What Camera have you got?

[scottwramsay]

A sample from today's learning curve

Very nice! When I worked out it was a double exposure I thought "that's very lomo", then I realised that's exactly what it was!

Do you find the long exposures limiting, or do you find they increase your creativity? I'd imagine it'd go one of those two ways.

[Josef]

The pinhole has a sort of double Lomo effect, insofar as not only are you not sure what the end result will look like (especially if you're using out-of-date film like this one), but you're not even sure you're pointing at the right thing.

I love Lomos. And they give folk like me, who clearly couldn't compete on the grounds of photographic talent alone, the chance to produce something interesting-looking.

This particular camera is also, btw, pretty good for taking photos in places where you're not normally allowed to take photos - it's not really recognisable as a camera, so you can just sit it somewhere and let it go.

[Wee Minx]

I've got a canon 450d, an 18-55 lens and a 70-300 one too...love it ..just hate changing lenses incase of dirt getting on sensor.

[scottwramsay]

I think everyone worries about that at first and then realises what a hassle it is covering your camera while you quickly switch them round. Your camera's got a self-cleaning sensor and a sticky strip to catch the gubbins that falls off anyway, so I wouldn't worry too much

[AlanM]

Also if you hold the camera pointing it at the ground when switching lens there's less chance of anything entering the body

[engineer]

Things I've learned today:
1) It's quite forgiving of the odd bit of camera movement;
2) Anything other than a spectacularly sunny day requires an almost unfeasible length of exposure (think minutes rather than milliseconds); and
3) The two above may be related.

At least it won't need batteries though ::):
Quite a learning curve, I'll bet. Good luck wi it, it sounds well cool.

A sample from today's learning curve .

i got a wee pinhole camera 2 years ago, think its still in the glove box with some agfa 100asa film in it...must have a search.
most useful thing for long exposures was to remove the spring from the shutter and cover the hole with tape or foil, then remove and replace it to avoid holding the shutter for the duration. always fancied lying it flat on the deck pointing up to get those star trail pictures. exposure of 30min or more maybe.
lomo cameras are cool, but never buy anything from their site, pure ripoff merchants.

[Josef]

most useful thing for long exposures was to remove the spring from the shutter and cover the hole with tape or foil, then remove and replace it to avoid holding the shutter for the duration. always fancied lying it flat on the deck pointing up to get those star trail pictures. exposure of 30min or more maybe.
lomo cameras are cool, but never buy anything from their site, pure ripoff merchants.

Ta, E, but it doesn't actually have a spring shutter . This is what it looks like (the pinhole's under the slide):


That advice works for standard Holgas, though, if you have a spare one you can set aside purely for long exposures.

And you're right about the pricing on the official Lomo site.

[engineer]

thats a cool looking camera
for my holga i'd tape the shutter button open with the lens cap on, then take it off to start exposure.



then i lost the lens cap

[Moniker42]

I've got a canon 450d, an 18-55 lens and a 70-300 one too...love it ..just hate changing lenses incase of dirt getting on sensor.

I'd agree with Scott there; be as quick and tidy about it as you can but don't get your knickers in a twist. Dust on the mirror is merely annoying and you can clean dust off both ends of the lens with a lens cloth. The only worry is getting dust on the sensor (which can happen when dust gets in the shutter curtains or around the mirror, and lands on the sensor when you take an exposure) but the 450D has a static-y dust-shoogling feature and it isn't too exorbitant to have your sensor professionally cleaned.

~

My kit at the moment is a 40D with 24-105 f/4L, a 430EX II flash gun and a B+W 77mm Circular Polariser. Stuff on the dreamy never-ending shopping list includes a nice tripod (mmmmmmmmanfrotto ), a 580 EX II, coloured gels, a Canon 50mm f/1.4 and some NDs/ND grads (Lee if I can afford it).

[Digitographer]

The Canon 50mm f1.8 prime is a seriously good lens and far cheaper than the f1.4 at around £60. Definitely worth considering.

[scotgio]

The Canon 50mm f1.8 prime is a seriously good lens and far cheaper than the f1.4 at around £60. Definitely worth considering.

Yeah they're both pretty good, provided you don't use them wide open. At f1.4 or f1.8 both of them are unforgivably lacking in sharpness, given they're primes and 50mm primes are optically among the simplest 35mm lenses a manufacturer can produce. From f2.8 they are far, far better.

From dpreview.com's extensive review of the f1.4:

studio tests show that this lens is not at its best at wide apertures on full-frame; central resolution is relatively low, and the corners extremely soft and subject to significant darkening through vignetting.

on APS-C the problem is even worse,

Not unusually for a full-frame optic used on the resolution-hungry APS-C format, this lens distinctly fails to shine at wide apertures... However even at its best, this lens never really looks properly sharp wide open

This largely bears out the experience of most people I know with this lens, and I never use mine below f2.8.

I imagine the new 50mm 1.2L will be much better in this regard, but at over a grand it had better be!

Both Canon and Nikon appear to have largely given up developing decent modern primes (The canon 50mm models are still using the optics from the old FD lenses and the f1.4 doesn't even have a USM ring motor), given consumers generally want the flexibility of zooms, and zooms look 'sexier' on the spec sheets. Regardless, the F1.4 is not really worth the extra cash over the f1.8.

[rotten milk]

first got a shot of the family's kodak instamatic 104 - so mant phots from my childhood were captured in that 4x4 (or later 6x6)

later other phots were with a 110, which you thought couldn't be worsened on, but then came the disc cameras!

found in the cupboard under the stairs a coupla 127 brownies (must dig them out)

got into photography about 8 yr ago, bought a praktica MTL5B to get a feel cheaply (!) - now have a 50mm, 70-150mm zoom, 2x converter, flashgun - been a while since i used it mind

digitally, have a nikon coolpix 3200, not the most modern, biggest pixels etc. now, but i like the pics it takes

and of course the biggest failing, no matter what access to what camera i have these days, i never think to actually take phots

so many things are so transient now, catch it or it's gone and i still don't think to take enough phots - esp. of the 'mundane'

it's only when the chance has gone that you think 'i wish i'd taken a photie of that'

[scaryman2u]

first got a shot of the family's kodak instamatic 104 - so mant phots from my childhood were captured in that 4x4 (or later 6x6)

later other phots were with a 110, which you thought couldn't be worsened on, but then came the disc cameras!

found in the cupboard under the stairs a coupla 127 brownies (must dig them out)

got into photography about 8 yr ago, bought a praktica MTL5B to get a feel cheaply (!) - now have a 50mm, 70-150mm zoom, 2x converter, flashgun - been a while since i used it mind

digitally, have a nikon coolpix 3200, not the most modern, biggest pixels etc. now, but i like the pics it takes

and of course the biggest failing, no matter what access to what camera i have these days, i never think to actually take phots



so many things are so transient now, catch it or it's gone and i still don't think to take enough phots - esp. of the 'mundane'

it's only when the chance has gone that you think 'i wish i'd taken a photie of that'

I will be the first of a million posts saying true, " it happened to me"

[mrsam]

To those who have big flashy cameras worth loads and with mucho accessories
All the pictures from Mr Sam are taken on the humble Olympus Camedia C 2020 Z

Occasional use of a wee posable tripod (20cm's in length) however most shots are hand held.

So it nots just what youve got, its partly how you use it.....

Mr Sam

P.S. shot of My camera taken on my dads Olympus Camedia C 2000Z

[rotten milk]

exactement, mrsam! my digi is a nikon coolpix 3200

hopelessly out-of-date, but if it takes good pics, i'm happy



(click the phot again to get the beans....)
i think my camera takes good pics, for a point'n'shoot