Cosina CX-2
The Cosina CX-2 is a compact 35mm camera that was announced in 1980. It was designed and sold alongside the CX-1 model, the latter being a lower-cost, budget alternative to the "nicer" CX-2.
The CX-2 sports a prime 35mm f2.8 Cosinon lens (five elements in five groups). Exposure is primarily done via a fully automatic mode where the camera chooses both shutter and aperture. The CX-2 does have a manual mode of sorts that allows for selection of apertures from f2.8 to f16 with the shutter speed fixed at 1/45th. This was meant for flash photography but could also double as a manual mode... of sorts. Metering is done via an integrated CdS meter and it can calculate an EV range of 2-17 at ISO 100. This equates to a 1/500 at f16 down to 2 seconds at f2.8, though in truth we got our Cosina CX-2 to drag the shutter as long as 15 seconds and we have heard reports online of users doing exposures as long as 30 seconds. Focusing is done either via a distance scale beneath the lens or via pictograms in viewfinder (or above the lens) with 0.9 meters being the camera's closest focusing distance.
Perhaps the CX-2's neatest feature is the innovative design of the front lens cover. Instead of the typical folding or sliding door mechanism, the CX-2 sports a twisting door that is rotated 90 degrees to uncover the lens and viewfinder. It is a unique design that we are not sure has ever been replicated on another camera other than the CX-1. Of course this feature is not at all obvious and if you pick up a CX-2 without any familiarity or instruction your odds of figuring out how to open the darn thing are moderately low. Once you are in the know however, opening and shutting the CX-2 with a twist of the wrist is easy, fast and strangely rewarding. We like it.
The last footnote to include about the CX-2 is perhaps its most common claim to fame, or at least the first thing generally noted about the camera: it was the inspiration for the Lomo LC-A. This gets heavily cited due to the fact that more photographers have encountered an LC-A in their lives than the CX-2, so it makes sense to anchor the CX-2 within that familiarity. But it is also worth remembering that though the LC-A heavily copied the CX-2, the CX-2 was the earlier camera and a camera in its own right before being copied by LOMO.
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