How Do You Know Which Krappy Toy Camera To Buy?

[Mr_Flibble]

I've had some fun with a $10 build-it-yourself Recesky TLR. Results aren't that bad, though I made some slight improvements to the basic model.

 

[HolgaJen]

Surely the whole point of using a "Toy" camera is to make excellent photographs in despite of all the so-called faults? Bad photographs are simply that, a waste of time, materials and opportunity!

There are some wonderful, dust free, perfectly exposed and beautifully processed photographs being made with the most humble of cameras. The simplicity of the camera frees the photographer to concentrate on the creativity and the craft. Isn't that the point?

RR

Totally agree! And if you read the prospectus for the "Krappy Kamera" show, they are not looking for crappy photos. They say : "In the hands of an artist, great photographs can be made with basic equipment. To explore this talent, we are searching for extraordinary photographs made with lousy lenses. Remember, it’s the Krappy Kamera Competition - not the Krappy Print Competition"

Anyways, I'd suggest a Holga as well Good luck!

 

[padesig]

I have two Holga 120GN simple and effective cameras that I bought from Shanghai some years ago. After two rolls you understand pretty well where focus and what you obtain. Prints on baryt paper are really nice and you understand better how develop the film. I use often a Tri-X with Holga and sometimes 400 ISO color negative. I have a Olympus GO 100 that is a 27mm fixed focus and time, really nice, all plastic and with an advance film motor: used with a Superpan 200 in a beach is perfect, develop with Rodinal 1+25 become perfect for nice prints crispy and full of contrast, printed until now in 24x30 cm is really nice... Holga was bought at 13 $ each and Olympus at 10 euro. Last point is that when you shot with really cheap cameras you are concentrated only in the scene selection.
https://flic.kr/p/pCXBrN

 

[gone]

A big thank you for all the help here (mostly). Ended up going w/ a "traditional" setup, a Holga 120 CFN for $15, shipped. Holga put the batteries for the flash inside the camera, on either side of the film chamber! Also won two Diana cameras. 6x6 is my preferred format, but it will be interesting to see how one of the Dianas performs against the Holga, then unload them.

The Holga is everything people say, and more (less). QC actually looks fine for a toy. The flash is well designed except for the battery placement, w/ movable colored windows to give your victims a nice blue, red, or orange cast. The camera weighs about as much as a 5 pack of Tri-X. Saw a web posting that said you can just screw a 46mm filter right into the unthreaded plastic lens surround, so all I need is a 46 to 49 step ring. Now to send it to DAG for a CLA and get Luigi to make a case for it.

"I made a 35mm camera out of a tin box, plastic magnifier, and for the shutter, a refrigerator magnet". Excellent idea. Please post a pic somewhere, unless it's a secret manufacturing copyright thing.

Why are people constantly harping on what the whole point of using a "toy" camera is? Who decides what is a bad photograph and what is a good photograph? Only the image maker of said photo folks. But then there's artists, and then there's......Boy, talk about a foolish consistency being the hobgoblin of little minds. I have maybe a dozen one man shows under my belt and over 30 group shows. Been in the art game in one manner or another for 40 years. I think I understand what the point of art is.

Opinions are like the back of people's laps, we all have them and they're all different. Get it, different? Individual thinking? That has nothing to do w/ what the post was about. You folks go to your church, and I'll go to my zendo. The whole point of what someone else does is not the whole point of what I do. I'm disappointed that people are actually concerned about this sort of thing. Sorry, art doesn't work that way. Or, as Mr. Bill says,"Pfffffffft!" to all that. This stuff really brought down the tone of the whole thing, which is about having fun, not toeing the line to mindless conformity. Not good. Not good at all.

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

China makes very high quality products in the range of chinese people can buy. Think if swiss , sweden , denmark would produce holga , what would be its price ? 2000 dollars ... ? All of these small nations been famous after 1945 when people looking for better life standarts. They used design as the ultimate propaganda , media , architecture and design publish made them world famous in one night when finland won 6 gold medals from italy. Media told that every finnish citizen is extremelly well educated and good designer because they impressed from special nature!!. All major industries of north invested millions to the design pavillons millions to sell their products to the world. And it worked , if you buy a rectangular table , you need to pay 6000 dollars. Good ha ?