The Halina Panorama is a simple snapshot camera for the 35 mm format. It comes with a plastic housing and was manufactured in China. Functionally identical models were sold under different names and brands.
The obvious manufacturer is Haking from Hong Kong. However, it is also possible that another company with production facilities in the People's Republic of China was responsible for the production itself. One candidate could be New Taiwan Photographic Corp (Ouyama), which had a factory in Shenzhen and also produced cameras.
There was also the Halina Panorama-F, which is equipped with an additional flash.
Functions of the camera
The overview the range of functions of the 35mm camera is quite short, as there is not much to mention. It comes with a fixed focal length of probably 28 mm. The aperture is fixed, as is the shutter speed.
There is no exposure meter. There is also no autofocus. The focus is fixed at 1 meter to infinity. For reasonably sharp pictures, you should therefore keep at least 1 meter away from the subject.
Batteries are not necessary for the camera. All functions are mechanical. There is no flash, tripod socket or self-timer. There is an attachment for a wrist strap.
The panorama function
When marketing the camera, the panorama function was highlighted. However, this is not a real panorama camera.
A normal 35 mm camera exposes an area of 24 mm x 36 mm. The Halina Panorama exposes 13 mm x 36 mm. This image ratio gives the impression of a panorama, especially if you print the prints in this ratio.
This image ratio is achieved by a mask in the camera that covers part of the image. The plastic mask can theoretically be removed so that the camera again exposes 24 mm x 36 mm. However, the simple viewfinder still shows the panorama format.
This panorama function can be found on many compact cameras of the time. In many cases, however, you could switch between normal photos and panorama photos.
To make such panoramic pictures, you can also simply crop the picture by software.
Films for the Halina Panorama
Of course, you can still use the camera. 35mm film is exposed in the Halina Panorama. Even today, there is still a production of 35mm films that can be easily developed at most developing service providers.
Possible films for the Halina Panorama are the Kodak Ultramax 400* for colour photos and the Ilford HP5* for b/w images. Of course, there are a variety of other suitable films for this camera. Both films deliver solid results and hold 36 images. Other film material is available from Fujifilm, Adox, Rollei, Foma and Lomography, among others.
