safe haven for tiny formats

[Brian Legge]

Super Ikonta IV on Tri X:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/cannelbrae/7036203903


http://www.flickr.com/photos/cannelbrae/7036205237

[mdm]

[SamReeves]

Super Ikonta IV on Tri X:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/cannelbrae/7036203903


http://www.flickr.com/photos/cannelbrae/7036205237

Interesting juxtaposition with the old fella and the pot shop! He don't look too happy.

St. Merrique on my sexy couch. I sweated like a dog standing a few inches underneath a hotlight while doing this. Only a few couch shots and I was done fer.

Canon EOS D60, Canon EF 17-40mm ƒ4L lens, ASA 400.

[jcoldslabs]

At the Chinese gardens, downtown Portland.

Mamiya 7, Delta 100, 80mm


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Jonathan

[chassis]

Two shots from the shore of Lake Erie, near Huntington Reservation, west of Cleveland, OH.

iphone 4

[Jay DeFehr]

Jay,

I'm with you on the "non-Holga" crappy cameras. I have a whole stable of various box cameras and faux-TLRs. This was taken in Oregon City with a "Kinoflex Deluxe" 120. No focus, three aperture controls and one shutter speed. The focus is usually all over the place because the camera does not do a good job holding the film flat.

Shot on 30 year-old Plus-X.


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Jonathan

Jonathan,

I find these old, cheap cameras score very high in the charm category. There has to be a reason for the millions of Holgas sold! Every one of these old cameras seems to have a "personality", for lack of a better word to describe their idiosyncratic set of faults, limitations and virtues. I can't easily resist temptation when I run across one in a shop, and so I've inadvertently collected quite a few. Most recently I picked up a 6x9 on 120 folder, definitely German, with a Zeiss lens in a Compur shutter, and Ernet embossed in the leather covering. Oddly, it has two red windows in the back, both on the same line. I assume there's a way to use them for shooting different formats, but I haven't figured out how. In my rush to try out the old girl, I didn't blow out the interior of the camera, and there was a LOT of crap in there that ended up on the film. Also, shooting handheld was probably not the best idea.



Still, there's a certain charm.

[jcoldslabs]

Jay,

I couldn't agree more. I have stopped buying these now since I have, oh, upwards of fifteen different cameras, mostly TLRs, in 120 and 620. Whether it is the different optics, construction, design, film flatness (or not), I agree that each of these cameras has its own characteristics. Sometimes I will find one that is not crappy enough and I shelve it.

The camera I used for the above image was rebranded many times, like the Diana and her clones. I have a Kinoflex, Kinoflex Deluxe, Votarflex and a Wales Reflex, all of which are identical except for the badge on the front. Even still, they differ in the way they each render images. Go figure.

I find it interesting that the qualities that many of us like about Holgas and their ilk is the same thing people like about using Petzvals well past their intended formats: light fall off, peripheral aberrations and vignetting. It isn't lost on me when using a 10" projection Petzval on my 8x10 that I am essentially turning a huge, expensive camera capable of multiple movements and refined image control into a giant Holga.

Jonathan

[pixelatedscraps]

Mamiya 6
50mm f/4
Kodak Ektar 100

Taken in Kobe, Japan.

[Brian C. Miller]

Pentax 6x7, 90mm LS lens, Kodak E100S.

[jcoldslabs]

Rolleiflex 3.5F Planar, Delta 100


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Jonathan