Random Rant: "Polaroid Z2300 hopes to rekindle the glorious days of instant photo"

Polaroid has undergone a certain rebirth with their digital line of products, probably also with the advertising help of LadyGaga. In this article, the Polaroid Z2300 is introduced, a digital camera integrating a ZINK printer. Its price will be 160 $, while the cost of paper will be 0.50 $ per sheet (the prints are 2x3 inch in size, not really impressive). The people who tested it, say "We're absolutely loving the chromatic stripe that's emblazoned across the front. It gives the camera that much more of a old school aesthetic." That's some good appreciation of vintage style cameras, I would say, especially for the "chromatic stripe". Moreover, they state "Prints take about 40 seconds to print, but when it's all said and done, the photos do seem to have that slightly blurry look reminiscent of old instant film cameras. Polaroid reps also told us that filters can be applied in-camera Instagram-style before printing, which should add some more value to the Z2300." OK, someone can call it "value", the extra upgrade options which inflate the price tag.....Hmmm...I am puzzled....really.....I just don't get it. Where's the whole point? Customer satisfaction? Sure...

One can buy a Polaroid Land Camera for something like 10-20 $ or so (the better or collectible models cost more, of course), and in a good shape-there are still so many around. One can buy 1 pack of Fuji NP instant film (10 sheets) for about 10 $, that's 1 $ per shot. Even the cheapest Pola cameras give the "instagram-like" look by default (the lenses are just right for this-only 2 plastic elements), without any "upgrades". Yes, they are bulkier than the newest Pola Z2300, but surely greater eye-catchers, too. They have bellows, after all. If you want to break even with both cameras, you need to make about 300 shots with each. Not really likely to happen very soon. Probably, most people would make maybe a hundred shots and then forget about the camera or dispose it somewhere for a long time. My point: these "glorious days of instant photo" can be rekindled anytime by anyone, without buying the newest gadget. And the Pola Land was just one example!

silver regards
Mitja

About the Rants

Once in a while, anybody gets hit by some weird news-for a product, application, whatever. Most of the times, I just ignore it. But sometimes it just happens to be so irritating I just can't help. You know, in those irritationg, frustrating moments, one just needs to speak out loud! This is the very reason I decided to add the Random Rants category as well. I must state that I really try to avoid the typical Film vs. Digital debate (or viceversa) by any means. But sometimes, things just go beyond the average outrageousness, so to speak, and sadly involve this very same topic...So here we are. I hope you'll read the very first rant and comment as well. Please, take it with a bit of irony and don't be shy to comment! Criticize, but don't be offensive to anybody (the comments are not moderated). If you think that somebody, including me, is an as***le, go express your opinion, but please, use some more polite (or at least anatomical) terms :)

Mitja

The "RolleiHolga"

No, it's not the newest Lomo camera or a hybrid camera I made by myself (I would never profanate a Rollei and even don't own a Holga)! But it happens even to best ones (cameras, to be clear) to be sometimes a bit off. So it happened even to my beloved Rollei SLR, actually to its film back. The film leading/retaining spring clips (which are supposed to hold the film flat, very flat) were not doing their job properly, as it turned out later. On the contrary, the film was so unflat, out of focal plane, the image sharpness was on a par with a Holga. Hence, the name RolleiHolga! It happened on a Sunday trip. And to make things even worse, I forgot to take the right lens hood for the wide 50 mm lens. Being a nice, but also a naive and technocolic guy I am, I was sure shooting at f/8-11 would not produce noticeable vignetting. Wrong! The wrong lens hood added another »Holga-feature« to the shots! 

Two shots made with the "RolleiHolga" from Motovun

Under normal circumstances, I would not show these shots to anybody, but I thought it would be nice to share this happy accident in this case. And luckily, the problem was solved in a breeze by my trusty camera mechanic. By the way, these are panorama shots of the river Mirna valley, taken from the tiny little town of Motovun, located in central Istria. If you have a chance, go for a visit there. It is a picturesque town, with galleries and local taverns serving good Istrian cuisine. But the town is most famous for its film festival, which is going to be soon! And don't forget to take your camera with you!

silver regards

Mitja

"In the Prairies, Film Photography Rises"

I just found this nice contribution on the Lomography site . I think it's not just yet-another-good-news for the analog community, in terms of our "survival" or just some lifestyle stuff. This story clearly shows analogue photography is not only a goal by itself, it's also a pleasant means for people to stay connected. Luckily, there are many other similar stories like this one. These stories need to be shared. Photos of their gathering can be found here.

Mitja

Portfolio of the Week: Daryan Dornelles

For the very first featured portfolio on T.A.P., it is my great pleasure and honor to host a very talented Brazilian professional photographer, Daryan Dornelles! Daryan lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He graduated in Cinema and Journalism by UFF, Rio de Janeiro. He is an associate partner at the Fotonauta photo studio and has gained a lot of experience in commercial work as well, with more than 700 portraits published, CD and magazines covers. His preference is, portrait photography. He shoots with medium format, 6x6 (Hasselblad 500CM) and 6x7 (Mamiya RZ67), usually with standard lenses and BW film (Fuji Acros and Kodak Tri-X). Depending on the situation, he uses both natural and studio lighting. He is an open mind, therefore he finds his inspiration in many different circumstances, but he also admires how Richard Avedon was able to visualize his photos. Daryan's work can also be seen on Flickr. Enjoy the portfolio and let his photos speak for themselves!

silver regards

Mitja 

Adriana Calcanhoto. Copyright: Daryan Dornelles

Bruno Cosentino. Copyright: Daryan Dornelles

Cecilia Meireles. Copyright: Daryan Dornelles

Dom Salvador. Copyright: Daryan Dornelles

Dominguinhos. Copyright: Daryan Dornelles

Grazi. Copyright: Daryan Dornelles

Ma. Copyright: Daryan Dornelles

Maria Bethania. Copyright: Daryan Dornelles

Thlama de Freitas. Copyright: Daryan Dornelles

Tie. Copyright: Daryan Dornelles

Introduction to the Portfolios

Dear Analog Readers,

we'll publish a featured portfolio each week, most likely on Wednesdays. The featured portfolios will be, of course, from film photographers. Other than that, we won't put any limitations regarding film format, cameras used, photography genre, shooting techniques, geographical location, your popularity and so on. The point is to show the great diversity among our analog community, to present and promote your work to our community, as well as to prove that we are thriving very well. Along with the photos, we'll provide all the necessary links to your personal site, photostream etc., in order that any interested reader will be able to reach and enjoy in the rest of your work. There are many gifted photographers out there, known and less known, and these photographers are YOU, dear T.A.P. readers. If you are interested to submit your portfolio to T.A.P., send an email to: analogphotoblog (at) gmail (dot) com. We are looking forward to host your work!

silver regards

Mitja

Cameras of yesteryear:Yashica Lynx 14E

alternative titles: How to get hooked on a 40-year-old Yashica OR It's never too late to get a good rangefinder-for cheap

I never considered myself a collectionist, although I have accumulated many cameras over the years. All of them have their own appeal, but it happens to like (and use) some cameras more than the others, regardless of camera construction or film format. I never had a particular interest in rangefinders, maybe because I never owned a really good one? Maybe. So I never really understood Leica aficionados despite knowing what their advantages are. So it happened, a few weeks ago, to get yet-another-film-camera gift from a coworker. An early 70's Yashica Lynx, possibly the oldest camera in my collection (or next to the Pola 210), and certainly older than me. It might be the fact that it's older than me, it might be due to its solid feel or its bright (and precise) rangefinder, its impressive (but fixed) 45 mm f/1.4 lens, or the combination thereof; I knew instantly it is a camera I want to test, keep and use. So I sent it for a CLA service.

Yashica Lynx 14E

But I still needed to know about its performance. Once I got the developed film back, I was hooked. The lens is a great performer. It easily matches or outperforms at least some of Canon prime lenses (although is prone to flare). Being left in a drawer for decades, this camera finally got a decent life. It deserves it. I just wonder how many of such mechanical marvels are still out there left. You can get one for little or no money, put it to service for a modest sum, and it will make wonders. My advice: don't bother if you cannot afford or just don't wanna spend a fortune on a high class rangefinder. Rescue some nice piece of optical engineering, get a bunch of good films, develop and get some quality scans. There will still be enough money left in your pocket for a good travel or vacation, a good excuse to use your "new" camera.

A closeup test shot on drugstore 400 ISO neg film. Sorry for the crappy scan, it doesn't render justice to the actual negative.

silver regards

Mitja

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that the ultimate resource regarding useful info, repairs and the replacement of (obsolete) mercury batteries for your Yashicas is probably the Yashica Guy.

Plustek OpticFilm 120: the anxiety is still high....

Many of us have been delighted by the news some half a year ago that Plustek is going to release a brand new-and affordable!-medium format scanner. The scanner is also listed on their official website, but so far, there's no clue when it will be put on shop shelves.....For the price it has been speculated to be around a grand-quite nice, if you compare to some refurbished or "like-new-condition" Nikons or Minoltas. Otherwise, the Plustek is a fixed-focus device, while the other two have an adjustable focus. Probably not an issue, provided their "patent-pending adjustable pitch 120/220mm film holder" will do the job well.

Plustek OpticFilm 120. The market release date is still a mistery. Source: plustek.com

Also, a nice feature of the scanner will be the Auto IT8 Calibration®. In the meantime, we can only guess when the D-day will come...Hopefully, as our anxiety about this scanner rises, the (anticipated) price won't!

silver regards

Mitja

A large format camera? Yes, made from a dumpster!

The guys from the Hamburg sanitation service got this idea and it turned out to be a big success! The "camera" accepts paper negatives as large as 0.8x1meter which are then developed afterwards. The negatives are contact-copied onto another big sheet of photo paper and voila, the final print is made! Obviously, the whole thing to manage is a bit more cumbersome, due to the dimensions...

One of the final pinhole prints exhibited.
Copyright: Werner Bünning/ Stadtreinigung Hamburg/ Scholz & Friends

The advertising campaign they made with these large pinhole cameras earned them the Silver Lion award at the Cannes Lions advertising festival. The only thing I am not sure, however, is the pinhole diameter: they state they used an 8 mm "lens", but it's more likely it was a 0.8 mm pinhole (probably a typo). Link to the original article is here.

Mitja

"Just When You Got Digital Technology, Film Is Back"

This is the title of the article Jenna Wortham published on NY Times . Actually, good news to us and for raising  film-awareness and (re)popularity among people. Yes, but what I found disturbing to me, was the fact that she refers to the "imperfections" of film. "The pictures are rarely perfect", she also states. Any medium has its own imperfections (digital too, for that matter), that's a fact of life. Well, even vacuum tubes have their inherent imperfections-but it's for these very imperfections people still use them to amplify jazz music after all....What I find concerning it's that the majority of people obviously forgot so much about how film looks, behaves etc. But things look promising (again). And there's only one cure to this: buying and shooting film.

silver regards

Mitja

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to all of you!

I felt the urge to create this blog, not because there aren't similiar blogs already (obviously), but because I think presenting our matter in a condensed format is a good thing. Also, among so many articles and data out there it became quite hard to retain a critical distance. So don't expect very long posts, the blog is meant more as a "food for thought", a gateway, or a hub for the analog community. After all, analog photography is more about quality over quantity, isn't it?  Please fell free to comment and participate, but please stay within our realm-photography.

my silver regards to you

Mitja