IDEAOFNORTH

[ Fujifilm F30 ]

My pocket camera these days, and probably the camera that sees the most use. The CCD in the F30 (and it’s stripped-down twin, the F20) is sort of known for being larger than comparable digital point & shoots, resulting in a sharper image, and for being usable at higher ISO settings. I like to shoot with available light, and at night outdoors, and I’ve found the F30 to be reasonable when I don’t feel like taking out the Kiev. The Fuji color takes a little getting used to, maybe less hyped/more natural than other manufacturers? I’ve really grown to love it, though, and any of the new digital stuff on this site was shot with this camera.

dpreview
dpreview Fuji forum

[ KIEV 4A ]

My favorite film camera for the past few years is this russian copy of a Contax II rangefinder. I bought a Zeiss/Contax 50.1.5 lens for it that is pretty amazing. Not a Leica, but then I don’t worry about dropping it either.

The history of this camera is pretty fascinating. The entire Zeiss/Ikon/Contax factories including all camera tooling were boxed up and moved from Dresden and Jena to Kiev after WWII. So the Kievs, especially ones produced right after the war, were the exact same cameras as those produced in Germany, although I don’t doubt that QC suffered a little.

info
kiev report

[ LOMO LC-A ]

This cult favorite’s distinctive vignette and ease of use made photography enjoyable for me again. I don’t use it as much these days as I like having a little more control, but you can’t beat this camera as a point & shoot.

the official word
lomo.org used to be the best forum. not sure what happened there.
lomo.us seems to be pretty active.

[ POLAROID SX-70 ]

This camera actually belonged to my great-grandfather, and still works like a charm.

[ SPARTUS BOX CAMERA ]

Light leaks aside, this medium format camera is amazing at creating the kind of nostalgic atmosphere that people enjoy from Diana and Holgas, but in rougher and less predictable ways.

[ CANON POWERSHOT G1 ]

First generation of the powershot “G” series. Great all-purpose digital workhorse.

dpreview

[ MISC ]

My Treo 650’s camera gets used a lot, and definitely has it’s own “character”. I actually like it’s crappiness in a lot of ways. Check the F30 photo, taken with the 650. I’d like to someday make books of Treo photos printed at actual size/300dpi. Would that work out to 1.5 x 1″ or so?

I also have a Diana camera whose light leaks I’m still working on controlling.

I highly recommend the Smena 35. It’s the camera I keep in the car and the best $10 camera ever made.

I own a Holga that I’ve used a couple of times, but for some reason never got crazy excited about it. Kind of curious about the new versions w/flash & polaroid back, though.

I used to own a Canon AE-1 that I used for years. I sold it after getting discouraged with what I was doing with it.

The Lubitel 166 is a Russian medium format TLR that I sold soon after getting it. Couldn’t make it work for me.