Lomography: Film Camera Buffs
erco
Posts: 20,256
Who knew? There's a retro movement for everything. Lomography is embracing and using film cameras, foibles and all. People on Ebay are paying full price or better for cheap disposable cameras from 1994:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/lot-3-KODAK-Fun-Panoramic-35mm-cameras-15-exp-Gold-400-NIB-exp-1994-Lomo-/151364021082
I could actually get into experimenting with a cool antique camera. I have a vintage Kodak bellows type: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kodak-Six-16-black-folding-camera-with-original-box-instructions-and-paperwork/291215422228
But cheesy disposable cameras with film that expired 20 years ago? C'mon.
Don't throw ANYTHING out. My hoarding instinct was right again!
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lomography
http://www.ebay.com/itm/lot-3-KODAK-Fun-Panoramic-35mm-cameras-15-exp-Gold-400-NIB-exp-1994-Lomo-/151364021082
I could actually get into experimenting with a cool antique camera. I have a vintage Kodak bellows type: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kodak-Six-16-black-folding-camera-with-original-box-instructions-and-paperwork/291215422228
But cheesy disposable cameras with film that expired 20 years ago? C'mon.
Don't throw ANYTHING out. My hoarding instinct was right again!
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lomography
Comments
Anyway, I have no desire to get all nostalgic for disposable cameras from the 1990's. They were junk when they were new.
But big old bellows cameras and developing your own black and white negatives is a magical thing. As is watching your prints develop. an image slowly appearing out of nowhere. A wonderful experience.
Not quite as magic though as watching your own white light viewable holographic images emerge on a glass plate as it dries out after being developed.
I like shooting with film, the process is different, no instant gratification, you need to plan your shots, get things right, take your time, wait for the moment...36 chances per roll to capture something you want to keep.
and now, if you want, you can process your B&W at breakfast with coffee and orange juice!!
I've played with the caffenol process a little bit just like any film, you need to get the chemicals and developing time adjusted for your film choices.
With the older cameras, it's fun to see how good you are at seeing the light and getting your exposure correct. That's a useful skill for any photographer....try it without autoexposure and all those fancy meters some day and see how you do!!
It's an Ondu pinhole camera
http://www.ondu.si/
One of their limited edition 'sliding box' models that uses 10.5 x 14.8cm photographic paper instead of film.
(That model was only available during the Kickstarter)
I also have a pair of Olympus OM houses and lenses, a Zenit with a very, very long lens...
(Needs some work before it can be used... Yet another project)
A Zenit Horizon 'Perfect' 120degree 'swing lens' panoramic.
One click = one panoramic. And there's room for quite a few on a single roll of 135 film.
(Honestly, a lot of panoramics taken with digitals look like Smile. Cars are cut in half, or gets another section added, power lines, fences and even roads suddenly breaks off on an angle... )
Now, if only my camera skills weren't so... yeah...
Why would anyone build a crystal radio?
Why would anyone want a "retro" computer?
Why would anyone want to run CP/M?
Pinholes certainly have certain (optical?) properties - very, very deep depth of field, wide panoramic abilities if you curve the film plane, a definite look and feel to a photograph due to the depth of field and long exposure times.
All of this is for fun and artistic expression. If you want exacting, true to life, "picture perfect" photography, then none of these are really for you. If you want artistic expression and a different feel to your photographic process, then these are all fun things to play with.
However a tube ( I presume you mean a "thermionic valve") is not so easy to make so it probably more possible to buy one.
Crystal radio, hmmm, can be done without buying anything.
"retro computer" and "CP/M", yeah OK, that's for us crazy old guys.
Pin holes cameras are indeed great. Everybody should experiment with such things at least once in their lives.
It's the idea of paying for a hole that gets me. Still if it's a hole in a beautifully crafted box then why not I guess.
Yes, a tube, like you said!
This cost next to nothing:
As you experiment, you learn that it becomes the quality of that "hole" that changes your results (my "hole" was too big in this test). So you really do want a good "hole" and what better way to protect and display a good "hole" than an elegant wooden box!!
(You want the hole to be perfectly round, with no deformation of the surrounding material. And if the hole has a diameter of 0.3mm or less, that's just nice... 0.0125" or thereabout)
I know, I have lasered lens caps also but not having a laser at home (drat!), I went with this approach for the DIY model!
My best pinhole camera was one I made from cardboard. I made the pinhole in a very thin piece of sheet brass that I bought at a hobby shop. I used a pin and made the smallest hole I could. Looked horrible but worked great.
To make a positive image from the negative, he attached the negative to a boom in front of the camera and took a picture of it. The final results were good enough for a travel visa.
The whole thing amazed me for its simplicity.
Not as advanced as my MX, but a serviceable camera nonetheless..
Got the camera to shoot 'mostly' black and white. B&W seems to capture small details that get lost in color.
Shot this picture of the Point Arena Lighthouse on a camping trip up in Mendocino County.
This was shot in 'full manual mode'... my camera battery was dead! :-\
A couple of weeks back I picked up a near perfect Pentax ZX-60 (auto-everything film camera) and a Durst F30 (35mm) enlarger. I haven't turned on the digital cameras on in months!
Amanda
The Society for Amiless Tinkering and World Conquest would like to bestow the Order of the Bright and Shiny on you (once more)!
My Durst M600 has a good filter drawer, handles 60x60 negatives and can enlarge quite a bit more...;-)
Can the F30 angle the head and lens to compensate for parallax errors and such?
(My M600 can. Not that I have a clue as to how to use those functions)
To put those two words together on this forum is just asking for a bloody nose.
I'm not very far away from you....