Diana F+ Review

My friends bought me a Diana F+ for my birthday back in January, but I've only just had the first film back. Oops!

I did find it really difficult to use though which was perhaps why I wasn't more keen to use it. I don't like how when you wind it on it doesn't stop on the next exposure like 35mm film cameras do, you have to keep your eye on it to make sure you don't wind too far. This is perhaps why I only got 4 photos out of the whole roll (two the same), as opposed to the 12 I was supposed to get!

I really like the look of the photos though so perhaps with more practice I'll get the hang of it! I just loaded another film, using the youtube video below for help, so I'll get using it soon.  I made a bit of a rookie mistake of putting the film in the wrong side of the camera, then wondered why it wasn't winding on! Fail.

Oh and in case you're interested I used Lomography Color Negative 120 film :)

A Little Update

Hi all :)

We've got some, we think exciting, ideas in the pipeline. Firstly we're planning to create a '27 Kodak Moments' group on Flickr. Most successful photo blogs have corresponding flickr groups, to allow people to submit to the group for a feature on the blog and things like that. We're still a newish blog so we're not too picky about who we feature; at the moment we're approaching photographers asking to feature their work, to build a following and get some exposure, but we're hoping in the future more people will approach us. So we're hoping the flickr group will allow us to do this. Good idea? We don't actually know if the '27 Kodak Moments' name is already taken on flickr, but let's hope not!

Secondly, it's just been our main contributor Hannah's birthday (happy birthday!) and she got a few new (and old) cameras and has also bought a few for herself so we're hoping to do some more camera reviews in the future!

Also we hope you're enjoying the new layout, especially the featured photographers list on the right hand side, complete with thumbnail link to their feature. That'll constantly be updated as we feature more photographers, although we may have to change it again in the future as it already takes up rather a lot of space! Any blog experts have any ideas for us?

So that's about all for now. We'd love to hear from you!

Kodak Moments

Toy Cameras, Creative Photos - Kevin Meredith

Another book for the wishlist :)

   

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION (from Amazon)

Toy Cameras, Creative Photos is the perfect book for creative photographers, image-makers, designers, and toy camera aficionados. Focusing on the photographs produced by each camera, this is a stunning visual guide to the unique stylistic qualities that different toy cameras offer. Arranged by camera model (all of the cameras included are readily available and in popular current use), Toy Cameras, Creative Photos discusses camera characteristics, special tricks, foibles, functionality, and interesting projects by users, but the visual emphasis is firmly on the photographs. The workings of each camera model are described, as are the ways in which they differ from "everyday" digital cameras, and the distinctive photographic results reveal a huge potential for experimentation that moves away from run-of-the-mill photography. Including a gallery of images produced by each camera, a resource section on film types, and adapting cameras to the use of film, Toy Cameras, Creative Photos fills a gap in the market for a comprehensive guide to this most hip and exciting of creative photographic endeavours.

There is also a great review of the book here (all images also from this article)

Hot Shots - Kevin Meredith

Another book for the wishlist! We originally found this book in Urban Outfitters, but it's much cheaper to buy from Amazon!

You can also click through for a look inside the book :)

   

Jelly Lens.

My jelly lens came today :)

I bought the starburst one (although I bought it from this seller on ebay, so it's actually green)

I haven't really used it much yet but I'll tell you what I think so far. I'm not overly impressed. Yes it fits well on the back of my blackberry (although I not with a case on because it sticks a little too well), but the back cover doesn't stay attached very well so it's going to quickly lose it's stickiness. You can't use the zoom while it's attached.

I haven't really taken many photos yet so I don't know how well it performs, but the photo below is a quick example. It does blur the edge slightly in a quite nice effect, but it's not really very noticeable. I think I need to try it in better lighting, with something actually in the background so you can see the effect it has.

However, it was ridiculously cheap. So even though I can't actually attach it to my phone because I don't have the two little holes (I'm sure they have an actual name) that the lanyard loops through, it's kinda fun and because it's cheap you can play around with a few different ones. I like the way they all look together, so I might be persuaded to buy some more in the future!

[I'll update this when I've taken some proper photos!)

Plastic Cameras - Michelle Bates.

Another book for the wishlist :)

Reviews

"Following the success of the first edition, the second edition makes Plastic Cameras even more comprehensive and up to date. This book provides extensive how-to information to get you started and a new section on alternative processes for the advanced photographers. This ultimate guide is also packed with many inspiring photos by world renowned Holga artists such as Sylvia Plachy, Michael Kenna, Thomas Michael Alleman, Brigitte Grignet, Christopher James and many other additions." - Holga Inspire Newsletter

"This volume brings together the world of toy camera photography, including the history of their use, exhaustive instructions, tips and tricks for getting the most out of Holgas and other choice cameras, advanced camera modifications, darkroom and presentation information, and resources for continued research and sharing." - Photography Blog

From the Back Cover

Take a tour of the burgeoning world of plastic cameras and low-tech photography. Whether you're an experienced enthusiast or toy camera neophyte, you'll find Plastic Cameras chock full of tantalizing tips, fun facts and, of course, absolutely striking photographs taken with the lowest-tech and simplest tools around.

I got me a Holga.  Now what?

Holgas need a little TLC before they're ready to go out into the world and start snapping. Plastic Cameras digs through all the different Holga models available, lays out their advantages and quirks and helps you get up to speed on all the prep you'll neeed to do to jump in on the toy-camera revolution.

What should I Feed my Plastic Camera?

Holgas, Dianas, and other toy cameras can use many types of film. Plastic Cameras lays all their pros and cons out on the line letting you get some images you want, and some you could just never imagine.

Can Toy Cameras Come Out to Play?

Plastic Cameras will help you steer your way through all the details and quirks of taking wonderful and weird pictures with your toy camera. We'll explore possible subjects and the best way to shoot them and play with all sorts of techniques from vignetting, to multiple exposures, to panoramas, close-ups, movement, night photography, flare, flash, color and more.

   

LOMO Action Sampler Review.

Ok so this is the Action Sampler camera I have:

(bought here)

I've had one film developed so far. I'm not sure about the results, I mean I like how they look but I don't think they really capture the "action".

It's very easy to use, it has a [pretty pathetic] "viewfinder" on top that you lift up (it's really just a square but of plastic, hollow in the middle!) It makes a very strange noise when you take the photo, sort of like a grinding, it's just very loud!

I love this one:

No action at all, but it's from the end of the film, hence the lovely light leak. 

You can just about see the fish move in this, they were moving pretty slowly at the time.

You can see some movement in the seals.

A slight issue I've found with this camera; several of the photos from this film have finger marks in the way. The odd thing is that it's not in all 4 pictures, and it's not in the last one, where you would expect it, it's usually in the first and third sections. This strikes me as a bit odd, I mean how did I manage to get my finger in the way for those sections but not the others!? The photo takes really fast so it's not like it's because of the time it's taking the photo. Very weird.

I guess you have to be shooting something that's moving really fast for this camera to shoot properly. It may just be because I don't think this is a real Lomography camera, I got it off ebay. So maybe stick to an proper version from Lomography or Amazon.

LOMO Action Sampler.

Information from Amazon:

35MM CAMERA WITH FOUR BUILT-IN LENSES THAT CAPTURE FOUR SEQUENTIAL PHOTOS WITHIN EACH FRAME OF THE FILM.

Action Sampling: one shot - a series of four images.The ActionSampler is an incredible 4-lensed photo-photo-photo-photo camera that neatly dissects a second into four parts and then re-assembles them to create something entirely new. The right camera for the right situation. A camera for capturing action moments.One click: a four-picture series on one print. No focusing, fixed aperture, no shutter-speed, simple technology and a great idea: The ultimate photographic challenge. Uses any 35 mm film which can be developed by any photo laboratory.

Details

- Lens: four sets of 26 mm single element sequentially operated lenses focus range: fix-focus from 1.2 metres to infinity

- Shutter: Shutter speed 1/100 second, Exposure intervals 0.22 seconds per frame and 0.88 seconds in total for four frames in a sequence on each negative.

- Film to be used: Takes any 35 mm

Examples of how photographs look from this camera:

The Action Sampler comes in a whole variety of colours and variations:

Buy it now from Amazon:

     

     

Hannah has one of these cameras (the pink one at the top!) so she will review it properly for us later.

Jelly Lens.

Jelly Lens is a little device that you stick on your mobile phone to create fun and interesting photo affects. There's a whole range of different ones to collect.

     

Check out the official jelly lens website here.

Fuuvi Juicebox Camera.

I bought one of these last week and I'm so excited for it to come!

It's called the Juicebox camera and made by Japanese company Fuuvi.

It's a regular 35mm film camera, but the outside casing has very cleverly been made to look like a juicebox.

It comes in about 20 different designs, but is not readily available in the UK so I had to buy mine off ebay (still less than a tenner though so a pretty good price!)

(This is the only model that was available, the original, but that's fine by me!)

You can buy it here (shipping from Japan) and here (shipping from Malaysia) (I don't know about postage costs from these places) and there are some available on ebay but sadly not very many :(

LOMO Mini Diana.

Definitely a camera on my wishlist!

Tech Details:

• uses any 35mm film
• 72 shoots in rectangular mode
• 36 shoots in square mode
• compatible with diana flash
• long exposure setting

     

More details on the Lomography website.

Blue Ribbon 35mm Camera.

Ok so the first non digital camera we're going to review is this: the Blue Ribbon 35mm Super Fat Lens Camera, sold by SuperHeadz.

This is a really cute little camera. It's basically a point and shoot and very user friendly. It also has a nice rubber like casing and the blue is such a great, vivid colour.

A couple of examples of how photographs shot on this camera should look:

How our photos turned out. They're a bit more grainy but that might have something to do with the 99p store film we used! The lovely burn in the first photo is because it was the first exposure on the roll.

This camera is really good for shooting landscapes, as you can fit more in the frame. Already mentioned in the title, but this camera uses regular 35mm film so there's no problems with developing :)

This little camera is a really good price of only £18 on Amazon.co.uk for the blue version, and it also comes in a broad range of other colours, although they are a little bit more pricey. Check out the full range on Amazon now by clicking the link below :)

    

Have you used this camera? Let us know what you though of it!

Developments.

Ok so I don't know if there's going to be an endless amount of stuff to write about disposable cameras and what you can do with them (although there will always be different liquids to put the cameras in, once we've plucked up the courage to try!) so, we're going to also look at traditional film cameras (Hannah has a very long wishlist!) as well as a bit of digital.

So basically a more all round photography blog.

We believe all types of photography have their own place, so this way we'll give you a more rounded view of equipment you can use.

We don't exactly have the money to buy and try out each camera for ourselves but we will find the best (and worse) reviews for all different cameras to give you a comprehensive insight into which is the best equipment to use :)

Sound good? Alrighty then.

Kodak FunSaver.

My apologies for the awful quality of these photographs, my SLR didn't seem to want to work so I had to use my phone :(

So anyways, this is the current disposable I'm using. I realise the drawback of not having documented my journey from the start means I didn't photograph each camera variation. I did make note of each one, but when you take several cameras into be developed all at the same time it's hard to know which is which! Something I'm not planning to do in the future. I shoot film as well so there's usually at least five different sets coming back at once!

Onto the camera. 

I love this disposable. It's so easy to use and mess with. And not a bad price. I usually get them from Asda but I'm starting to find them cheaper online. Amazon has a good selection from various users. 

It's not the cheapest hobby, especially as development is at least £3.99, but you can't play with real cameras the same way, and it doesn't matter if you take it too far. Bonus.

So as you can see this camera has a blue coloured flash. The lens is a bit hard to see but it's actually painted using five different nail polishes. I've seen examples with paint which work quite well, but because nail polish is usually pretty thin I find it works best to not clog up the lens. So on this one there's yellow, pink, blue, red and glitter nail polish. I've tried to just paint around the edge and keep the centre of the lens clear.

Due to the flash on this one it's easy to slam it against your hand to get it to fire again, but I'm still struggling with not getting my fingers in the way. (I'll post some of my biggest fails later on!) I've already posted some examples of the slamming technique with this camera.

I feel I've waffled on enough now. This is definitely my disposable of choice, even though I've only tried a couple! They're a lot more difficult to come by nowadays, which is a real shame.


     

~ Hannah Curson

FujiFilm QuickSnap 400.

My very first experiments with disposable were done with a Fujifilm QuickSnap 400.

It was very cheaply available so I thought I'd give it a try.

For my first experiments I coloured the flash in with a green sharpie and painted over the lens with yellow nail polish.

My main objective however was to try out the 'slamming against your hand' trick I'd read about. The aim is to basically get the flash to fire a second time, therefore making a second exposure. If you've ever tried to double expose on a disposable you'll know that the button won't press without having wound the camera on, therefore lining up a new exposure. This method is supposed to take a second photo over the first.

I, however, found it incredibly difficult with this camera. Not only did I have an incredibly sore hand by the end, but because you have to push a button up to charge the flash (not shown on these photos because they're a slightly older model than the version I used) but it meant as soon as you whacked the camera on your hand, the button would move itself down again, so the flash couldn't go off. And it was very difficult to hold the button in place without your hand covering the lens :S

So all in all, I wouldn't recommend this camera if you want to try the double exposure trick, but for messing with it in other ways it's pretty good.

     

~ Hannah Curson

UPDATED

Results from this camera:

(These all had green sharpie on the flash and yellow nail polish painted over the lens)

This photograph was also from this camera, although I didn't alter the camera in any way.