lo-fi

[Ralph Turner]

A few years back my eldest gave me one of those kit-form 35mm plastic tlrs, similar to the Recesky, but even more like something that fell out of a christmas cracker. The instructions were all in Chinese so I had to rely solely on the faint, sketchy diagrams in order to assemble it. Even then, I had to kodify the way the shutter went together for it to function. Although it nominally 'focusses' mechanically, the viewfinder is so awful I had to stick a piece of frosted tape across the film gate to set a nominal focus at around 3-4 metres, then jam the meshed teeth of the two lenses with a lump of blu-tac to stop them rotating, fixed focus style. The lens created some interesting effects (defects?) in addition to all the usual aberrations a single bi-convex lens brings with it due to some dimples moulded in. This all sounds like I'm rather ungrateful towards my Son, which isn't the case. I did enjoy the challenge.
Anyway, I managed to load an out of date roll of Ferrania Solaris 200 in it and set off for some snaps...
Well, I did get around nine recognisable frames out of a roll of 24. I didn't get beyond a 'quick and dirty' scan of each frame on my flatbed, initially thinking 'ah well, never mind', but the images have kind of grown on me in a dreamlike, Ted-Serios-throught-projected-image kind of way.

 

[Gary R. Smith]

Reminds me of images from a pin hole camera.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Reminds me of images from a pin hole camera.

Yes, indeed. I wouldn't mind betting, though, that the right sized pinhole would have yielded sharper results than this lens..

 

[Rob MacKillop]

There is no bad photography, but you have to be in the right place to appreciate some of it. I’m not quite there for this stuff, but there are times when I have been. I can see how you have become fond of the results, so there is hope!

 

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks, Rob. Although I wouldn't say I'm the biggest fan of 'lo-fi' photography, now and again something from this genre grabs my imagination.
I might post two or three pics I got from that little plastic fantastic freebie-cam I mentioned elsewhere. Still fairly lo-fi but a definite step 'up' from this quality-wise.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Some more lo-fi, though not quite as 'lo' as above. Taken on the cheapie plastic-cam mentioned elsewhere. I like the lomo sharpish-in-the-middle-soft-at-the-edge look from this and am tempted to stick another roll through, keeping in mind it's nominal focus point seems to be around 10 feet give or take a couple. You'll notice it has a curved film plane to help feduce distortions and, until I'd fished it out to have a look at it again, I'd forgotten it has a hot shoe. Wonders never cease..

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Now, these I do like, especially the b&w ‘mugshot’ and the flowers. Enough detail to know that you are using film – not a digital film filter – and enough quality to know that it is not a toy camera. Very good.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks, Rob. I am tempted to stick a roll of b+w through it, see what comes of it. Could be fun. One thing I do like, though, with these simple cameras is that it gives that kind of freedom where pretty much all you have to think about is the subject. All good fun.

 

[Pete Askew]

I also have one of those TLR kits and it was also a gift (mine is from Haynes - who normally make repair manuals for cars and motorcycles!). I have to confess tough that after building it I was too lazy to put a film through it!

I like the shots of the 2 signs and the trees and from the other camera the one of the stove works very well I think. The ones of the Fuschas and the Sycamore leaves have something quite compelling about them too I think.

 

[Ralph Turner]

Thanks, Pete, much appreciated.