Retro Thing

The Last Film Movie Cameras?

Digital cameras have grabbed the lion's share of the consumer market over the past decade. Now it looks like the same thing is happening in the motion picture industry, as industry giants shift production to digital equipment.

Debra Kaufman of Creative COW Magazine reports, "ARRI, Panavision and Aaton have quietly ceased production of film cameras within the last year to focus exclusively on design and manufacture of digital cameras. That's right: someone, somewhere in the world is now holding the last film camera ever to roll off the line."

I think the reality is that there are no new film camera designs on the drawing board, but ARRI or Aaton will manufacture cameras on demand. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they had limited inventory of machined bodies and other components that don't wear out quickly.

This new reality is reflected in Kodak's recent stock price woes. The once mighty film giant's share price recently dipped well below $1 on news that the company had retained the services of bankruptcy protection experts and is looking for a buyer interested in its digital imaging patent portfolio.

Personally, I don't think film is dead yet and Kodak is a bargain at current prices.

Film Fading to Black [via a thread on Filmshooting.com]

A Polaroid A Day Keeps Digital Away

From slanted.de: "The first Poladarium History of Photography is a tear-off calendar just like the one in grandma's kitchen. Day by day, it reveals a new instant photo with its own short story. Year round, you'll discover tiny gems by famous photograhers as well as newcomers. The front of each of the 366 calendar sheets features a Polaroid image, while the rear presents the story behind the picture and some info about the photographer.

It's an eye catching treat for the desk, window sill, kitchen counter, hall table, shop window or bedside table. Three hundred and sixty six carefully selected Polaroids, painstakingly printed with special ink and paper, presented in a beautifully designed collector's box."

With Polaroids by Olaf Heine, Diana Scheunemann, Antonina Sure, Uwe Düttman and others. €24.90 each, with free shipping if you order a pair.

POLADARIUM 2012 [via Design Taxi]

Fujifilm's Affordable X10 Retro Rangefinder

It looks like Fujifilm is trying to carve out a stylish new market niche. The retro-styled X10 is a somewhat more practical follow-up to their X100 digital rangefinder.

I was utterly stunned when Fuji rolled out the X100 earlier this year. Selling for $1200, the X100 absolutely nailed the look and feel of a vintage camera, except with a large-format digital sensor and state-of-the-art 23mm F2.0 lens. It captures fantastic images, but the fixed focal length lens and high price were turn-offs for many.

Enter the X10. This high-end 12MP point-and-shoot features a respectable 2/3" EXR CMOS sensor coupled with a fast 28-112 mm lens capable of F2.0 (wide) to F2.8 (telephoto) at full aperture. Unlike many modern cameras, it includes an optical viewfinder with diopter adjustment.

The lens features manual zoom adjustment but there's no manual focus ring. That shouldn't be much of a restriction, thanks to the camera's advanced 49-point high-precision auto focusing. More importantly, the shutter lag is a mere 0.01 seconds so you won't miss action shots.

Accessories will include a retro leather case, precision milled metal lens hood and TTL flash. The X10 is slated to ship in October 2011 with an estimated price of around $700.

Fujifilm X10 Retro Digital Rangefinder

Assemble A 35mm Camera Kit For Under $15

Bylo wrote recently to let us know about a poor man's LOMO camera sold by Hong Kong gadget emporium Deal Extreme.This fully functional 35mm camera kit boasts 99% ABS plastic construction, right down to the optics. The only metal parts are a handful of screws, springs and a jeweler's screwdriver to put everything together.

The box Includes instructions in Chinese and English (more the former, I suspect) and ships free from Hong Kong for only $12.70. A somewhat gaudier black + white + blue version is available for five bucks more, and they also offer an intriguing stereoscopic pinhole camera kit for under $20.

The company sells an amazing array of gadgetry ranging from somewhat sensible things like batteries and electronic parts to kooky stuff like Neodymium magnetic spheres and magic supplies. Shipping is always free, although you'll have to wait a few weeks for packages to reach North America or Europe by air mail.

The Return of Instant Photography

My family and I spent the last three weeks wandering the wilds of Europe, visiting with family and splashing around at the seaside. The whole thing went exceptionally well until I lost our digital camera filled with over 1000 irreplaceable images of kids, grandparents, childhood haunts and countless friends.

Back in the old days, the loss of a camera would be disheartening but not the end of the world -- I'd still have a small heap of exposed film canisters. But I'd chosen to store everything on a single massive memory card. I felt like a dolt. And my wife informed me that I should feel like a dolt.

Which got me thinking (in part because it was 3 am and I couldn't sleep). On the trip, I had a chance to flip through family photo albums containing photos spanning the last century. Digital photos, on the other hand, are often at the whim of online services like Flickr and Facebook, not to mention the vagaries of electromagnetic storage media.

There's a more serious problem with digital images, though. Cameras (or camera phones) are cheap and plentiful, and it no longer costs an arm and a leg to snap hundreds of images. We tend to underestimate the importance of the snapshots we take these days. Most are deleted within weeks and only a precious few survive more than a year or two.

That's why I think the Fujifilm Instax Mini 50s might not be as insane as it seems at first glance.

It's a surprisingly small instant camera that uses miniature 10 exposure packs of film about the size of a credit card. The thing is extremely simple to use, with a built-in flash offering several modes (fill and intelligent). It comes with a tiny macro lens that allows you to snap images from as little as 30 cm away. There are two shutter release buttons to make it equally easy to shoot in portrait or landscape, effectively solving a problem I never knew existed.

The images it shoots are tiny - only 2.4 x 1.8" (62 x 46mm). So what's the point? Well, it turns out there's something indescribably satisfying about being handed a physical snapshot while still out and about. It doesn't matter that the image is minuscule, or that it's impossible to email or copy it. What matters is that it incorporates a tiny little white border that allows you to scribble something meaningful (assuming you still own a pen, that is).

The Mini 50s is receiving rave reviews everywhere because it's different. Yes, it's old fashioned and each snapshot costs almost a dollar. There is no digital viewfinder, and it most certainly doesn't shoot video or incorporate a zoom lens. What it does, however, is provide irrefutable proof that images on paper are still magical.

The Instax Mini 50s is available from Amazon for just over $100 and I've recently seen it in several department stores. I never thought I'd be able to write that about an instant camera again. 

As for my lost digital camera, we retraced our steps and found it late the next morning. Next time I travel, I'll take along several smaller memory cards and make backups whenever I can.

Fujifilm Instax Mini 50s instant camera [via Photojojo]

Lo-Fi 3D Photos With New Holga Camera

The Holga camera refuses to die. These low spec plastic cameras were once shunned by photo fans due to their low quality construction and inevitable light leaks. Those very flaws kept interest in the Holga alive to the present day, yielding interesting arty results in the hands of experimental photographers and hipsters alike.

There are many contemporary takes on the Holga camera, a creative response to the clinical precision of even the simplest digital camera. The new TIM camera may be the most playful of them all, and best of all shoots in 3D!

You can choose between several shutter options by manipulating the controls on TIM's grinning face. You can use the double lenses to shoot two frames for a 3D effect. You can also shoot half frame 3D (both images on a single print), long exposure, multi-color flash fx, and more. TIM is a pretty versatile camera, especially for $60, but seriously… it's all about that little plastic smile on the front, isn't it?

I've always been fond of 3D photography and motion pictures. The rest of the world seems to be joining me in a renewed interest in 3D thanks to action movies and LCD televisions. It seems like we're in a boom time for imagery that reaches out to viewers in a new way (though that begs the question why View-Master isn't going like gangbusters these days). You have to have some imagination and faith in what you might get with the TIM camera since there's no LCD preview - but isn't that part of the fun?

Nice thing about this camera is that it uses good old 35mm negative film, which you can still find pretty easily (though at my local big box store the 35mm film selection has shrunken from an entire aisle to a little spinning countertop display). I haven't shot "real" film in a good long time, but the promise of shooting quirky and unpredictable 3D is hard for me to resist.

link:
Holga TIM 3D camera for $60 from Photojojo

Spectacular Super 8 Film Handbook

Regular readers might have noticed that it has been a bit quiet around here lately. I've been feverishly working on something, and the time has come to let you in on the secret.

Super 8 is the ultimate 290 page full-color hardcover guide for up-and-coming filmmakers. It covers movie camera selection and use, projection, editing (both splicing and digital), choosing the right film stock, a half dozen ways to develop film at home and much more. There's an extensive up-to-date supplier list at the back, along with a list of festivals eager to screen your cinematic masterpieces.

Juergen Lossau's painstakingly researched text is presented in German and English (translated by yours truly), and the world class layout was designed by the same team responsible for smallformat and zoom magazines.

Super 8 is available direct from the publisher for € 49.95 and ships worldwide. [Update from the comments: it's cheaper on eBay - Item 190542336851]

As you might have guessed, I'm really pleased with the way the book turned out -- it is the most comprehensive Super 8 guide ever printed and will stand the test of time.

If you've been putting off experimenting with Super 8 movie making, now is the time to jump in and give it a try. Trust me, absolutely nothing compares to the analog splendor of film grain dancing on the wall, especially when it's your own movie.

Follow the jump for a peek between the covers.

Kurt Mottweiler's Beautiful Pinhole Cameras

According to Kurt Mottweiler, "Cameras should be curved and made of wood and brass." I couldn't agree more, especially when the result is the P.90 lensless camera, handcrafted in Portland, Oregon.

It uses medium format film to take 90 degree wide images that measure 6 x 9 cm. You can capture a grand total of 8 frames on a single roll of 120 film. It weighs only 352 grams and is constructed out of cherry wood, brass and Phenolic.

Of his cleverly curved construction, he reports, "The pinhole is located at the geometric center of a curved film plane. As a result, the images are equally bright from edge to edge and have the curvilinear perspective typical of panoramic cameras.

The top of the P.90 includes the film wind knob at the upper left, the shutter knob at the center top, the fixed feed reel spindle at top right and the safety latch knob for the back at the lower center. A pair of etched lines at either side of the Mottweiler Studio camera logo indicate the lateral extents of the camera's field of view."

The standard P.90 retails for $975.00, plus $25.00 for the accessory bubble level (shown in the top photo).The cameras all have serial numbers and are part of a 50 camera edition. Kurt also makes at least one custom camera in each production run. They typically sell for $1200 and up, depending on the particular features.

Few photographers can afford a $1000 pinhole camera, which is a pity because they elegantly blur the line between technology, art and fine craftsmanship.

Kurt Mottweiler Studios P.90 camera

Todd McLellan Disassembles A Pentax SLR

When I was a kid, I loved taking apart electromechanical gadgets to discover their secrets. This was in the dark age before the Internet, when knowledge oozed and dripped like tree sap, rather than flashing around the world at the speed of light.

Todd McLellan takes teardowns to another level by ripping old devices apart and photographing them for his Disassembly series. Now Mr McLellan has splattered his K1000 Pentax Spotmatic F all over a backdrop, just so we can marvel at the sheer effort required to design and assemble one of these apparently simple devices.

This image and others in the series are available as limited edition prints from 20x200.

The Pinhole Hasselblad - Now Downloadable!

It has been a long while since a pinhole camera graced these pages. To fix that unfortunate oversight, here are some pics of Kelly Angood's stunning pinhole Hasselblad. It's screen printed on corrugated cardboard and accepts 120 film. The original in her portfolio is accompanied by hand processed prints and an A4-size guidebook.

Best of all, she has plans to release released a downloadable 35mm version that can be printed at home and constructed using a few household items. It'll snap 12-14 images per roll and should be available within a few weeks.

[Update: Kelly just emailed me to announce that the camera is now available for download as a rather fantastic pdf booklet. Enjoy!]

The Pinhole Hasselblad [via Red Ferret]

What DSLR Photography Would Have Looked Like In 1929

There were no digital cameras back in the 1920s, of course. But that didn't stop intrepid photographer Jonas Kroyer from pairing a vintage lens from a Zeiss Ikonette with a modern Nikon D300.

His plan came together when he came across an old camera with a chipped lens and separated the lens and shutter mechanism from the body. He then created a t-shaped steel adapter to hold the bellows and lens firmly in place on a Nikon Bayonet mount scavenged from an old no-name lens. From there, it was just a matter of mounting a couple of brass knobs to adjust focus. A tiny spring from a ballpoint pen forced the shutter open, to allow the Nikon's shutter to snap each image.

The lens functions as an 80mm prime with full-frame cameras, or as a 120mm with a modern DX sensor. Because the optics are uncoated, pointing it at a light source results in all sorts of ghosting and lens flaring. Still, beautiful results are possible with a bit of care and attention.

Jonas reports, "I have spent a lot time using only this lens on photo walks and I found it to be a fun challenge as it requires quite some thought as to what you are pointing it at. It also reminded me of the fact that good photography has nothing to do with the quality of the gear you are using, but your ability to compose a photo."

Ikonette a DIY DSLR-lens [thanks, Sally Perkins!]

Alas, Kodachrome, We Hardly Knew Ye

The final rolls of Kodachrome will be processed on December 30th, three quarters of a century after the introduction of arguably the most important color film of all time.

In honor of this fabulous film stock, here's another look at a short film (on Kodachrome, naturally) by our schmalfilm friends Juergen Lossau and Heiko Riemann. Makes you think all the world's a sunny day. Oh yeah.

The Steadichicken

The Steadicam stabilizer was created by Oscar-winner Garrett Brown, who used it to capture scenes in Rocky, Return of the Jedi and dozens of other films. This, on the other hand, is a chicken with a camera strapped to its head. It is neither steady nor Oscar-worthy. [via Engadget]

Everything you should know about Garrett Brown
Everything you should know about chickens

The Late 20th Century in 45,000 Photos (and Counting)

Nick DeWolf was an engineer and an entrepreneur who co-founded a technology firm, but he also was a prolific amateur photographer. His son-in-law Steve Lundeen has taken on the job of archivist and has posted 45,000 of DeWolf's photos on Flickr. They are an awe-inspiring and powerful trip through the latter half of the 20th century.

Lundeen, who has been uploading the images since 2006 and adds a few dozen more nearly every day, writes that DeWolf left behind "many thousands of pre-digital images" that date back to the 1950s. "He carried a camera with him at all times, usually a family of cameras. If you knew Nick, you got used to this ... eventually, he'd be pointing his camera at you," Lundeen says.

The photos are a trip through DeWolf's life, passions and side interests. The subjects are all over the place, including the offices of Transitron and Teradyne; early integrated circuits; trips to Cape Cod, Las Vegas, Europe and Hong Kong and places in between; mid-1970s yoga classes; college football and pro hockey games; family life; sailing; a loving pictorial of a 1954 Mercedes Benz 300; bullfighting in Tijuana; and even late-life trips to Burning Man.

It's easy to get lost in the images. Perhaps because they are so mundane and shot by an amateur — an extraordinarily talented amateur at that — the photos transport the viewer to a different time and place. By documenting so completely for so long, DeWolf offers windows into not only his life, but fashion, politics and a half century of technological progress.

[Via Flickr blog]

Fujifilm's Stunning New Retrocam

The Fujifilm FinePix X100 large sensor compact camera is aimed at wealthy hedge fund managers with great taste. It offers impeccable retro styling, along with a fast 23mm fixed focal length lens and a hybrid optical/LCD viewfinder. Its body houses a newly developed high performance 12.3 megapixel CMOS sensor that can capture 720p HD video at 30 fps.

Pseudo-vintage glory doesn't come cheap. The X100 is slated to hit store shelves sometime next spring at a price of around $1000. Given the stratospheric price tag and the fixed focal length lens, I'd be more inclined to pick the svelte new $449 Nikon Coolpix P7000 instead. 

Fujifilm FinePix X100. More than you imagined. [via dpreview.com]