I am excited to report that yesterday I purchased an Elmo 1000S Macro. It is a fairly high-end (at it introduction, it was priced at around 500 pounds (roughly $1000 CAD), I picked it up for $125 off a former Ryerson film student) with everything that I could test without actually shooting and developing a role of film.
I do have several gripes though, but they have to do with the camera model, not specifically to the one I purchased. Firstly, it does not have the ability to shoot single frames. While not being essential, it allows for more creative freedom. This was fixed in the later models that Elmo produced, like my personal dream, the Elmo 1018R (single frame, manual exposure, many different film speeds, variable shutter). My second gripe is related to the first, that the remote has only on and off, so even if the camera had the ability to do single frames, I could not as there would be too much camera shake. There is also the issue of the built in meter reading Ektachrome as 40 ASA instead of 64, but that can be overcome with an external light meter and setting the exposure manually.
All in all, those were rather minor issues that I will look for next time I am in the market for a camera. Thanks to Cat for coming out with me to help test out the camera.
To further my chances of getting all the desired features, I will be attending the flea markets at Downsview. If anyone is interested in coming with me, send me an email at andrew@aehunter.net.
Photos coming soon!