Hey, I noticed all this talk about Nikons and Contax cameras etc. etc. I was curious to know if anyone out there uses Toy Cameras like Holgas and Dianas. If so, then please share!! I personally use a Holga quite often and love it.

-- Andrew Kaiser (akaiser@rushorder.com), November 22, 1998

Answers

I'm not sure if you would call them "toy" cameras, but I am using a couple of box cameras (Kodak Brownie and Coronet). They have very different qualities to my usual gear, and not entirely negative. At about $1 each, they are certainly not Hasselblad quality, but for the money they are superb.

They are technically very limited, so I have to think more to get decent photos out of them. But it is just thinking and taking, no twiddling 'cos there's nothing to twiddle.

They are also fun for street photography. People look at me and laugh, not quite believing, in the day of SLRs and 35mm P&S, that I am acually using a 40-year old camera.

-- Alan Gibson (Alan.Gibson@technologist.com), November 23, 1998.

I have seen a couple of sites devoted to these cameras and I personally find the thought of using them intriguing. I have been using a cheap, plastic Fuji camera that uses the same lens as in their disposable cameras and having a blast with it. It is nearly silent for street photography and actually has a usable flash. The shots are cheesy looking which is exactly what I wanted. It has a fixed focus and film speed (400) so you never know what you are going to get. It's a nice break from the Nikon and Mamiya.

-- andy laycock (agl@intergate.bc.ca), November 23, 1998.

Indeed,

I recently purchased a AU$3 (~US$1.80) plastic 35mm camera in the local supermarket for just this sort of thing.

Like Andy, I find it a refreshing change and can't wait to get the first roll of HP5 out of it and processed to see what sort of bizarre things come out of it.

duncan

-- Duncan McRae (duncanm@zip.com.au), November 24, 1998.

Toys

Hi Andrew,

I use a Holga regularly along with other "alternative" cameras such as Brownies and pinholes and just about anything that will hold film. I have a site called The Brownie Camera Page with a gallery so you can see what can be done with these wonderful cameras. I actually have an opening this Sunday with one of the images being a 5 neg panorama of Rochester, NY taken with a 1930 Eastman Anniversary camera. It can be seen on The Brownie site at: http://members.aol.com/Chuck02178/brownie.htm check it out if you get a chance. If you have some images taken with your Holga I would love to see them. Post the URL if you have one.

-- Chuck Baker (cbaker@skypub.com), December 01, 1998.

Since we are on the subject of toy cameras. I recently purchased a toy camera for my 3 year old. Oh no, not another 110, this is a 35mm camera. Takes four pics per frame. eg. roll of 24 exp = 96 photos. On a 4x6 print the individual photos are ~2x3. The only real problem has been with photo finishing. If one picture is dark and finisher corrects for it, it will throw off the other photos. Camera is called Photo Blaster by Nickelodeon

-- John Kufrovich (jkufrovich@pdq.net), December 25, 1998.

A friend recently gave me a Diana. I'm just running a roll through it.

It takes me back to the first days of using a camera, when you're limited to what you've got and not real sure what you'll get back!

I have a project in mind for it, it seems to me to suit an inquiry into the simpler, and maybe more metaphysical, theories of photography that were floating around in the 1800's.

I have a book called "Angels At The Arno" (oops, can't recall photog. offhand) but its done with a Diana, very beautiful images.

I'll post some images when I print them. Have you got a URL anywhere?

regards, WA

-- Will Ashbless (ashbless@geocities.com), February 22, 1999.

Say, anybody tried using re-loaded "disposable" cameras? They are easy to re-load and the "panoramic" ones make great, foggy wide angles if you take out the pano mask (just watch your thumb).

I haven't done it with the more recent models (my 7 year old ones still work fine) but if anyone wants more info lemme know.

WA

-- Will Ashbless (ashbless@geocities.com), February 22, 1999.

I have quite a few images on my web page that were shot with Holgas and Diana cameras. Look at http://www.jeffrogers.com at the opening page click on the "Toy Camera" button.

-- Jeff Rogers (jeff@jeffrogers.com), March 06, 1999.

The wonderful world of plastic cameras. They seem to be undergoing yet another resurgence in popularity. Dianas, her sisters like Stellar and Windsor, avoid the Dories, Holgas, Ansco Panorama Pix, and the lomographers and their beloved Lubitel are just some of the brushes available to photographers. The lens effects vary. The Holga can be a bit sharp. In the past I have spread vaseline on the lens to soften up the pic. No two Diana lenses will have the distortion in the same area. If you stumble upon a Diana, make sure it has the B and I shutter speeds and the three apertures. Diana (except the Diana Deluxe) creates smaller negatives, 4cm x 4 cm, on the 120 film. The Holga shoots a 6 cm X 4.5 cm negative unless you remove or modify the insert.

What is the lure of these plastic sirens? Dream like images and loss of the high tech. They have a learning curve but can be a very natural way of image making. As Mark Sink has posted over at AOL's Fine Art Photography board, "Rely on chance not the zone system".

Stop by my web site and view some plastic camera work. The URL is:

http://members.aol.com/holyholga/holyholga.html

-francis schanberger

-- francis schanberger (fschanberger@ucsd.edu), March 30, 1999.

I do. I use a Holga & have produced some exhibited work from it. Now, I am using a Vivitar IC-400 plastic camera (no f-stop or focal length-straight plastic).

These cameras are straight-forward without the bells & whistles. They put the creative fun back into photography. In fact, I plan to get 2 more Holgas. One to be modified into a pinhole, and the other for night photography. Enjoy!!!

I

-- victor reynolds (decosta1@hotmail.com), July 15, 1999.