*HIT* Type Cameras
Hit type cameras are small cheap cameras generally made in Japan. They became popular after the Second World War when most of Japan was suffering from terrible post-war poverty but still wanted to be out taking family photographs. While there are probably hundreds of names for these cameras one of the more common ones was called a "HIT" and somehow the whole class of cameras is now generally referred to as "HIT type cameras." While there are a couple exceptions such as the Tone and Mycro most Hit type cameras are really poorly made junk (like the Crystar variant pictured above). Most of the cheap ones have a single element fixed f11 glass lens and a single speed shutter at about 1/100th of a second. In actuality the shutter speed can be anywhere from 1/20th to 1/400th. These cameras are notorious for having bad shutters, poor lenses and light leaks. The Crystar is blessed with chrome plated shutter blades so light is able to bounce right through the front of the camera and fog the film (the work around is to keep the lens covered until you are actually taking a shot). Hit type cameras take special 17.5mm paper backed roll film (though 16mm will work well enough). Of the handful of Hit type cameras that I have laying around, the Crystar is the best shooter (just lucky really) and occasionally it is actually fun to load up film and shoot a roll or two, here are links to some of the results: