...a plethora of creative nonsense...
Posts and reviews about technical aspects of, collecting and restoring photographic equipment
Reading Time: 3 minutesI am going back a bit through some of my archives and pulling out a few old experiments to look over. This is partly personal – I have not done as much photography for a while, and also have a pile of undeveloped film I …
Reading Time: 2 minutesThis is a simple 110 cartridge film camera, designed by Schlagheck Schultes Design; like the rest of the range it is styled in black and silver and has the ubiquitous red sensor button for the shutter. The film is advanced by closing and opening the case after shooting. It has a 3 element resin Color Agnar Lens at 26mm with a fixed aperture of f/9.6. It has a socket for Magicube Flash Bulbs.
Reading Time: 2 minutesFor all the fun of old and random cameras, it is great to play with a decent, high quality SLR from time to time. From my late aunt’s chattels I received, by gift of my father a good condition Canon T50 and a couple of …
Reading Time: 2 minutesNot content with this being a random effect from poor light seals (or indeed poor construction) it is now possible, courtesy of Revlog to purchase film that is pre exposed to give these (and other) effects. What a time to be alive. I am being …
Reading Time: 4 minutesAnd so, back again to the dreaded Lomography. It is funny how it always ends up there. One thing I will say is that the Lomography crowd have an almost insatiable desire for hacking things, making cameras do weird and wonderful effects and sometimes I …
Reading Time: 7 minutesDon’t worry, this isn’t an advert on finding a cheap ‘experience’ or anything like that (if you want that you can go here), it is about doing film macro photography with retro tools that you can often find very cheaply. I love finding interesting bits …
Reading Time: 12 minutesFocal Length, Field of View and Depth of Field… These all sound very exciting. Or maybe not. Perhaps they just sound slightly frightening. They are the sort of thing that you can delve into in quite some complexity, or try to avoid as much as …
Reading Time: 10 minutesI have come to accept that I have GAS and I cannot control it. GAS? Gear Acquisition Syndrome. I had to put this in because it is the oldest puerile joke among photographers, but now it is out of the way I will get on …
Reading Time: 7 minutesI have recently got back from my first family holiday since my son was born, staying in a lovely cottage managed by my mother in the village of Cwm Penmacho in rural Conwy. This little village lies at the head of the Machno Valley, about …
Reading Time: 2 minutesThis is a small compact viewfinder camera. It has no branding other than the Barclaycard Logo, though I assume it will be a rebrand of something else. It has a sliding lens cover, a flash, and a closeup control for shots between 0.6 and 1.2m which moves the lens away from the film plane (acting like a very simple extension tube).
Reading Time: 4 minutesThis is a version of the classic Holga re-made for 35mm film. It has a smaller squarer body, with what looks like the original lens mount on the front, which has been relabelled with a focal length of 47mm – this has been commented on a few times, but seems to be accepted that this is the correct focal length – I would guess the meniscus lens differs inside the mount. The BC in the name stands for “Black Corners”, a reference to the vignetting evident on the images it produces.
Reading Time: 4 minutesI recently got hold of a little Ricoh 500G from the local car-boot sale. The shutter and lens were all in good nick, but there was a crack to the viewfinder covering, and when I opened it I was met by sticky black pile of …