Sunday 28 July 2013

Week 187 - Dacora Daci

Dacora Daci by pho-Tony
Dacora Daci, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
This very basic metal box camera was made around 1950 in Germany, I found it recently in a street market and paid £5 including its original leather case. It takes twelve 6cm x 6cm photos on a roll of 120, and has a tripod bush and cable release socket, so it should be possible to take long exposures using a tripod and the "B" setting (actually the "Z" setting, being a German camera, Zeit=Time).

Friday 26 July 2013

photo from week 186 - Olympus AZ 330 Superzoom

I took this photo twice as I don't trust the autofocus and wanted to hedge my bets. This one is reasonably sharp, the other is hopelessly out of focus. Somehow I don't think this camera will be seeing much action in the forseeable future.

photo from week 186 - Olympus AZ 330 Superzoom

Granny Turismo by pho-Tony
Granny Turismo, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
I can't say I enjoyed using this camera, it is bulky, slow and the autofocus missed the point most of the time. I took it to the Tramlines Fesitval, where, as ever, Granny Turismo were a great success with the crowds.

Sunday 21 July 2013

Week 186 - Olympus AZ 330 Superzoom

Olympus AZ 330 Superzoom by pho-Tony
Olympus AZ 330 Superzoom, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
This is a monster of a camera, others have nominated it for the ugliest camera ever made, I'm not sure I'd go that far, but it would make a good door-stop if all else failed.
It was in a bag containing half a dozen similar 1990s cameras that I paid a fiver for in a bootsale a couple of years back.
It's interesting to note that a mere decade later, Olympus made similarly specified cameras which were about half the size of this one.

Friday 19 July 2013

photo from week 185 - *NSYNC photofanpack camera

iron bridge and boy band by pho-Tony
iron bridge and boy band, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
The birthplace of the industrial revolution (and a long forgotten boy band).

photo from week 185 - *NSYNC photofanpack camera.

With simple cameras like this, a reflected self portrait can pose a challenge, as it has to be taken in good daylight. Often this menas finding a suitable window, where the subject (ie me) is in the full sun, but there is no reflection of the sun (or flash tube) to cause severe flare.
The photofanpack camera has a built in flash, but this has a mind of its own, irrespective of the flash button, it seems to fire until its charge has gone. Once I'd worked this out, I could take steps to avoid the flare (a low tech solution - putting my finger over the flash).

photo from week 185 - *NSYNC photofanpack camera

horse chestnut with boy band by pho-Tony
horse chestnut with boy band, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
Well, it did exactly what it said on the tin. Each photo has one of two different borders with photos of the band...

Thursday 18 July 2013

Week 185 - *NSYNC photofanpack camera

*NSYNC photofanpack camera by pho-Tony
*NSYNC photofanpack camera, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
This is a bizarre novelty camera clearly aimed at fans of the boy band "Nsync". Made by photofanpak.com, the name suggests that maybe they also made cameras for other bands.
It takes 18 exposures, each one of which has a border depicting the pop stars, the camera itself is a basic disposable model, the film plane includes a mask which shields the pre-exposed border area from the lens.
I've had it a couple of years, and thought it was about time to use it, as the film is already 10 years past its use by date.

Wednesday 17 July 2013

photo from week 184 - Kershaw Penguin

Sheaf Quay by pho-Tony
Sheaf Quay, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
Another building from Sheffield's industrial past, again, the redscale film seems to suit the subject.

photo from week 184 - Kershaw Penguin

Taken indoors, with the aperture at f16, this was a long exposure, estimated at about 60 seconds. While the camera and surroundings are sharp, there is some motion blur from the neck up!

photo from week 184 - Kershaw Penguin

Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet by pho-Tony
Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
I used another roll of the Lomography redscale film that I picked up in a clearance sale recently. The almost sepia effect seems to suit the subject matter here.

Wednesday 10 July 2013

Week 184 - Kershaw Penguin

Kershaw Penguin by pho-Tony
Kershaw Penguin, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
This is a very basic folding 120 roll film camera made in the 1950s. There is a single speed shutter and two apertures, f11 and f16. There is focussing, with distances marked at infinity, 10ft and 6ft.
This model takes eight 6cm x 9cm exposures per roll.

Tuesday 9 July 2013

photos from week 183 - Halina Disc 100

three towers by pho-Tony
three towers, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
Three consecutive frames, taken within a few minutes of each other in Sheffield city centre.

photo from week 183 - Halina Disc 100

Norton House Country Club by pho-Tony
Norton House Country Club, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
One frame from the disc, I quite like the surrounding film markings.

photo from week 183 - Halina Disc 100

It's always a nail biting experience waiting to find out if anything usable is present on the disc after processing. This film is 24 years out of date, and although the colours are a bit off, I was pleased to find that there was something there. This is a scan of the whole disc.

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Week 183 - Halina Disc 100

Halina Disc 100 by pho-Tony
Halina Disc 100, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
This is about the most basic disc camera made, it's also one of the smallest I've seen. I can't remember where I got it from, obviously it was originally a free gift or marketing item for Radio Rentals.
Disc film has not been made for a number of years, it's not a format that lends itself to DIY solutions, so the only hope is to use old expired film. I've picked up a handful of discs from various sources, I'll be using a Supasnaps branded disc which expired in 1989.