Toy Camera Project
Lomography has launched a budget friendly camera. For £21.90 you can get a no frills half frame camera (with preloaded film!) with a choice of black and white or colour film.
My journey into analogue film started with my Pentax 17 camera which I adore. It comes with me on every holiday and it was my “gateway” into analogue photography so when Lomography announced a budget half-frame camera I jumped at the opportunity to pre-order. A week ago the camera finally arrived in the post and I was able to start taking photos…
What is half-frame?
If your not sure what a half-frame camera is don’t worry, in the most simple terms a half-frame camera take images in a “half frame” using only half of a film’s exposure to take a photo doubling up capacity. This great for low resolution photos and by default the image is in portrait mode but if you tilt the camera you can take landscape photos however the resolution is lower than a full frame but the trade off is you get more opportunities to take photos on a single roll so if your new to photography and you want more for less this can be a really good opportunity.
What I liked
- The camera is tiny, light weight and easy to use.
- Due how tiny the camera is it’s ideal for when you need to quickly grab a camera out of a bag and take a photo, some of my more bulky cameras can take a bit longer to get in and out.
- The price is fantastic and the camera is re-usable so you can load up more film and keep going!
What I disliked
- Rolling back the film is a bit of a pain, I got a bit sore rolling the film back.
- To unload the film you have to remove the shell of the camera to get to the film. I wish this could of been a flap instead but because of the budget nature of the camera this is a design compromise.
Full Disclosure
I bought my Lomography Black and White half frame camera from Lomography’s online shop out of my own pocket, my views are my own and have not been influenced by Lomography.
I also bought the Kodak Snapic A1 from Amazon.
I have put some photos up in my gallery if you want to check out what a £21 camera can do – gallery
If your interested in the Kodak Snapic A1 (a £99 full-frame modern analogue camera) I have also included some photos of the same location in a separate gallery – gallery