I might keep an eye out at the thrift shops and pawn shops for something even junkier.
Keep an eye out for something like what you see on the right here. I see them all the time:
These were mass produced in the 80's, probably by one manufacturer, but they can be found with many brand names -- Minaki, Photoflex, the "Time Life" camera. Last week, I saw one with Pierre Cardin's name on it. They're all a little different in one way or another, but can typically be identified by some silly text around the lens (like COLOR OPTICAL LENS; arent' they all?) and four adjustable stops.
Deb has the one shown above, and I have another one just like it. Anyway, these things are great! They all have a disctinct light leak profile and a lopsided sort of barrel distortion, but the colors are rich and the sharpness, if you hold the camera still, is more than acceptable. And that p'tang noise it makes it when you release the shutter is just music...
Oh, Brian, I just laughed out loud - "p'tang" is EXACTLY the sound they make! I've been carrying mine around in my purse. I suspect I have several shots of the inside of my purse at this point. We shall see...
funnily you should mention it Brian, my husband came home today from a round of cleaning out his mother's house and brought me a whole bunch of cameras - one is a "Meikai" 4351R 35mm plastic fantastic job, with "Color Optical Lens" printed on the suspiciously Holga-looking optic and a distinct p'tang...
also scored a Brownie Fiesta, a Vivitar Big View, and a Kodak instant camera ("Trimprint") which I learned today caused quite the hullabaloo in the mid-80's when Polaroid decided to sue the pants off them for it - Kodak eventually capitulated and abruptly discontinued the camera.
the hard part - with this haul and my *cough* modest collection of old cameras - is deciding which one to use first...
I found this funky Vivitar fixed-lens camera ... ... I'm guessing it'd be OK for this, but I'm not sure whether I'll get around to actually shooting any film.
What "editing rules" (if any) apply to these?
Originally posted by bvy:
... COLOR OPTICAL LENS; arent' they all? ...
Einstein says you can have a gravitational lens, but it won't fit on a P&S camera ...
Well, it's not my show, but since most of the fun is about the crazy effects you can achieve (cross processing, light leaks, vignetting, etc.) I'd say anything too over the top is missing the point.
I've also been shooting with a Vivitar. In my case it's the Wide & Slim with a crazy 22mm lens. I'm not wild about the image quality, but I love the 22mm lens.
Well, it's not my show, but since most of the fun is about the crazy effects you can achieve (cross processing, light leaks, vignetting, etc.) I'd say anything too over the top is missing the point.
Sorry for the radio silence, been on vacation for the last 10 days. I'm kind of in the Bvy mindset here. I would hope not too much editing involved, obviously some needed to get the images ono the web! I expect most of mine will need some help in the exposure department, but otherwise I don't want to do too much to them.
The Holga has been a big hit this week with the kids. I don't have to hold my breath and pray when they are making their own images! Can't wait to see what they come up with. I'm sure their will be a few multiple exposures!
The iPhone is a good question...I get the sense that this is intended as a film capture when I asked about using a pinhole body cap on my DSLR. I went and bought the Holga for $25.
It's really tough to find a cheap junky film camera when you are actually looking for one, but I think I finally scraped the bottom of the barrel at a local thrift shop.
It's really tough to find a cheap junky film camera when you are actually looking for one, but I think I finally scraped the bottom of the barrel at a local thrift shop.
Now that's a find! (I had to laugh -- I leave the price tags on too. It's the camera that says, "How-deeee!")
