Week 321 - Smena 8M

The Smena 8M is one of a long line of work-horse 35mm cameras made in the Soviet Union over several decades. I have used a number of models from the range, and the shutters all seem to work fine, unlike some of the European budget cameras of the same era.

photo from week 320 - Miranda Panorama Solo

A composite of two frames, this is the Wolseley Rd Mosque in Sheffield.

photo from week 320 - Miranda Panorama Solo

Three vertically oriented frames.

photo from week 320 - Miranda Panorama Solo

This is the sort of shot that these panoramic cameras were designed for, Hodscock Priory near Worksop.

Week 320 - Miranda Solo Panorama

This is a simple faux-panoramic camera. It uses standard 35mm film, and masks the film plane to give a letterbox format. There were many variations of this type of simple camera, often identical models would be badged by different manufacturers. I've used a few variants in the past, but not this particular design.

photo from week 319 - Diax

This was shot semi-blind, I didn't fancy laying down on the wet grass, so I held the camera at a low level and did my best to aim it. I used a fairly wide aperture, and set the focus to the minimum distance, on order to throw the background out of focus.

photo from week 319 - Diax

This is a bit of crop from the full frame, but the grain is mainly due to using expired ISO 400 film.

photo from week 319 - Diax

I enjoyed using the Diax, it's a neat, well made little camera, so it's a shame I only had 12 exposures to play with. I think it will be getting another outing fairly soon.

Week 319 - Diax

The Diax is a neat little 35mm camera, made in Germany in the late 1940s. It has a full range of shutter speeds and a Xenar lens. I found this one in a posh charity shop, and paid £39.99 for it, which wasn't a bargain, but it was for a good cause. It is in very good condition, and all seems to function as it should.
I loaded it with a part roll of expired Jessops PAN400 SX black and white negative film.

photo from week 318 - Hanimex 35 hs

Simple bold colourful street furniture in full sunlight is always a fallback subject for a simple camera.

photo from week 318 - Hanimex 35 hs

Indoor self-portraits are always a challenge for simple point and shoot cameras. I used a sheet of mirrored plastic, and stood in the sun for this one.

photo from week 318 - Hanimex 35 hs

This colourful brick mural, taken in weak winter sunlight, didn't pose any problems for the Hanimex, I think I used the "middle" aperture setting.

Week 318 - Hanimex 35 hs

This is a little plastic point and shoot, that is a notch up from the very basic models. It has a hot shoe for flash, and three different apertures, identified by symbols. Thesr is a fixed shutter speed, and no focussing, but the choice of apertures should make it usuable in winter daylight.
I've loaded it with a roll of Agfa Vista ISO 200 film from Poundland.

photo from week 317 - Kodak No.0 Brownie Model A

Another regular subject, one of the angels at Abbey Lane Cemetery.

photo from week 317 - Kodak No.0 Brownie Model A

One of my regular subjects, a horse chestnut tree in my local park. The "Nightbird" is a redscaled film, allegedly rated at 500 to 800 ISO, but it seems that really it should be rated at ISO 50, and all my photos were very under-exposed.

photo from week 317 - Kodak No.0 Brownie Model A

I made a right dog's dinner out of loading the camera, and managed to fog the first one and a half exposures out of the eight. This is the fogging and part of the second frame.