Upcoming posts and activities
Some cameras and film will be reviewed. I just got back the roll of Bluefire Murano 127 Color Film that I shot with a Kodak Hawkeye Funflash I found at an antique store. Nine out of the twelve pictures came out! That was a lot more than I expected; I was sure that I’d ruined at least the first five. The Funflash is a surprisingly good camera. Those will be scanned (as apparently the Fuji lab Walmart’s send-out service uses doesn’t do photo cds for 127 film) and uploaded.
I still need to scan and upload some of the photos from my first trial of 126 cartridge film using a Kodak Instamatic I acquired a while back. These didn’t come out as well, probably because I waited so long to develop the film. But I was pleased with some of them.
I’ve also been playing around with 110 film. I bought an Ikimono Cat Flash camera a few months ago, but the lab put someone else’s prints and negatives in my envelope so I lost the first test shots. They’re still looking for it, but I doubt they’ll find them. So did they — I got two certificates for free processing and an apologetic letter in the mail. Anyway, in the meantime I took my chances and sent off my second roll of 110 film. This came back with several surprisingly good photos. They don’t scan 110 negatives either, so I’ll scan the best prints and put them up. I also just got what is probably the last “new” (in an unopened package) Kodak Cameo Motordrive 110 camera. It came with batteries that expired in 2002 and a cartridge of film that expired in 1999! I loaded it with new batteries and the old cartridge. I’ll try to take a few photos tomorrow with it. What better way to ring out the expired year than with expired film.
Speaking of expired film, I’ve started to amass quite a collection of it. I put it all in a plastic tub in the bottom of the fridge. It’s mostly 35mm but there was also another box of 110 film (Kodak Ultra, expired in 2007) waiting for me in the mail when I got home, and there’s a box of 126 Ferrania film (expired earlier this year or in 2009) that I’ve been hoarding. My plan was to take some of the film to the big old cemetery in town (expired film, expired people: heh heh), but it’s been mostly too frickin’ cold. Maybe I’ll dig out that one expired disposable camera that I found languishing on a shelf in a convenience store and bring it along. I’ll be at work tomorrow but maybe I’ll take my lunch period to take some pics.
There’s more but I’m exhausted. I had ordered a roll of Rollei 127 Xpro from Fourcornerstore.com. I can’t wait to get it and try it in the Kodak Brownie Super 27 camera I found at the same antique store where I got the Funflash.
The Superheadz Wide & Slim camera: a review
So far I love the results from the Wide & Slim. (It might be “Wide ‘N’ Slim” but I hate that “N” thing so I’ve spelled it the way I want.) The dreamy look, the vignetting, the wide shots — so far everything is as the reports on it said. It’s easy to use, and as light as a styrofoam cup. On the other hand, it does have a few drawbacks. They are as follows:
- It’s hard to keep clean. In retrospect, I should have bought the Black Slim Devil instead of the Yellow Peace model. The rubberized cover is comfy to hold, but you have to be careful not to get it smudged, because it’s hard to clean. Anything black will mark it. I use a black canvas purse as a bag for my cameras. Smudge city! And I couldn’t find a camera case that didn’t have a lining of black cloth or some other color that might rub off lint that would stick to my camera’s surface. Finally at the drug store I found a $1.00 bath pouf thing that came in a clear plastic bag which is just barely big enough to fit the camera in, so it can ride around in my purse. Still it’s probably going to get smudged and grubby eventually. Many people don’t care about this, but I’m picky that way.
- It’s very delicate. It’s made in China, and surprisingly well-made, but it still feels flimsy. What makes it light to carry around makes it easy to break. I’m especially careful with the rewinder (I am sure one day I’m going to break it, and can only hope I can repair it with superglue), and the slider that opens the camera.
- Speaking of opening the camera, it’s not easy. The slider is very small, and the trick is getting it to stay down in the open position. There is nothing to catch on to pry the back open; I finally figured out that if you hold the camera with the back facing down, and get the slider to stay in the open position, the back will open just enough that you can catch the edge with your fingernail and open it all the way. It’s easy then if you’re not like me and you bite your nails down.
Well that’s it really. The only drawbacks to the camera so far are the easily-dirtied color I chose, its fragility, and its hard-to-open camera back. It’s easy as pie to operate (no batteries — it’s a no-flash, daylight-only camera), with just a shutter button and a dial to forward to the next frame. If you are into “toy” cameras this should be in your collection.
