Just entered my 1st contest ever and I am open to suggestions to improve where I may. I am still figuring out your site and hopefully succeeded doing things correctly. Thank you.
added a message for all new users who have never voted. the photo page now will say something like
” Hello Nick!
This seems to be the first time you have ever voted in one of our contests. Simply click one of the stars below. 1 for lowest, 5 for highest – and we will record your vote. To read more on how voting works read Voting Rules. … See More
”
above the 5 star rating. As long as they have voted at least once, this message will not appear again.
I only see 5 likes on the website page, and 3 on the Facebook app page for this photo. Sometimes I have seen when using facebook plugins the numbers being inaccurate. For example, one comment box reported over 1,000,000 counted, when only 5 displayed. So likely you saw the same thing.
I’ve been on a tear lately with toy camera’s. I first got the Golden Half, then the Blackbird Fly, and now I found myself over the weekend at PhotoWorks in San Francisco staring at this odd camera on the shelf that seemed to be staring right back at me. It was the Holga 135TIM, an ugly little camera that reminds me more of a Sponge Bob Squarepants toy from McDonalds than an actual 35mm camera.
Other than the comic personality of the camera body – what also caught my attention was the way the camera supported half-frame shots. Where the Golden Half takes consecutive shots – each one on half of a 35mm frame – the Holga TIM gives you some more control on how to take such shots. Each “eye-ball” on Sponge Bob can be opened or closed to expose each half frame. You can choose the left or right eye-ball – open it up , frame your shot , and click. This actually gives you three options to compose your shots.
Left half frame first
Right half frame first
Both left and right at the same time for a stereoscopic full frame!
The one issue I have with the Golden Half is not knowing which two shots are actually composed on the same frame. This isn’t an issue with the Holga TIM – as you get to even choose which half frame to compose first. The cool effect of option 3 is the dual lens is slightly displaced from the subject of your shot which produces a 3D image. You need one of those old-timey 3D viewers ( which by the way Holga actually sells as an accessory – though I cant find it online) and a print of the final image to enjoy the 3D effect.
There is actually a fourth option for your composition.
Double Exposure
In order to support half frame shots, the Holga TIM has an exposure switch – which allows you to re-shoot on the same frame after toggling the left or right eye-ball before taking the second shot. This exposure switch can actually be used when taking a full frame shot with both eye-balls open at the same time. Simply take your first shot, flick the exposure switch, and take another shot. The effect is you can do a double exposure on a full frame.
Below is the unpacking ceremony for the Holga 135TIM. Once I get some shots developed – I’ll post online.
Over the last few weeks, I have taken time off of work mostly for a ‘staycation’ - working in the garage, surfing, reading, and generally just sitting around the house as much as possible. I did get a chance to go back east to visit familiy and took my Golden Half along. Its much easier to travel with than my Nikon D300 – though I miss the instant gratification of being able to view your shots as you take it. Its a fair trade-off to the simplicity of the Golden Half.
Once I came back home to the NorCal coast of Pacifica, CA - I worked on overhauling this Site. Hopefully you find the new layout an improvement, as well as the ease of the new Login mechanism. Hope eveyone is enjoying the summer!
Below are some new shots from the Golden Half. For more shots, checkout my Flickr stream.
These are some of the first shots I took with the Golden Half this weekend. It was perfect weather around the beach for a stroll. With the low tide I got a rare chance to hang out underneath the Pacifica Pier.
It was probably the first time in 9 years I had shot real 35 mm film. There is no instant satisfaction in viewing your shots as in a digital camera, and the settings are so basic you have only 3 exposure settings ( cloudy, sunny, and flash – presuming you attach one to the shoe ). But this was actually part of the attraction. No grand options, settings, meters or accessories – which really frees you up to just focus on taking pictures. It’s a lot more fun to walk around with this little camera – and more friendly in a crowd. Just walking around with it will attract inquisitive folks asking “what kinda camera is that?”
After I shot this first roll of film, I went straight to Walgreen’s 1-hour photo processing. They exposed the negatives but then their mighty machine chokes on the double exposures per frame. They had no idea what to do, so I ended up heading to Wolf Camera – whose staff actually new what the Golden Half was.
Here’s a few shots around the beach from Saturday. This is definitely the beginning of a lot of fun with these lo-fidelity cameras!
Here’s the Blackbird Fly. This is a great twin reflex camera with lots of little features. Unpacking this camera was actually fun. The design in the packaging makes you want to keep the box. It comes in a plastic bottle – similar to a big snow globe which is actually a perfect display case to keep the camera in when your not out taking great photos with it.
I received my first Golden Half in the mail this week, along side a new Blackbird Fly. Here is the unpacking ceremony of the Golden Half (okay its a bit out of focus). I’m looking forward to playing around with this little camera and seeing how the photos come out! Check it out on Amazon or over at the Four Corner Store.
These days digital cameras/phones have become so ubiquitous with how we shoot quick snaps of our daily lives we are accustomed to the high quality these devices provide. The latest products tout high megapixel ranges, bigger zoom-levels, and so many advanced features that we come to expect more out the pictures we create.
As technology seems to advance the quality of digital photography almost on a monthly basis, you will find an increasing trend towards a more basic , low-tech approach to photography. Almost as a revolt to the ever increasing presence of digital cameras , a class of cameras are taking their stand and attracting a cult following along the way.
The value of Toy Cameras is in direct contrast to their hi-tech counterparts. To the enthusiast, the attraction is their characteristic flaws…
The cheaper the camera the better. Most popular toy cameras are under $100.
plastic body, plastic lens
almost no controls on the body ( like a view finder or focus control)
Image “characteristics” are more important that image “quality”
Lens effects like vignetting
Light leaks
Easily modded, hacked, and tuned
cheap enough to take apart and put back together again.
a strong mod community has tons of ways to trick out your toy camera, and get some great custom effects.
Some of the most popular Toy Cameras out there today have communities online and popular Flickr groups dedicated to them.. Below are some great sites for the overall toy camera enthusiasts.
Listed here are 4 of the most popular cameras today under 200 bucks and some resources for each. Know of anymore? Feel free to leave a comment on your favorite toy camera!
1. Diana Camera – $50
For around $50 you get a plastic lens, two shutter settings, and three aperture settings.
More on the high-price range ( for a toy camera that is), at $125 this 35mm twin reflex camera is a flagship for the Toy Camera community. You get two shooting options f7 at 1/125th and f/11 at 1/125th. – essentially “sunny” and “cloudy”.
With a half-frame camera, one can fit twice as many pictures onto a standard roll of film. For example, 72 exposures on a 36-exposure roll, 48 on a 24-exposure one, and so on. The exposures have a vertical (portrait) orientation as opposed to the horizontal (landscape) orientation of a 35mm SLR or rangefinder.
Loading ...
Recent Comments