Opinion needed on some odd camera

La frog fairy

Hi all,

Heres the link of Urban Outfitters, some of you might or not know that shop, yes, it is not only a girl's shop!

The link has a wide range of camera, mostly for fun obviously, but i was wondering if any of you knew or bought any of those and give me some feedback, i need to buy a present for ..myself!:D

Im actually tempted by the instant polaroid old looking ones.

http://www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk/Gifts+Home/Photography/icat/photography?curpage=1&itemsperpage=100&isviewall=1&bklist=icat,5,shop,home,homecategories,photography

Thanks all

FoxT

..on what you want to use it for. These look like they could be fun & if you google for 'Holga' for example or do a flickr search you can see some folk are really into them. You will also see that their optical quality is poor but nevertheless they can produce attractive photos. I'd also suggest you think about logistics... Is polaroid film still available? At a reasonable price? If you take the camera on hols with you will you be able to get film for it? Does it have a flash? If not, do you care? etc.

- FoxT

sNarah

I have a few of those myself.

They are fun, whacky camera's. If you want technically perfect shots, steer away. If you want unpredictable fun shots, go ahead.

All of them are part of Lomography - which aims at the "hipster" kids who like retro and vintage (me!) TBH, they might actually be cheaper buying directly from the Lomography shop. What they have done is sourced old German and Russian camera's cheaply, refurbish them, and sell them at near extortion prices (and people like me buying them )

Another thing to keep in mind is that some of the film for these camera's are sometimes hard to find or expensive to develop, especially the medium format.

So, for a nutty prezzie for yourself I would say, go for it, but that said, I'm biased because I love nutty camera's!

TinyExplosions

Also they're a lot cheaper on ebay, and even in Gunns (he has holgas and dianas at the very least). They fun, and when purchased in the right place, cheap!

DaireQuinlan

I'd say ... Screw lomography and their overpriced plastic crap, and double shenanigans on urban outfitters for adding their 20% hipster tax and selling them on.
There are thousands of types of old cameras that are actually nicely put together and capable of taking fine pictures, and some not so fine if that's your thing. Start looking for '70s compact rangefinders' for a start for a wealth of options. Or investigate the possibility of getting a decent TLR instead of one of those stupid bastardised holgas or non-focusing blackbird jobs.
I'm on my phone at the moment so I can't really hunt down links, I'll toss a few up later on. Camerapedia is your friend though :-)

Eirebear

The cameras themselves are fun, however if you buy them from OU you will spend far too much money on them and also not be able to take any photos as the fog of pretentiousness which comes from everything about the place will cloud up your negs....;)

La frog fairy

thx guys,


well yes, its just for fun really, and i came across the ones for UO by accident so wouldnt buy it there but i wanted to hear different opinions, not read some fake reviews in cheasy websites.

I definately dont wanna spend a fortune on this, my thing is to try to find a polaroid one, thing is as pointed out by another poster its rare to find the films and the get expensive too.

TinyExplosions

If it's the polaroid pictures you want, look at the Fuji Instax cameras. The Instax 210 is only about 60 quid in Gunns, and the film isn't too expensive (and still being produced so no worries there). Sure, it's not as 'retro' as an old Polaroid Land Camera, but they're good fun and give you that instant picture satisfaction

sNarah

La frog fairy wrote: »

thx guys,
well yes, its just for fun really, and i came across the ones for UO by accident so wouldnt buy it there but i wanted to hear different opinions, not read some fake reviews in cheasy websites.

I definately dont wanna spend a fortune on this, my thing is to try to find a polaroid one, thing is as pointed out by another poster its rare to find the films and the get expensive too.

You can pick up Polaroid camera's deadcheap on Ebay or flea markets (1€ - 25€) and new film is currenty being sold and experimented with by Project Impossible. Currently that film is still a bit expensive and not as reliable as the original but I hope prices will drop when they reach consistency and more buyers.

Diabhal_Glas

La frog fairy wrote: »

thx guys,


well yes, its just for fun really, and i came across the ones for UO by accident so wouldnt buy it there but i wanted to hear different opinions, not read some fake reviews in cheasy websites.

I definately dont wanna spend a fortune on this, my thing is to try to find a polaroid one, thing is as pointed out by another poster its rare to find the films and the get expensive too.

I followed this polaroid ten exposure on e bay out of curiosity,

ellieswellies

Dianas and Holgas can be hard to get good results with at first, esp if you're not used to working a fully manual camera with no lightmeter but they are a lot of fun, mind you the 120mm film costs a bit more to get processed than 35mm but you can get neat little square prints ...I have an instant back for my diana that uses instax film, costs about 80 bucks or something. Personally I find the instax film is a bit flat and washed out looking when compared to some of the basic polaroid films but it's still a lot of fun to play around with. Thrift store cameras can also give you crazy unpredictable results too and cost next to nothing!

JayEnnis

God damn hipsters.

You can pick holgas and diana's up for pennies normally.

JayEnnis

Also, €15 for 3 rolls of B&W 120 film! :O

punchdrunk

ah we love hipsters coming into the shop!

we have a competition among the staff to see who can use the word "bokeh" the most

ThOnda

Lomograhpy = marketing. Marketing = getting money from you.
Get any older film camera, make few greasy fingerprints on the lens and here you go

La frog fairy

Diabhal_Glas wrote: »

I followed this polaroid ten exposure on e bay out of curiosity,

27 euros!!! for only 10! thats nuts:eek:

well thats my worry bout polaroid, dont wanna end up with one and not find films.

Thonda thx for the tip, will put my little fingers on the lense next time!

Will wait my next trip away to hit a flea market as it seems to be rare in Ireland.

sNarah

27 is a normal price, can even go up to 40.

The new Polaroid film is still around the 20 euro mark for 10 exposures!

All advice given here was very good, get yourself a cheap 35 mm old camera and fire away - you'll probably get some funky and mad results anyway!

Most second hand/junk/brocante shop in Ireland sell some hidden beauties, usually very cheap too, that's where I get most if my stuff.