Rolleiflex MiniDigi AF5.0 - miniature fun for the nostalgic

There is no need to talk about PMA 08 here, you all know about the new entry-level DSLR lineup from Canon, Nikon, Sony and Pentax. It's interesting they all offer something that the others don't have, like Live View, shake-reduction kit lens, weather-seal, etc. Personally I'm more interested in Fuji's new medium format rangefinder; it looks like a huge Kodak Retina! Anyway, this post is not about that either. There is a cool little toy camera from Komamura Corporation that is completely forgotten in English news outlet. It sounds just as interesting as the Fuji rangefinder but in an entirely opposite way.

The Rolleiflex MiniDigi AF5.0 is the follow up to a similar camera Rollei MiniDigi. The difference is that it's now 5 megapixels. The camera looks like a TLR with a LCD in place of the ground glass. Shutter is activated when the crank is turned one round. It reminds me of those Red Cross hand crank emergency radios. The autofocus lens is f2.8 that is capable of focusing as close as 10cm.

I doubt it would take much better photos than a cell phone, but it is seriously cool. The Rolleiflex MiniDigi AF5.0 will be available February 25th at 41,000 yen.

Konica Wai Wai Super Wide camera

The Konica Wai Wai camera is one of those strange cameras that only the Japanese can imagine. Selling for less than $10 USD, this disposable camera has a 17mm ultra wide angle lens. There is a mirror attached around the lens for taking self-portraits. Taking self portraits with a whole bunch of people is great fun, and very easy. The camera has a fixed aperture of f/8 and fixed shutter speed at 1/100. Just press the shutter button and hope the film has enough latitude! A flash is included for indoor pictures (an absolute necessity).

Lens performance is of course not even close to competition for an SLR lens. Center is acceptable and the corners are quite fuzzy. The minimum in-focus distance is 40cm, which is somewhat limited for such a wide lens, for example if you want to close up pictures of your dog and keep it not too small in the picture. For people pictures though, it's perfect and produces very interesting effects.

There's just one tiny little problem: this thing is disposable. Luckily, Konica has designed it well enough that people discovered a way to reload the film! I tried it myself, and didn't find it too difficult. The only tricky part was that I had to hide in a dark room under the blanket to unwind the film completely to put it into the case. It made me a bit nervous but the result was worth it.

Samples

(Konica Wai Wai x Konica 800 expired 2 years)

(Konica Wai Wai x Fujicolor Natura 1600)

Dirkon pinhole camera

For my birthday, my brother printed the plans of the Dirkon pinhole camera for me. I spent quite a few nights slowly constructing it while watching TV at the same time. It just happened that April 29, 2007 was Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day, so I took it out for a spin.

Former Soviet Union rangefinders are Russian clones of German design, and the quality can be quite good; my Dirkon is an American (your truly) clone of Czechoslovakia design, and quality is awful... I got light leaks everywhere and the film advance mechanism is totally suspect. The spacing between each frame is quite large, and sometimes I forgot to turn the knob enough and got some overlapping frames. At the end of the roll, I didn't know and forced the film advance knob to turn, and broke it... The lens hood also popped off at the end of the roll...
Sounds like an awful experience? Well, not at all. There is something about going back to the most basic kind of camera that gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. The results remind me of the first photograph of a person at Wikipedia. My photos were blurry and mostly overexposed, but there's no denying the unique character of them. I doubt can I replicate the effect in Photoshop. The most satisfying thing is that I constructed this camera by my own hands. Putting a pinhole body cap on an SLR body is easy; making the entire body is something on another level. I can only imagine how Mr. Yasuhara felt when he created the T981.

Samples

(Dirkon pinhole x Kroger 200)

Green Dalek Supersampler

The Lomographic Society has come up with a new color for the Dalek Supersampler - Green. This is a lot easier to swallow than the glossy hot pink original version. The surface is a rubber, which should be easier to hold as well.


The Supersampler is a camera that allows the photographer to capture four sequential panoramic shots on a single photo. There is a Speed Button to choose between 4 shots in 2 seconds or 4 shots in 0.2 seconds. It's a complete antithesis to the current high-tech digital cameras: no viewfinder, no instant preview, uses film, cheaply made. In fact, some users report the shutter string breaking after just one roll. Despite all this, the effect is very special that's hard to duplicate with digital.

It's not so much about the technical properties of the final photo, but rather the state of mind going into taking a shot with the Supersampler, or the absence of it. The Lomo rule, "Don't think, just shoot," applies to this camera and you'll be surprised at how good (or bad) the pictures come out. Be careful when you look at their web page though; a lot of the high saturation effects are created by cross-processing (developing the negative in a different kind of chemical from intended), so you'll need to find a lab who knows how to do this if you want that effect.

It's not a camera for everyone. If you have a camera nut in your circle though, it could be a very fine Valentine's Day gift :)