Halina's 1990s 35mm auto compact — focus-free lens, DX auto exposure, motor wind, red-eye flash, 2x AA
The Halina Vision XMS is a compact 35mm snapshot camera from the Vision series made by W. Haking Enterprises of Hong Kong, which produced a stream of cheap plastic compacts under the Halina name between roughly 1990 and 2003. It sits a small step above the Vision XM in the range, and is distinct from the similarly named Vision C XMS.
It uses a fixed-focus (focus-free) wide-ish lens, generally reported in the 28-35mm region, with fully automatic exposure: the camera reads the film's DX code and sets aperture and shutter speed itself, with no manual override. Film advance is motorised with a frame counter, the film rewinds automatically at the end of the roll, and there is an integrated automatic flash with red-eye reduction. Power comes from two AA batteries.
Auto DX exposure, motor wind and auto rewind make it one of the more convenient of the cheap Halinas: genuinely load-and-forget. Optically it remains a simple plastic-lens compact with soft corners and vignetting, which suits beginners, lomography-style shooters and anyone wanting an unfussy carry-everywhere film camera for daylight use on 200-400 ISO film.
The camera cannot fire without working batteries, so test with fresh AAs: motor advance, flash charge and shutter all need to be heard working. Check the battery contacts for alkaline corrosion, confirm the auto-rewind engages (a part-rewound test roll is the safest check), and look over the film door and back for cracked plastic. Working examples are cheap, so avoid untested ones.