Is it image quality ? Or build ut what is one man’s nightmare lump of plastic turns into someone’s lo-fi dream. Likewise scameras like the color optical lens camera have their fans. but…
In 2020 at the start of Lockdown, in a bored moment I ordered what I thought then was the worst camera in the world from Wish. It was scammy & cr&p from build to image quality. But turns out I was mistaken.
A decade ago Lomography was the king of Lo-Fi. But the market in the 2020’s has seen a resurgence of plastic fantastic. And it’s against the new pretenders that the LomoApparat is aiming.
So how about a deluxe feature loaded plastic fantastic to strike back ?But is Lo-Flying brilliance or a over priced pretender ?
When Reto launched the Kodak Ektar H35 last year, they must have thought they’d carved out a niche. There was quite buzz for the new half-frame. But with Alfie Tych launched on Kickstarter it looked like there was some momentum behind the recurrence of a historic format. And now Agfaphoto has entered the frame with a tweaked version of their Dubblefilm Show Clone shooting half frame.
2022 felt like Reto’s year. The plucky HK based disrupters had garnered huge praise for their relaunch of the VUWS. But then the pulled a blindside we never expected. Half frame and in Kodak clothes. The Kodak Ektar H35.
And in the summer of ’22 the web lost it’s sh*t for this camera with vlogs and blogs a plenty. But does it really live up to hype ?
As we stagger into an uncertain 2023, last year turned out to be an interesting one for the photographer. With more juicy surprises than Prince Harry’s memoir there was a lot going on. Here’s my take
We’ve got new film cameras galore, film surprises and shortages and even the Boss turns up. Come on in.
The 90’s was a era of massive change in both society and the camera worls. Against a backdrop of Brit Pop, Canon usurped Nikon’s lead role by the start of the decade. But Nikon would fight back with new models. A lot of focus on is on the F90 and the F70. But alongside these notable cameras the F50 (N50) was released aimed at the less demanding punter. Turns out it was a bit of a re-hash.
We live in an era of film resurgence. With new models appearing it seems every month from Revo’s Plastic Shooters to Nons’s Instax SLRs. But guess what for a few years a major fashion retailer has been selling a new Autofocus 35mm compact for the measly sum of $28USD.
Except that’s not quite true. Someone is telling Porkies about the VF201.
In 2004 the A400 got good reviews for a budget digital P&S. But with the eye of hindsight how does it stack up in the 2020’s as a vintage digital that can be got for a few quid ? As ever there isn’t an easy answer.
To some, the LC-A 120 might just seem to be an overpriced lump of plastic designed to exploit more dollars for Hipsters. But the LC-A 120 is without doubt one if not the most important camera launched in the last decade. And I’d argue it’s one of the best new cameras despite a few flaws.
My Nons SL660 Instax Square SLR actually arrived 2 weeks ago. Literally as I was packing to go to Canada so reviewing this camera had to wait. But I’ve now shot a few film packs and I’m impressed. It is a game changing camera but with some issues.
