to other compact cameras. --- Considering the aperture value, the otherwise reasonable flashlight (distance x aperture = 15m at 100ASA) is simply not sufficient.

I carry my JC45 whenever it is impossible to carry a real camera, e.g. to long mountain hikes when the weight of an SLR plus equipment becomes rather prohibitive. For any other serious use (apart from taking family snapshots and well-lit landscapes), I recommend not to use this camera but rather bite the bullet and carry one or two kilogrammes more of real *g* equipment.