C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →compact-35mm
The Konica Tomato (1990) is a consumer-grade fixed-focus 35mm compact distinguished primarily by its bright red polycarbonate shell - the "tomato" name is a direct color reference rather than a product line designation. Fully programmed, fixed-focus, with a built-in flash, the Tomato represents the bottom tier of Konica's compact lineup at the turn of the decade: a simple, cheerful, inexpensive point-and-shoot aimed at first-time camera buyers and casual snapshot users.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →C41
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Kodak UltraMax 400 is a versatile consumer-grade ISO 400 daylight-balanced color negative film with T-grain emulsion, delivering warm Kodak colors, fine-for-speed grain (PGI 46), and wide exposure latitude. Currently in production and available globally as a single-roll and multi-pack.
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Before you buy used
About this camera
Entry-level 1990 fixed-focus compact in a distinctive red body; no frills, fully automatic.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Lens | ~35mm f/4-5.6 fixed focus |
| Year | 1990 |
| Shutter | ~1/45s - 1/250s, electronic leaf |
| Meter | CdS, programmed auto |
| Modes | Program only |
| Focus | Fixed focus (zone) |
| Battery | ~2x AA |
| Flash | Built-in |
By 1990, Konica's compact lineup spanned from the entry-level fixed-focus segment up to the premium Big Mini with its refined Hexanon optics. The Tomato occupies the entry end of that spectrum - a simplified platform sold at accessible price points, likely targeting the gift market and younger consumers.
Colored-body consumer compacts were common across Japanese manufacturers in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Fujifilm, Olympus, and others produced similar color-variant compacts aimed at differentiating commodity product tiers through body color rather than optical or feature upgrades. The Tomato's red shell fit this pattern: same basic mechanism as cheaper monochrome variants, styled for shelf appeal in camera and department stores.
The model does not appear to have been exported widely under the Tomato name; international markets often received equivalent platforms under different model designations. Konica's withdrawal from cameras following the Konica-Minolta merger (2003) and Minolta's eventual exit from cameras (2006) ended the entire compact lineup.
The Konica Tomato is not a technically significant camera. Its fixed-focus optics and program-only automation place it firmly in the disposable-adjacent tier of 35mm compacts, and there is no meaningful Hexanon optical legacy to invoke. Its interest is sociological and aesthetic: the red body captures a specific moment in Japanese consumer electronics when color was used as a primary product differentiator for youth markets.
For film photographers today, the Tomato represents an entry point to 35mm shooting at very low cost. Fixed-focus compacts of this era produce results adequate for casual and experimental use, and the distinctive red body gives it more visual personality than a generic black or grey camera of equivalent spec. It is a beginner camera that looks like one - unpretentiously so.
C41
Kodak ColorPlus 200 is an affordable, consumer-oriented daylight-balanced color negative film at ISO 200. Known for warm, slightly muted color rendition, fine grain, and wide exposure latitude, it is currently in production and widely available in Asia and select global markets.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →Konica Tomato
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