Cheapie camera

I took the shot below with an Ansco 1065 camera that I found at a yard sale or Goodwill or somewhere else like that. It cost me all of about $2. The camera has a fixed lens with absolutely no focusing other than distance. As far as aperture, it has Cloud - dull or bright and Sun settings for 400 ASA and Cloud, Sun - hazy or bright settings for 100 ASA. That's it. I'm not sure if the picture is fuzzy because I moved or because I was out of the focusing "sweet spot" (whatever it may be).

Construction site shack

Anyhow, it's a great camera to take with me on my bike since I don't care if it gets sweaty from being pressed to my back or if I drop it or it breaks or it gets rained on or anything, because it cost about $2. Cheap or not, I think I like this little guy.

Another abandoned place

This time it's an abandoned lumber business. Unfortunately, the entire grounds are fenced so the best I could do was to squeeze the camera through an opening and hope for the best. Taken with my Fujica 6x4.5.

Abandoned lumber business

Peninsula "dirt" pile

Actually, it's not a dirt pile, it's a gravel pile. I am enamored with dirt, sawdust, gravel, rock, compost, etc. etc. piles that you find along the road. A lot of them are there because they're needed for some sort of road project. Whatever the reason, they bring me weird photographic joy. This one was shot with my Fujica 6x4.5, my new/old favorite landscape camera. "New," because I'm interested in using it again. "Old," because I used to use it an awful lot.

Gravel pile, Olympic Peninsula

Color film image - Mamiya C220

Today I was able to swing by the photo shop to pick up some of the color film I had shot with the Mamiya C220. I'm definitely having issues with the exposure. Could be because I'm using a light meter - perhaps too high-end for me (when I shoot with my Lubitel, I just use a little cheat sheet that covers the basics by film speed: cloudy, bright, snow.) I have to do a test and actually take notes based on meter readings and the settings. I have some film still in the camera that I need to finish shooting so I'll shoot my tests with that.

Here is a color photo I shot of Levi. I posted the black and white film image of the same shoot a couple postings ago. I obviously can get good shots with the camera and available light since this one looks pretty good. I just need to get my pea-brain around shooting settings.

Mamiya C220 shot in color

A response to the Ode to Canon G9

Although the Canon G9 is a wonderful camera for all the reasons I stated in my previous post, I do have other photographic loves that cannot be denied. My Lubitel is one such love. Made in Russia of sturdy plastic, lacking a built-in light meter (I use a piece of paper taped to the side of the camera on which I've mapped out apertures and shutter speeds), and arriving with a poorly translated manual, it has become one of my absolute favorite film cameras. I find the lens to be fairly sharp though it creates a funky, swirly wash when shooting shallow. I have pre-visions of portraits made with this camera - beautiful color portraits with funky, old-fashioned backgrounds.

Best features: it is light and easy to travel with, it shoots in square format, it forces one to slow down while taking photos and it shoots film so you have to imagine what the images look like before you get to see them. All that for about $150. What a deal!