Launched in the 1950’s the Coronet 6-6 was yet another no frills Bakelite roll film camera, But the folks at Coronet decided to re-brand this camera as the Rex Flash. But is it King or just Flash in the pan.
Continue reading Brummie Deco – the Curious case of the Coronet REX FlashWhen Cosina launched the the CX-1 & CX-2, little did they know they would become more famous as the cameras that inspired the Lomo LC-A. But that spark was not limited to the (in)famous Russian copy. Several other makes produced similar designs and here’s Hanimex’s take.
We’ve trod this ground before with the Halina 35 Micro (aka the Hong Kong Lomo) which was disappointing due to lack of focus, exposure control and any over-riding of an overly sensitive auto flash. The Hanimex instantly won me over as it resolves all 3 of those. But is it any good and is it a lomo rival ?
Continue reading The Aussie Lomo ? – Hanimex 35 Micro FlashWhen the Yashica Y35 arrived last year it got a bit of a pounding. Much of that was to do with overvalued expectations about this retro styled digital shooter. It’s essentially a lo-fi beast that has does do a slow film style shooting well. It has imitations mainly the hefty current price tag and limited optics. But often it’s compared to much more technically able digitals. So how does it if fare against another retro inspired but analogue lo-fi favourite the Halina 1000.
Continue reading Lo-Fi Stand Off – The Halina 1000 v The Yashica Y35When I decided to relaunch the Poundland Camera Challenge, I was pleasantly surprised when 2 Voigtländer turned including this quite stylish but basic viewfinder. But sadly this wasn’t going to be a camera that even got to the test bed. The lens was Fungus central
Continue reading Voigtländer Vitoret – 99p for FungusI’ve been running the reading room for over 6 months but I’ve decided to bring it to a close for several reasons so welcome to the Analogue week which my little update of what I’ve been up to with film gear and what else I’ve come across. Expect some sneak peaks for future posts, some ramblings and some good reads.
Continue reading The Analogue Week – 1 – It’s Cold up north !In 2015 I set out to buy cameras for a quid or less. 20 cameras later I’d amassed some brilliant finds amongst the junk. But 4 years later what does 1 quid buy you. Turns out quite a lot
Continue reading The Return Of The Poundland CHALLENGE 2019The Diana and its LSI re-incarnation the Diana F+ are much beloved by Lo-Fi photographers. However shooting 120 film isn’t necessarily the cheapest options. So what 35mm cameras come close to the Diana experience and images
Continue reading Want A Diana experience But Can’t afford 120 ? Then here’s 10 35mm AlternativesBy 1871 having your photograph taken was pretty common place. But a development published that year would lead to a major revolution in making photography easier and more practical. And that where our subject comes in. The man in the photo is Dr Richard Leach Maddox, who came up with this leap.
Continue reading History of Photography by Objects – 9 – A Photograph Of a British Doctor ~1871We’ve a camera heavy group of posts this week from vintage classics to brand new beasts. We also look new community projects, unsung heros and the sad march of Bokeh. Pull up a chair and join us.
Continue reading THE READING ROOM – NEWS & THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED (WEEK 29: FEB 15TH-21ST 2019)I recently did a review of cameras that are often seen as being crap but turn out to be quite good. It got me thinking about the converse – cameras with a cult like following but are awful. Here’s my starters for ten.
Continue reading 10 Cult but not so Great Film Cameras
