Red-scale Film

I saw that the Lomographic Society have started selling red-scale film, where the stock is basically backwards; exposing the emulation through the red base. I gave it a go by taking some Kodak Gold, unspooling in a dark bag, cutting, flipping and taping back and winding it back in. I went in the camera and I took some shots over the past couple of weeks.

Unfortunately, as I had used electrical tape (which doesn't snap) it nearly broke the lab's machine : (

Here are my results:

Shots: Kodak Vest Pocket Camera

I got hold a vest pocket camera some time ago, but never got around to testing it (mostly due to the fact that only one company still makes the film). A couple of days ago I tested it in my new favorite method; using photo paper.


I cut some sheets to the size of the camera and popped them in the camera. The first image I took was with the widest aperture in bright sun with a 1 sec shutter. Completely over exposed.

I tried it again with the smallest aperture and got a beautiful result.

Lazzzor Cut Pinhole Test Image

I'm gonna make this post a short one as I've got loads of work I need to hand in tomorrow morning and I haven't done it yet!!!

Anyways, I made a design of a pinhole camera that could be laser cut for a college project and, after a few modifications, I cut it out. Several weeks later I actually got around to testing it, and here is the result.


I will upload the plans so that you can give it a go if you know where a laser cutter is and you have basic burglar skills. Oh, the camera looks like this...

Shots: Yashica J

This is the Yashica J, released in 1961, is a rather nice little rangefinder from Japan. It's not a high-end model, but more of a basic without the light metre of other Yashicas at the time.

Format: 35mm film
Lens: Fixed, 45mm, f2.8
Shutter: Blade, B - 1/300
X-sync Shoe

I shot my first roll on this a couple of days ago, and I must say I love the look it gives the photos. It's a slightly low contrast with nice shallow depth of field. All the photos I took were in focus and well exposed (which kind of surprised me) and I got some good shots from it!

Proper Pinholing

A couple of days ago at college, us photo/filmy people were introduced to pinhole photography. There were three cameras; a coffee can with a hand done hole, an ammo box with a pinhole and the ammo box we used with the "LAZZZOR PUNCHED" hole. Sure the coffee can gave interesting distortions, but the quality of the image the laser hole gave was amazing!!!

Being a pinhole, we were trying to play with scale. The above image of Bournemouth Uni was a bit of an accident. We wanted to be looking up at it, but it was very, very, very wide angle, so we got the fence (1' high) in shot and it looks quite interesting. That's a five minute exposure, and as an image: I love it!

This was an earlier attempt. At bit contrasty.

DIY Large(ish) Format - On the Cheap

I had an old slide projector lens hanging around that inspired me to build a large format camera. Well, being a 35mm projector, it wasn't that large, but I did get a decent size print. (VW shown for scale, the top is actually about 6''x6'')


The lens had a big thread on is which made focusing easy as cake. The box is made from an old shelf and panted black inside. It's not terribly convenient; you have to go out, focus it, fix and seal the focus, put the paper in, go back, do a really quick exposure, then go back and develop it. (The tape on to of the camera is the lens cap/shutter). Anyways... here are a coupe of sample shots.

This was my attempt. As you can see, the paper was not as sensitive as I thought it was.

Same shot but this time with a 10 second exposure. I really like the reflections on the floor. Th

is was a very quick flash of an exposure outside. It's a path going past the hall' on campus, it doesn't look as good in real life.

I hope do more things like this as I have learned to use the automatic developing machine thing so I don't have to do all the developing late at night in the bathroom!

A rather large collection...

A few days ago I checked my e-mails and it seemed I received on from a nice guy called Ken in Canada. He told me about the "700 cameras currently in [his] collection". His massive collection has only one criteria - no batteries required. Apparently he still uses a lot of them, I wonder how he decided which one to use?!

We apologise for the inconvenience

I'm sorry for not posting in a while. But I have obtained a number of old movie cameras recently, which I will do posts about soon!

Over the past five weeks I've been working on an art project with cine film and I haven't had much spare time. I bought some old family movies on eBay, cut them and edited them, and played them back to the brilliant Lemon Jelly track Stay With You (this one) which fits perfectly. But the damn thing is going to be in an exhibition after Christmas and I need to get the music cleared!!! So I have letters to write.

My biggest purchase was a near mint condition Eumig Makro Sound 65 XL super 8 camera, so I'll have to shoot, then spend months trying to find a lab.

(P.S. Anyone who got the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference, go and get yourself some chocolate)

Baby Rollei

Another post about owning a Rollei, but this time it's not as cheap. What you're looking at isn't a '20s antique, but the Rolleiflex Mini Digital camera. 5MP, auto focus and the ultra-cool head-down LCD. It goes the whole hog as well, with the film advance crank and a cool leather strap. It might not be the many thousands the its medium format cousins, but it will set you back about £200 ($400), which can only really be justified by the novelty value. I certainly won't be buying one in the near future, but if you can't resist one, let me know how is feels and the quality of its shots.
[geeksugar]
[UrbanOutfitters]

Polaroid Withdrawn from Sale

Unfortunately I have had to withdraw the Polaroid from eBay, for reasons which I am not at liberty to mention for privacy reasons. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. The decision was not up to me and I had to remove the auction against my will.

Thank you for your understanding.

Want a Rolleiflex but Have More Sense than Money?

Most of today I spent making a vector Rolleiflex, simply because I wanted one! It was rather hard to find to get images of three sides of the same model, so this isn't accurate at all. Anyway, you can download the PDF and make one yourself!

Download Here (3MB)

Use Your Holga with 135

We all know that normal Holgas take 120 film, which you either have to develop yourself (and mess it up if your me) or send it off to an expensive lab. But it is actually very easy to temporarily convert it to take 135 film without buying the back! So let's get started.

You will need:

• Your Holga120 (mines the GCFN)
• A used 120 spool (I don't know why I put two in the photo)
  
• Electrical tape (gaffer tape will also work, but it leaves sticky gunk)
• Bits of foam
• Rubber bands (the thick ones work well)
• A roll of film (I know this one is already developed, it was completely over-exposed so I put it in a canister for tests like this)
  

Step One: Open the back of your holga. You will need either the 6x6 or 6x4.5 mask if you want to get the images printed normally.


Step Two: Get the spool and wrap the rubber bands around either end to leave a gap that is big enough the let the film through.



Step Three: Attach the film leader to the spool with tape.


Step Four: To make the 135 mask, get some black card stock (this is 160g) and cut out a square that's about 63mm square, then in the middle cut out a gap that is exactly 36mm wide and either 24mm or 36mm high (depending whether you want the sprockettes exposed).


Step Five: Place the spool in the right hand side, like loading the 120 film.


Step Six: Place the canister in the left had side and support the top and bottom with the foam. Layers of thick card might work, too.


Step Seven: Because 135 has no backing, you will need to block off the window with the electrical tape. I have only done one layer hear, but feel free to do more.


Also block it off on the inside for maximum light-proofing.


Step Eight: Close it all up and wind the film on a turn and a half and your all set. For even more security, you may wish to seal all round the edges with tape.


When you have taken a shot, wind the film on 21 clicks, if you want to try with wider shots, calculate yourself how many clicks you'll need. It helps to use a piece of paper or something.

What do the results look like? Take a look for your self.

For Sale: Polaroid 636 Autofocus

I've selling my Polaroid camera because I spent all my money and can't afford the film! If you are out there and want to be 'that guy/girl with the Polaroid' then here's a chance.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110300791189

This is a Polaroid 636 autofocus in very good condition. Built in flash. Takes Polaroid 600 PLUS film (still available!). The mirror is in perfect condition with no dust or scratches, viewfinder is very clean and lens is showing no dust of scratches. Neck strap, close up lens. Focuses for 0.6m-infinity. There is a slight sign of wear on one side, but otherwise perfect. I was assured it to be working but I have no film to test it, but I'm sure it does.

Damn my Greed!

I was curious about cine cameras, so I had a ponder on eBay and found a couple. I got a bit... wanty and put a couple of bids in. Now I'm going to end up spending £50 on cameras I didn't think I would win! So anyone out there (UK preferably, they cost a lot to post) want any vintage Double-8 cameras. Or it would be really great to swap one of the Double-8s for a Super-8 :-).

Presenting: The Blackbird, Fly

A new TLR has been unleashed on Japan. A plastic beast that takes 135 film; The Blackbird, Fly.

These little toy cameras are the latest thing to come from Japan. Well... there are only available in Japan at the mo, for ¥12,600 (about $127, £75 or €94).

Like the 35mm Holga back, it comes with different mattes, allowing you to take the classic TLR square images. 3 masks allow; standard 24x36 - for portrait shots, 24x24 - for small square images, and full frame - 36mm high and completely exposing the sprocket holes.

It can be used with the regular top-down view, or to achieve better landscape shots, rotated 90 degrees for use with a viewfinder.

The photos I've seen from it all look quite good, for a 'toy' camera. I really need to brush up on my Japanese and fly over there and try one out.

Stats
Focus - 0.8m - infinity
Aperture - f7 and f11
Focal distance - 33mm
Shutter - 1/125

Features
Bulb/Normal modes
Hot-shoe
Tripod mount

That's all I can get from my very limited Japanese, if you're better than me - http://www.superheadz.com/bbf/index.html translated it yourself.

Camera Collection

My entire collection, 66% retro. I'm also bidding on a TLR on eBay as we speak.


Camera Collection
Originally uploaded by Finn Margrie

Things I want!

I'm currenly on the lookout for a few things in the world of cameras.

Firstly, a friend at collage got a Rolleiflex TLR, so obviously I'm very jealous. So what TLR would you say is the best value for money, I've been looking at the Seagull 4A 109 which is €300 (£240 $300) which looks like quite a good camera at an affordable price (when I get some more work). There is also the Blackbird, Fly which is supposed to be coming out soon(?) as a 'toy' 135 TLR. So we'll see about the costs.

The other thing I wanted to get was a shutter mechanism for a camera I'm building, should I go really obvious and get the cheapest Holga I can get my hands on like a 120GN or could I get a Brownie or similar vintage camera for less and nick the parts? I'd like to hear if any of you have ever build a camera form the ground up.

That's all for this post but I will try to update more often.

A Camera's Story

I'm doing an art project where I have to make images that tell a story. My plan was to do the history of one particular camera; from when it was first purchased to the present day.

The Kapsa Vascromat will be my chosen photographic implement, but what I want is any interesting tales that your cameras have to tell; their travels, where you bought or even found them. It would be interesting to hear what they have been through.

Thank you!

First shots from the Brazilian gem

A while ago I posted about aBrazilian bakelite camera called the Kapsa Vascromat. I shot my first roll on it a couple of weeks ago and finally got round to printing it and getting the cables for my scanner, which were lost in Bristol. Anyway, these are the scans of the contact prints I made using the 6x4.5 bits of photo paper and a sheet of glass from a clip frame.

A Great Holga Blog

I've been reading this great blog recently. Go Holga is a great site dedicated to the bare-bones Chinese camera. It's updated on an almost daily basis and is very conveniently arranged into categories, with a gallery and now a new forum. Go on! Check it out!


Another good one I found was Satsuei - basically, it Japanese for photography/photographing. The actual blog in fortunately in English, and has some brilliant shots on it.

Polaroid GENERATOR V1 and V1.1

If you are stuck somewhere with only a digital camera with a flawless lens and perfect colours, then there is a cure! I browsing the Photoshop actions pages of dA and stumbles across this really great set of actions to make your crisp, perfect digital photos into much more beautiful Polaroid style scans.

http://rawimage.deviantart.com/art/Polaroid-GENERATOR-V1-42651542

It adds grain, curves and brightness adjustment, vignette, exposed film looks and more!

Here is a photo I took down on the beach a couple of weeks ago.


That's a 5MP JPG direct from the camera and rotated. I then shoved it strait into Photoshop and slapped on of the effects on it.

If I'm not mistaken, that was the Time Zero Expired one. Being and action it's not that big and there's nout to loose from installing it. Give it a go and see what you think.

Currently on eBay

I've decided to post up links to a few interesting cameras on eBay if your interesting on increasing your collection.


Koroll-35 from sloz1664. It looks like quite a cute little camera which could bring out some interesting shots.

Olympus Trip 35 from ancnamma. It is very hard for me not to bid on this myself, but I'm trying to cut down on compulsive spending until I get more money! But this is your chance to own the classic Olympus Trip 35 camera. The pictures look ever so vintage!

A Pair of Brownies from ancnamma. I have the one on the right all ready, and I must say it's great! It does only take the big 6x9 shots which means that you can only fit eight on a roll of 120. It's perfect if you want to start making your own prints as you can just make contacts without an enlarger. It can fit 120, but be careful as it can jam.

GAMMA Photo Developer Enlarger from deejoared. This last one looks like a really great deal! It's a full enlarger package with lens, filter and everything. Unfortunately it's only available to the UK (sorry those of you in the USA, etc...) and the shipping is quite high, but if you can get it for a decent price; it's a bargin.

So, sory that all those were British sellers, it only just ocoured to me that half of the visitors here are American. So I sould do this again some time with international sales.

Holga 120GCFN - Reviewed

I'm probably not quite qualified to talk on the subject yet; the photos haven't been developed. But still I like the feel of it - big and chunky, easy to use, black - all things a good camera should be. The only criticism that I will make is that the sunny/cloudy switch does nothing! Absolutely nought, nil, none! Even in the manual it says it does. I'm definitely going to mod that.

Compared to the older models it is a lot more practical with a tripod thread, B/N setting for the shutter and that flash is amazing. I'm waiting for the shots to get back from my Ilford Sportsman so I can get the envelope to send off my first roll to get developed. It was 135 because I didn't have any 120 at the time. It was actually quite easy to mod with the two mounts you get. I'll post up a video tutorial sometime.

But in conclusion:
Style: ****
Usability: ***
Quality: * (will it leaks a lot)
Cool: *****

My Darkroom Comeuth

My home darkroom is finally coming together. I've got the safelight, film, fixer tank... but the Developer has had a delay. I ordered some Ilfosol 3 (I hear it's a relativity new thing) and it's gonna take 4 weeks to come! I have had a film that snapped in the camera last summer in a film canister in my room for all that time and I'm never goung to see the image at this rate!!!

A little quiry about paper and paper developers; what is the best value for money? Ilford multigrade and just some RC paper?

Secret Holga?

The Holga that I have bought is a 120GCFN. But it's only mentioned on Wikipedia! Not even Camerapedia or dedicated Holga sites recognises it. They all have what the 120N is, the FN, the CFN, but not the 120 Holga with the colour flash and a glass lens.

Oh well, I did find some great pictures people have taken with it on Flickr.

My Search for the Imperfect Camera

My love for retro cameras is something that has just about completely taken over my life as of late. I've only had a definite interest in photography since December of '07, with my first actual "real" camera being a Pentax ME Super. Since then, i have bought & sold (on ebay) over sixty cameras, all of which are retro cameras. Out of all the cameras that have crossed my path, the absolute gem of them all so far, would be my Kalimar A 35mm camera.

Why this camera, you may ask? Well, just by looking at it, the Kalimar A doesn't offer much. Equipped with a Terlonon lens, 1: 3.5 / F=4.5mm, the iso only goes up to 200. It doesn't even have a sync hot shoe, an adaptor is needed for the use of a flash. However, this solid little hunk of metal produces some of the softest, vignetted images i've ever seen out of a vintage camera! Made by Taisei Koki Welmy in the late 1950's, this is one camera i will keep with me for years to come! Although my quest for the "imperfect" camera continues, the Kalimar A comes as close to perfect as an imperfect camera can get.

to see more photos taken with this camera, click here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/omatix/tags/kalimar A/

I Have a Holga

Well I say "have", it's in the post from Hong Kong. I'm really looking forward to it coming and shooting my first roll of film. Does any one know of a cheap place in the UK that will cross process E6 in C41? I found "Hampshire Darkroom" who do jut the developing for £5!

Also, what is the cheapest possible scanner that will scan 120 film? I was looking at the Epson V200 which scans 135 and slides, but could you just plonk 120 on the bed and let it rip?

I Dream in Large Format

I found this old lens from a broken 135 slide projector that had been hanging around my room for years, and it gave me an idea. I had held it up to the light before the protected an image onto the palm of mt hand before. But it just dawned to me that I could make a camera! It's a big aperture (about 2.? I think) and gives nice soft edges and focuses beautifully!

I got a couple of old shelves, sanded all the layers of paint off and smoothed them down. Cut them all up on the band saw and I'm currently in the process of fitting the bit together.

The lens, being from a protector, has a nice wide thread on it, perfect for a chunky camera! I added a little bit of ply wood in the make a good enough thread and it moves nicely. I'm going to add black felt insulation around the edges to make it light tight then away we go!

Oh so Very British

I just took this photo of my younger brother with my "new" Kodak Vest Pocket Camera Model B. I had these strange little loop thing that looked like they were meant to hold something; so I made a little flag British flag for it (as he sees himself as a perfect image of an English gentleman) and this is the result. I would have taken it with one of my retro cameras, but I don't have any 120 right now.

Wanted Dead or Alive: Retro Camera Adicts

Do you like vintage, retro and classic cameras? Do you also love sharing you knowledge, tips, tricks and best shots? If so then I want you! Simply leave a comment on this post and we can get started!

Lomo Photo Pool

One of the best groups on Flickr is LOMO - flickr.com/groups/lomo. It's for all the people who use the retro and wacky Lomographic Society cameras. These are vintage-style cameras that were originally inspired by the Soviet Russian Lomo LC-A, a simple camera that gives iconic shots that you could only expect from a something Russian and lo-fi.


Imge by Hryckowian

Kapsa: Brazil's Secret Camera

A couple of weeks ago I was given an old, 120 camera spay painted entirely gold; don't ask why. But anyway, I cleaned it all up with white spirit and washing up liquid and did a pretty good job of getting all the paint off. It looked like one of the later Kodak Brownies, but had a little logo of some kind and the words "INDUSTRIA BRASILEIRA": Made in Brazil on the top. It was getting more intriguing. On the front, under the lens, it had big sliver letters spelling out "KAPSA" (Brazilians seem to like their capital letters). So I did a little Google search and came up with very little; things like the "Korean American Pharmacy Student Association" and an Arabian dish made from chicken and rice. With the general search being a bitter disappointment, I moved on to other things. I had a gander at Flickr and found a handful of people who still use them.

I thought to myself "that can't be all there is on the internet!" and had another look at the camera. Then I noticed that on the metal bit around the lens was the peculiar word "VASCROMAT", again in block caps. Crossing my fingers, hopping I found something relevant. It was a hollow victory when the 75 results came back 0.49 seconds later; they were all in Portuguese! And most were just telling you how much they were worth. I did manage to find the most important information. The shutter speed. It is apparently 1/100. Which means that I have to use 160 ISO film. Which unfortunately does not want to be found easily. So rather than wasting my life hunting film in the vast planes of eCommerce websites, I decided to use 400 ISO that was stopped down to 200 with an ND 2 filter.

The camera has a little window on the inside as a mask for the incoming light. It it no bigger than an inch square, so I could just get some ND lighting gel. You can buy a whole sheet for the same price as a regular glass filter, but I only want a tiny square. That is where a little help from my friends come is. I know a woman who is a TV production designer and she said that she could have a word with a lighting technician who would have some ND gels. So until then I'm stuck with 400 ISO colour negative film. I did read about red scaling colour film some time ago and remembers something about you having to adjust it exposure by a couple of stops. I looked it up again and indeed, the celluloid is ND 2-3 so I just did that with some 35mm with the canister blue-taced in upside down where the new spool would normally go and taped the leader to the take up spool and I'm looking forward to seeing the results.

Image by Rodrigo Moraes