Toy Cameras

Taken about an hour after I bought it

I've been waiting for a few weeks to write about these guys since I bought my first one in the middle of August. There are a couple of different models that are available these days with the most well known models being the Diana and the Holga 120. I bought the Holga since it was a bit more inexpensive and it suited my more artistic shooting purposes.



The Holga comes in several different flavors and colors and has several optional upgrades such as a 2x telephoto, 0.5x wide angle, and fish eye lens attachments.

For some weird reason, this was my favorite shot of the set.

This is a pretty crappy camera by any definition imaginable. The optics are made out of plastic( unless you  get the version that uses glass), the light leaks in through various points including the red window on the back, there are only 4 focusing points and it is flimsy as hell. I showed it to one of my friends and she thought it squirted water out of the front. I told her to give me a bit of time and I'll make it do that.

The plastic lens is one of the most unique parts of the camera. These guys are like snow flakes. There are no two that are alike. Many of them have weird abberations that cause focusing issues in certain spots of the picture. The other unique feature is the light leaks. You get better leaks on color film such as over exposed spots and odd colors. On my test rolls, it was non existent on my black and white film except on the edges where the numbering was.

The focusing was a bit difficult because you have to know what distance range each of the four settings have to  be to get a clear picture. As you can see from the train crossing above, I had a bit of difficulty with this since the focusing isn't seen at all in the viewfinder like most manual rangefinders like the Fujifilm x100.



The real benefit of these cameras are for people who are high strung ( not afraid that I fall into this category frequently) and they need some time to slow down. Another plus for this camera is the lack of features. You have to work your ass off to get the picture you want and/or need instead of having a flimsy expensive zoom do all the work for you.

I recommend this camera to anybody who loves to shoot film or are looking to do something a bit different and get out of your comfort zone. I'm going to be doing this whenever I shoot with this guy since I will be shooting exclusively with Fujifilm Velvia rvp50.

I only posted a handfull of images from my test shoot. I have two other galleries with the rest of the shots here and here. The first one has a roll I shot back in the end of May or beginning of June, when I went sailing in San Pedro. I'll be displaying those next week probably, or this Sunday at the earliest.

Laziness?

I think so!! This rant/thought is not intended to be toward any casual photographers. IE Instagram, smartphone cameras, or people who don't go as full out as I do (which happens to be most everybody).

As many know by now, I am an avid film user. Its how I learned and its how I can focus on subjects. I held out a rediculous amount of time from buying a digital because I thought it would make me lazy. It turns out, after two months of shooting digital, I kind of have become slightly lazy. Not the kind of lazy where the only exercise I get is getting up to grab another beer (that was last summer) or pushing the buttons on the TV remote, This kind of laziness is where I shoot a butload of pictures without really caring about what I shoot.

My percentage of usable shots has gone up from 1:4 to 1:3. Thats a pretty good jump. The laziness hasn't affected that part of my work. Where it has messed with me is the frequency I've been planning and thinking before shooting.

Planning is an important step for us overactive people. I've been getting pretty darn good at it while buying off of Ebay. Planning works its best magic by keeping me grounded to what I'm working on, what I am looking for, and how easy it is for me to reach my goal. If you've been reading along the last month or so, you can see how well I plan my writing out because it is real shit most of the time. Spelling mistakes, and horrible grammer. Everything to make every english teacher I've ever had cringe and hope to god that it ends. Why oh Why, does it keep on happening?

Thinking, even more, is crucial. Photography is quite similar to a contact sport like hockey (the only real sport coincidentally). Every moment is fast and crucial. You never know when that right portrait jumps in front of you, the winning touchdown is caught, or you just happen to walk in front of the most beautiful house you have ever seen. My mind moves at an extraordinary pace. Plus, when I was born, they forgot to install a shutoff switch. Once I move up to 4x5 sheet sized film, in the next month or so, my critical thinking will need to reach a level I never fathomed. Setting up the right composition. waiting for people to either get in the frame or to leave it. measuring the correct sunlight in every single shadow.

Christ... Who am I kidding. Life will be just the same. I just need a meter and some chemicals and welcome home my black and white film and my trusty Lubitel 2. Yeah, that sounds like what I want to do.

/rant

Oh by the way, check out my lovely pictures I made at Huntington Central Park. Part 1 and Part 2

ps.. as one last thought, well more of a self admission. My shots are not shit. They are quite good. I prefer my black and white photos shot on medium/120 format Ilford HP5+ film and developed by my hands using Xtol in my Paterson 2 reel tank. The only part I hate about the summertime is buying my own chemicals or waiting till August.