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Thank you for the support and now back to your regularly scheduled program:
Going
from iconic to the more obscure, this post will be looking at Haking’s Halina
Roy flashcube camera.
But
first a look at the Haking company. The Halina camera line was manufactured by
the Haking company in Hong Kong and “has produced a range of photographic
equipment, including film cameras. Over the years, Halina cameras have been
notable for their affordability and accessibility, particularly for amateur
photographers and enthusiasts…” (Filmphotography.eu 2025).
The
Haking company was founded in 1956 as W. Haking Enterprises Ltd. by doctors
Pauline Chan and Haking Wong (whose real name was Huang Kejing). It was
involved in many industrial works, which included photography. Kejing started
his industrial business after the second world war when there was a growth in
the industrial sector of Hong Kong and created the Bao Yuen Foundation Co., Ltd.,
making plastic goods. But this market became crowded “and wanting to move to a
more competitive and prestigious industry, in 1956 formed W. Haking Enterprises
Ltd, making optical instruments and eventually, cameras…” (Eckman 2023).
Kejing
was successful because “His specialty was the production of cameras with
integrated electronic flash in the 110 and 135 formats. He made improvements to
shutters, prisms, and lens coatings. He also ventured into manufacturing
binoculars. Technology that was once the preserve of West Germans and the
Japanese was no longer so…” (Halgand 2024).
Kejing’s
success gave him a net worth of 1.5 billion Hong Kong dollars (Eckman 2023),
and he used this money to help the development of public welfare and education
(Halgand 2024).
Haking mostly exported to England and other British territories, since Hong Kong was still under the British rule, but they did have a few cameras in the USA (Eckman 2023).
As
in the case of Argus (see the Argus
Model C2 post), there doesn’t seem to be a lot known about the Haking company. As Eckman (2023) puts it:
“The
exact history of Haking and the order in which it’s cameras was released is not
well documented. A huge number of Haking cameras of all shapes and sizes,
using everything from 127 roll film to 35mm to 110 and APS film stocks were
produced during the second half of the 20th century, but which were first produced
or the most successful is not clear. While researching this article, I
had some of the same challenges I’ve had with other Chinese manufactured
cameras as that country’s manufacturing history is not well documented. A
combination of factors including wars, civil unrest, and strict government
control has led to a lack of, or unwillingness to share information. Of
the people who could piece together Haking’s exact history, few are still alive
today, so it’s likely we won’t ever have a comprehensive timeline.”
But
I did find other pieces of information about the company that is interesting.
For one in 1978, the W. Haking Enterprises Ltd. acquired the rights to the
Ansco brand (CollectiBlend 2025). And then in 2002 it was taken over by “Dr
Tony Chak-Leung Tai and D. Tai-Chin Lo, who built a new factory in Xinhui
(Guangdong, China); note that Halina and Ansco branded cameras are distributed
in the UK, Ireland, the Middle East and Africa by a company called Halina
Imaging, part of the British photographic distribution company SPS Logistics…”
(Science Museum Group). The company that had taken over was Titan Continental
Ltd. (Halgand 2024).
And
what is more interesting is that W. Haking Enterprises Ltd. is still active to
this day (Webb-Site Database). According to the W. Haking Enterprises Ltd.
(2016) website, (that needs an update, in my opinion) they still sell 35mm
cameras (like the HF 102), digital cameras (like the “new” Halina 11 Mega
Pixels camera) binoculars, camcorders (mostly made by Yashica, and no they
don’t own that brand if you were wondering) and toy/children’s cameras (like
the Halina Multifunctional DC030DIA, also known as the Rhinestone Digital
Camera and even the Halina DC030TOY also known as the Budz toy digital camera
for children).
 |
| Halina HF102. Image Source: http://www.haking.com/www.halina.com.hk/product_image/35mm_camera/WHF102.jpg |
 |
| Halina 11 Mega-pixels digi-cam. Image Source: http://www.haking.com/www.halina.com.hk/animation/new/Digltal-Cameras/DC5MR27-11Sepc.jpg |
 |
| Halina Rhinestone Digital Camera. Image Source: http://www.haking.com/www.halina.com.hk/product_spec_image/dc/DC030DIA_spec.jpg |
 |
| Budz toy digital camera. Image Source: http://www.haking.com/www.halina.com.hk/animation/new/Toy-Electronics/DC030TOY-1.jpg |
They
have also made many other cameras in the past, such as the TLR Halina AI, which
is the earliest camera according to CollectiBlend (2025), the 35mm Halina
Paulette and the Halina X35 (which comes up when you Google: the first Halina
camera). They even made point and shoot cameras, such as the Halina 150 (which
looks eerily similar to the Fancy
Solar DX-3!).
 |
| Halina AI. Image Source: https://collectiblend.com/Cameras/images/Haking-Halina-AI.jpg |
 |
| Halina Paulette. Image Source: https://collectiblend.com/Cameras/images/Haking-Halina-Paulette.jpg |
 |
| Halina X35. Image Source: https://oldcamera.blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/685b4-halinex35x.jpg |
 |
| Halina 150. Image Source: https://collectiblend.com/Cameras/images/Haking-Halina-150.jpg |
Now
to finish off this segment, I will give a quote from W. Haking Enterprises Ltd.’s
(2016) last update:
“Halina
& Ansco Halina & Ansco are global brands owned by W. HAKING
ENTERPRISES LIMITED, a Company with almost a half of a century of experience in
the optical and imaging industry. With our in-house optical/electronic
capability in design, manufacturing, and engineering, Halina/Ansco offers
a comprehensive and updated range of precision products that meet the highest
expectations of the 21st century consumers. Halina/Ansco's products are
marketed worldwide through local agents in Europe, North America and South
America. This International marketing is supported by product development, with
our corporate headquarters located in Hong Kong, and our manufacturing
facilities in Mainland China.”
And
that their “Core Competence” is:
“Halina/Ansco offers
value filled products for today’s lifestyles. All Halina/Ansco products
incorporate our excellent designs and cost-efficiently, and are produced at one
of the most modern production facilities in the industry. With a comprehensive
range of attractively styled digital cameras, camcorders, 35mm film cameras,
and binoculars, Halina/Ansco has expanded into new markets and
consumer groups.”
And finally,
a quick mention of the manufacturing facilities:
“Halina/Ansco has consolidated the production facilities to a single centralized location in Xinhui, Guangdong, China, which is about 60 miles west of Hong Kong. Our advanced modern premises include a main factory complex of around six hundred thousand square feet, with individual production lines for each product category. Halina/Ansco's production operations include advanced precision plastic injection moulding, high-speed SMT equipment, and sophisticated optical lens processing equipment. We've adopted a 'just-in-time' supply strategy of processing the raw materials in house, as they are required for our high-quality, low-cost production. Each department has its own Incoming Quality Control (IQC) system which screens all raw materials, components, and subassemblies, to make sure our production lines work with only with highest quality materials.”
Although
W. Haking Enterprises Ltd., might not be in the spotlight as it used to be the
company seems to still be doing well and still upholds the title of being “notable
for their affordability and accessibility, particularly for amateur
photographers and enthusiasts...” (Filmphotography.eu 2025). And that even
though “No Haking camera ever rose beyond cheaply made, inexpensive
alternatives to higher end Japanese cameras, but served the purpose both of
providing options for photography to people and markets who otherwise wouldn’t
have been served, but also as a pioneer in what would become a huge
manufacturing industry in Hong Kong…” (Eckman 2023).
Now
let’s have a look at the camera at hand, the Halina Roy. Made in 1963 (Halgan
2024), with an estimated weight of 500-600g and size of 4.5 x 3.5 x 2.5 inches.
The
body itself is cheaply made, consisting of mostly plastic and some metal parts,
which fits Haking’s “style” with Eckman (2023) pointing out:
“The
Nihon Seiki cameras were inexpensive cameras to start with, but the Halinas
were even cheaper, using cast bodies and stamped metal plates compared to the
Japanese cameras which used better materials and were built with more precise
tolerances. Still, for an early attempt by a new company from a country
not yet known for its optical goods output, it was a decent effort.”
Now
for a closer look at the camera, starting with the front.
The lens
-
Is a Halinar 47 fixed lens, which looking at other cameras, is an anastigmat lens made by Haking themselves (see Argus Model C2 and Agfa Billy Record posts for information on the anastigmat lens). But according to Halgand (2025), the lens is also a “Grand Angle” lens, which is another name for wide-angle lens.
Above the lens is the shutter release. The shutter is a "Rotatif" (Halgand 2025) or Rotary shutter, similar to the Brownie No. 2 Model D and the Brownie Model 1.
With this we can assume that the shutter speed is also the same as the Brownie No. 2 Model D and the Brownie Model 1, a 1/50 of a second.
Then above that is the viewfinder, which isn’t aligned with the lens and like the Instamatic 50 and 104 are very small…
On top -
Underneath
is where the film advanced knob can be found.
Then on the back -
The
cover also has the compartment lock and release to close and expose the film
compartment. And above that is the red film window.
On
the sides of the cover is also the rings which is where the neck strap goes.
Now
one big problem I have is the film cover’s locking mechanism. It uses a hook
made from a flimsy metal and isn’t reliable. It can come off very easily.
Then
there is the film compartment –
This
camera uses 127 film (see the Utility
Falcon Model F post) and has a frame format of 4 x 4 cm (Halgand 2025).
Above
the film compartment and cover is the viewfinder and the flashcube eject lever.
One
thing I also like the design of the box. Simple, but also still interesting to
look at.
This
post is short, and the camera might not be the most exciting, but it is
important to include the Halina cameras, seeing that they had a big part in the
camera industry and their importance in photography history because the Halina “could
be afforded by most people with little to no knowledge of photography…” (Eckman
2023).
Anyway, thank you for making it to the end and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did in researching it.
If you want to help this site out, please consider joining my Patreon: patreon.com/OnlineCurator
Please see the Please help this site post on this blog, for more information.
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List of sources:
CollectiBlend. 2025.
Halina. https://collectiblend.com/Cameras/Haking/thumbnails/
Eckman, M. 2023. Haking
Halina 35X Super (1963). https://mikeeckman.com/2023/04/haking-halina-35x-super-1963/
Filmphotography.eu.
2025. Halina. https://filmphotography.eu/en-p/cameras/halina/
Halgand, S. 2024. Haking
Halina Roy. https://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/camera-563-Haking_Halina%20Roy.html
Halgan, S. 2025. Specifications
for Haking Halina Roy. https://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/affich_FT_eng.php?id_appareil=563
Science Museum Group.
W Haking Enterprises Limited 1956. https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/cp62842/w-haking-enterprises-limited
W. HAKING ENTERPRISES
LTD. 2016. Haking. http://www.haking.com/
Webb-Site Database. W. HAKING ENTERPRISES LIMITED. https://webb-site.com/dbpub/orgdata.asp?p=3350
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