Lomography Fishy Camera

I have a Canon EOS Rebel T2i DSLR and I love it. It's a semi-pro camera. Captures at18mp and 1080i video. I couldn't be more happy with a camera.

But there are times when I have to go back to film. There's just something about the chemical reaction of photons hitting the silver halide salts, that gives you a whole different picture than you would have gotten using a digital camera.

I have an Olympus OM-1, but usually when I go on a road trip or out shooting for the day I just throw in one of my Lomography camera. One of my favorite is the Lomography Fisheye 35mm Camera It's easy to load and the lens is fixed - and plastic. Fisheye gives a whole new perspective (literally) of the world. Here are some pictures I took with my Fisheye.

Cedar Breaks, Utah

Ethel M - Cactus Garden, Las Vegas, Nevada

Ethel M - Cactus Garden, Las Vegas, Nevada

Cedar City, Utah

If you're interested in owning this little gem, you can purchase it at Amazon.

Dream Frogs

I took these pictures using an old Olympus OM-1 with special film that only captures the "dream" photons.

I think I'm addicted

I think I've become a camera porn addicted. I never thought I would be one of those guys who carries around a camera bag or God forbid a camera around my neck. I don't know what it is? There's something addicting about getting the perfect shot. I just hit the hundred dollar mark of total money spent on a film SLR camera. The Olympus OM-1 cost me 15 dollars. The flash cost me 10 dollars and the new lens cost me 75 dollars. This is not including film. Film is expensive.

I've decided to purchase a DSLR by this Christmas. Everyone I talk to says go with Canon or Nikon. Certainly there is a lot of quality and technology in both cameras. But as you can see with my sad and pitiful film camera purchases, I don't like to do what everyone else does. That is why I've almost decided to go with the Pentax K-x (white); affectionately called, "The Stormtrooper".

Pentax cameras are completely backward compatible with its lenses. The price of the camera can't be beat and it has most of the features that expensive Canon and Nikon cameras do. It even has Hi-Def video. It has a 12.4 megapixel CMOS image sensor with image stabilization - Anyway there are a whole bunch of reasons really.

What has happened to me? I think it might be old age.

 

Meet The Stormtrooper

Escape to Vegas Mountain

I couldn't take the heat anymore so I escaped to a local mountain called, Mt. Charleston. I took along all three cameras - the fisheye, multilens and the Olympus (old school) OM-1 35mm. Here are some pictures from all three. I present them for your enjoyment.

The weather up there was great - I was at about 8,000 feet and the temperature was around 80 degrees. There was a light wind and you could hear it rustle through the trees. There was the smell of pine and I could actually hear animals. Sometimes living in the city - if it wasn't for the color of money, I forget what the color green looks like. - NOTE - I did not see Elvis.

Two New Cameras

I love funky cameras. It all started with my purchase of a Chinese camera called the Holga 120 FN. I purchased the 35mm kit - who wants to use 120 film and it took wonderfully strange pictures.

Then I purchased a Olympus OM-1 camera. This camera was made in the early 70's and it works great. I'm sure in the days before digital this camera cost a couple hundred bucks, but I got it off Ebay for less than fifteen.

My next purchase was an Agfa Optima 200. It was built in the early 70's. As of yet have not taken any pictures with this camera.

Then I came across two really cool toy cameras: A Lomography Fisheye lens and Lomography 4 Lens Action Sampler.

The Fisheye is a very cool camera. It takes regular 35mm film and loads like any other traditional film camera. The lens will capture light 170 degrees from end to end. The lens compacts this wide-view onto a standard 35mm shot on the film.

The camera was less than forty bucks in-the-box new and came with a flash. For that price it was a no brainer. I was surprised at the quality of the camera. It seems pretty rugged with the door and all the latches fitting tightly together. The view finder was useless, but it's best to shoot-from-the-hip anyway. There is a switch on the front for the flash - requires one AA battery.

It was easy to shoot - I used 400 speed film. The camera works best in full sunlight with an expansive setting. Indoors the pictures tend to have a carnival mirror look.

The next camera, the LOMO 4 Lens Action Sampler is a standard 35mm camera with four lenses in a square shape. Each lens fires off in a series at 1/4 a second apart. The end result is a picture with four pictures on it. Each picture captures a moment in a series.

I purchased this camera for about twelve dollars and it is not as nicely constructed as the fisheye. The camera is lightweight and the latches and doors do not feel like they latch together tight and secure. The film was also pretty difficult to load and the view finder - a plastic square is all but unusable.

I recommend using high speed film for this camera. I used 800 speed. The lenses are small and require a lot of light. There is no flash on this camera and it's just as well.

Still for a toy camera that costs 12 bucks how can you wrong and as you can see the pictures are fun and exciting.