I forgot to mention in my previous blog that I had also taken a couple of instant cameras with me for my sail back from Plymouth to Brighton.
I decided to take both my Leica Sofort and Polaroid SX-70 camera.
I took some great instant photos on this trip, especially on my SX-70 camera but unfortunately during the sailing, I stored the instant photos in the outside cockpit table……huge mistake!!!
There was a lot of water that got inside this table during our sail after I put the photos in there, which damaged most of the photos (most annoying!). At least it’s a mistake I certainly won’t repeat and again, thinking about it, I should have known this table would get damp when exposed to the elements so completely my fault!
Anyway, here are some photos I managed to salvage that were taken on the Leica Sofort (some are a bit damaged as you’ll see):
I took 8 photos on my Polaroid SX-70 using the SX-70 film but there were only two photos I was able to salvage from them as most of them stuck together when they were wet and completely ruined the photo when pulled apart (sigh…):
Unfortunately I’ve not been out sailing since we got the boat back to Brighton but am hoping as the weather improves and if I can tolerate the cold temperatures, I may get out again for a sail around Brighton soon.
Back in July 2018 I decided to back the Diana Instant Square Camera by Lomography on Kickstarter.
At the point of backing this project, I already owned my Leica Sofort and absolutely love instant photography but also wanted an instant camera with a larger photo size too.
It seemed like a fun instant camera I could do some exciting photos with. I also liked the fact it was fujifilm since that tends to develop more quickly than the current Polaroid film.
At the point of backing this project I didn’t own a Polaroid camera. At the time, my dream instant camera that I wanted to own was the SX-70 Alpha 1 but it was quite an expensive camera to buy so I felt the Instant Diana on Kickstarter was more affordable.
I backed the camera and opted for the Adriano edition instead of the standard Diana design and the flash along with some gel filters.
Not long after backing, I kept getting more offers and deals from Lomography on the accessories which, were a really good price that I could add to the current package. I viewed this camera as a fun arty instant camera. I therefore ended up getting the full works as follows:
Diana Instant Square Special Edition Camera
Diana F+ Special Edition Flash
Diana Flash Color Gel Filters
Diana Instant Square Flash Plug
Diana F+ Flash Hotshoe Plug
Diana F+ Flash to Hotshoe Adapter
Diana+ 20mm Fisheye Lens
Diana+ 38mm Super Wide Lens
Diana+ 55mm Wide Angle & Close Up Lenses
Diana+ 110mm Telephoto Lens
Diana+ 75mm Glass Lens
The kickstarter project was a success and was fully backed which meant that I would receive the finished camera around January 2019.
In the meantime, I came across some Pink and Black Duochrome Polaroid 600 film which I loved the look of and ended up buying a cheap Polaroid 600 camera on ebay (which I blogged about in 2018).
For all Polaroid’s film faults, I still really liked the size of the film and in the end was able to save up enough money to upgrade to the SX-70 Alpha 1 which was the model I’d really wanted.
I purchased the SX-70 in September 2018 and now wonder if I had purchased this earlier on, if I would have even backed the Kickstarter project?
Fastforward to January 2019 and my Diana Instant Camera (and all the accessories) arrived.
When I opened the package I was completely overwhelmed by all the components I had added onto the intial package and quite frankly, I didn’t know where to begin!
I briefly looked through everything but I was very disappointed by the camera design itself. I stupidly hadn’t realised just how large it would be and I had been spoiled for the past few months using a gorgeous, well made SX-70 and also my Leica Sofort which are both stylish and cool looking in their own right.
The Diana Instant Camera in comparison looked like a cheap child’s toy (which I suppose is the point of the Diana camera’s) and once I added on the very large flash, you should have seen my husband’s face! In fact, I should have taken an instant photo!
He looked quite alarmed at my purchase and thought the design was horrible in comparison to my other two instant cameras.
I initially wondered if I should just sell it on but I really wanted to experiment with this camera and see what it could do with the various accessories.
I took the camera down to my boat and left it there with every intention of using it through the spring and summer of last year.
However, everytime, I went to use it around people, I suppose I just felt embarrassed by it. It really did feel like a toy and it’s certainly not subtle! In the end I just kept using my other two instant cameras.
However, I still really want to try out the accessories and I do like the instax square instant photos.
Last weekend, I finally brought the camera back home from my boat and have decided I’m going to use it for some of my daily walks, like I normally do with my Leica Sofort.
I’m going to make a journal of the photos taken using the different accessories and rather than be overwhelmed and try and use everything at once, I’m going to make a plan and use one accessory at a time and finally see what photos I can make using these accessories.
I then plan to blog about each accessory seperately and will give my views on what I thought and sample photos.
I started this week and decided to try out the 75mm glass lens. However, I didn’t have a great start. The film got jammed in the camera when trying to release the camera sheet so I removed the film and some plastic broke off and fell out but thankfully it was from the film packet and not the actual camera!
I re-inserted the film but it was damaged with light exposure.
I had some more film so put that in the camera and initially thought I had broke the camera as the photos were coming out blank still (very frustrating!).
I then realised there was an exposure button underneath the lens and I had it on Pinhole mode and it needed to go down to f/11. Once I did this I managed to get the following photos:
I also must have accidentally hit the double exposure switch on the side instead of just the on switch and I got this trippy shot of my dog:
I thought the pictures came out quite well using the glass lens.
I also feel more comfortable carrying the camera over my shoulder like a handbag rather than round my neck as I really do look a bit strange because it is quite big and toy like. It’s more subtle when carried to the side.
Lastly, I forgot to mention the viewfinder….you have different ones for different lenses and they are another large piece that stands out on the camera so again, another thing that really isn’t subtle.
If you want some funny looks, then wear this camera around your neck! Otherwise, you may want to consider what other instant cameras are out there.
If I had paid full price, I don’t think I would have purchased this camera. I really did get caught up in all the hype of the Kickstarter project and it’s a lesson learnt that I will try and never repeat again.
On the plus side, I’m really going to try it out over the next few months and see if this camera grows on me since I’ve not really given it a chance.
I’m hoping I will get some cool effects from it that I perhaps could never achieve with my other two instant camera’s so we shall see.
I look forward to updating you all in my little adventure with the Diana Instant Camera.
Back in 2018 I upgraded my instant camera to a Leica Sofort camera.
Prior to this purchase I had been using a Polaroid Snap camera for a couple of years.
I had used the Polaroid Snap camera quite a lot, especially when out at parties but I’d always been disappointed with the photo quality because it was printed on zinc paper.
I had always preferred the quality of the fuji instax mini film which I had seen from friends who had taken photos using this film.
However, I really didn’t like the design of the fuji instant cameras so never got round to buying one.
This all changed when Leica released their line of Sofort instant cameras which also uses the fuji mini instax film.
I really felt they had got the design perfect for what I wanted in a modern instant camera.
I instantly fell in love with the Orange design and knew that this was the time to upgrade.
Having the ‘Leica’ branding on it meant that this came at a higher price compared to the other fuji instant cameras on the market.
I decided for me, it would be a worthwhile purchase and I can say over a year on since owning the camera, I still absolutely love it and use it lots!
I’ve found it’s actually become one of my every day camera’s.
There are several reasons for this.
First of all, I love the fact the the photo is instant and I especially love it at parties when I take photos and give the instant photo to that person I took the photo of.
I also love using it during the day when I’m out and about, on walks to work etc as I can instantly take a photo and put it in my photo journal.
I tend to keep a daily photo journal for creative inspiration and I love writing/sketching in it everyday and adding photos:
The Leica Sofort is perfect for this. It also has a built in flash so it doesn’t matter whether I’m indoors or outdoors, I can take pretty decent photos regardless.
I love how fuji film also have different colour borders on their films they now sell rather than just plain white and I regularly purchase these film packs which can be picked up quite cheaply on places like eBay.
Whilst I appreciate the photo quality isn’t the best in comparison to the size of fuji square/wide or Polaroids, for me it is the perfect size for my photo journal and for giving to people at parties so they can just pop it in their bag or pocket.
I also have fuji instax albums to put other photos in such as when I go away on holiday and take photos. The ones below are from a botanical garden I visited in a trip to Singapore last year:
I’ve also used these albums as gifts for people at their parties when I’ve taken a load of photos then put them all into an album for them at the end of the night.
Whilst I love Polaroid film and my Polaroid camera’s, the downside is the cost of the Polaroid film. I’m paying over a pound more for each photo and Polaroid film in my experience can be a bit temperamental so I’m not guaranteed a great quality photo every time I use it.
With fuji film, the consistency of the film is very good so I’m pretty much guaranteed a decent photo every time.
I also love the long battery life on my Leica Sofort. It can be weeks before I need to charge it up again which is great so I can just leave it in my bag regularly ready for the next days photography inspiration.
It’s also a great ice breaker at parties as people are always fascinated by the look of the camera and I’m always surprised to find the amount of people I speak to who don’t realise that instant cameras and instant film still exist.
I do still use my Polaroid camera’s but I tend to use them more when I know I want a bigger instant photo than what I will get from the mini instax film.
Now I use this camera regularly, I find I tend to buy the fuji instax film weekly rather than monthly.
I really enjoy looking back through my journal to see what photos I’ve taken and what my daily scribbles/sketches have been.
It’s also great for jotting down potential photo ideas/projects in case I promptly forget them again.
In fact, I read an interesting article called ‘The art of the notebook’ by Tracy Calder in this month’s issue of Black and White Photography magazine (published by GMC publications).
It is about creating a photo journal with some inspiration and pictures of photo journals that other people have created.
Does anybody else do a daily photo journal with their photography? I would love to hear what other people’s thoughts/views are on keeping a photo journal.
From my previous blog posts you’ll see that I’m a fan of instant film photography and currently own a Polaroid Snap and Leica Sofort instant cameras.
I love these two instant camera’s and use them a lot for taking photos on social occasions.
However, due to the size of the photo they produce, I never felt they quite matched up to a polaroid photo if I wanted to take some more artistic style photographs for potentially framing to show at home.
I feel quite nostalgic about vintage polaroid cameras’ due to the fact my parents took a majority of my baby photos on their polaroid camera. Unfortunately they no longer have the camera.
I decided to finally purchase a vintage polaroid camera when I discovered the Polaroid Pink Duochrome 600 film which really inspired my creativity.
The Impossible Project which changed their name last year to Polaroid Originals had produced several colours of this Duochrome style film as limited editions ranging from orange and black, yellow and black and blue and black.
Polaroid Originals have since discontinued all of these limited edition films but thankfully the Pink and Black Duochrome film is still available to purchase from Urban Outfitters in the UK.
Once I knew I could currently purchase this film I had to decide on a Polaroid Camera which was compatible with the 600 film.
After doing much research with the help of a book called ‘Polaroid the Missing Manual’ by Rhiannon Adam, I finally decided I would buy a box type vintage 600 model.
The main reasons I decided to get this style of camera was first of all, it’s compatible with the film type I wanted to use and secondly, it’s a camera I would be able to buy at a relatively low price compared to the new polaroid onestep cameras which retail for over £100 and the desirable folding cameras such as the SX-70 which can sell for over £200 for a good condition one.
I ended up winning an auction on eBay on a Polaroid 600 LMS (Light Management System) camera from around the 1980s which had been refurbished by the Impossible Project just over a year ago and is painted black and white which I really like.
I was slightly nervous, yet excited at the same time about the quality of the images this camera would produce since it is classed as one of the more basic polaroid cameras.
However, I was really pleased with these photos I took:
I’m currently getting used to the camera and am still in the experimental stage regarding exposure. The picture above taken of Brighton Bandstand was made darker on the Polaroid camera by sliding the control on the front of the camera towards the black arrow. I decided to darken the photo because when I took the photo it was on a very sunny morning and I had seen from the Brighton West Pier photos I took previously that they had come out quite bright so there wasn’t as much detail as you can see in the photos below:
The Duochrome film retails at £18.99 and there are only 8 photos in a pack which means it works out at over £2.00 per photo which is considerably more than fujifilm mini instax which is around 80p a photo.
Polaroid films used to contain 10 photos in a pack but due to the way it is currently produced and the thickness of each photo, they can only fit 8 photos into a pack. This means that ‘experimenting’ can work out quite costly.
Interestingly, although this is an instant camera, I’m finding that it is actually helping me practice being a patient person (which is something I lack most of the time). This is because I have to really think and plan each photo I take due to the cost of the film.
For instance, I knew that I would have to take a photo of the Brighton Bandstand in the early morning in the daylight before lots of people were up and about either visiting the bandstand or just generally walking around as I didn’t want to waste my film with any unwanted shots of people accidentally getting in my photo. I also had to plan a day when the weather would be reasonably nice and not raining.
Also, the photos don’t develop instantly as you may think. Once the picture is taken, the photo needs to be kept in the dark for at least 10 minutes to enable the picture to develop to it’s full potential. My refurbished camera has a camera shield frog tongue already installed into it to stop the picture being exposed to any light when it first comes out of the camera.
Lastly, I discovered that it can take up to 30 days for the chemicals within the Polaroid film to fully dry so it’s recommended that you don’t put the photos into a plastic photo album or picture frame for at least this amount of time.
For all these constraints, there is something very endearing and addictive I’m finding about taking Polaroid photos.
I’ve since ordered some more Pink Duochrome film, so again, I’m having to be patient whilst I wait for the film to arrive in the post.
Following on from my recent blog where I was discussing my Polaroid Snap Shot Instant camera that I’d owned for the past couple of years and the issues I had with the print quality of the photos, I decided I was due an upgrade.
I felt I could justify an upgrade of instant camera as I do use it regularly, especially when I’m out with friends or family.
Whilst I appreciate the cost of film can be quite pricey I do tend to use it carefully and for me personally, I tend to buy instant film every one to two months so the cost isn’t too expensive for me. My basic rule is that I try to shoot quality over quantity with film camera’s.
My upgrade came about when I discovered the Leica Sofort Instant camera for sale in the UK. Whilst I appreciate all camera’s are ‘tools’ I couldn’t help but fall in love with the look and design of this camera.
Since it’s a Leica, this obviously comes at a higher price compared to a lot of instant cameras out there. In the UK the cost of this camera ranges from £200 – £250 and that is for the basic camera. That doesn’t include the cost of the case, film or cool orange, mint and white camera strap.
The camera is currently sold in three colours….white, orange and mint. Personally for me, I absolutely love the orange one.
It uses the fuji instax mini film and also the leica version of this same mini film which is produced by fujifilm.
Whilst the camera isn’t fully manual, it does have a built in flash and has several shooting modes:
Macro
Bulb
Automatic
Self timer
Party and People
Sport and Action
Double Exposure
Selfie
So far, I’ve mainly shot in standard or party and people mode. I’ve found the photos of people to be very flattering and many of my friends have commented about how the photos make them look younger which they obviously love.
The instant film is easy to load and there is a digital counter on the back which tells you how many photos you have left in the camera which I find really helpful. The film comes in packs of 10.
I find the camera lightweight and very portable. It is slightly bigger than my polaroid snap so doesn’t always fit into my smaller handbags but the cool strap enables me to wear it over my shoulder like a handbag.
There are two colour cases available for this camera in black and brown with a white canvas section on the side parts of the case. Again the cases aren’t overly cheap and retail for around £19 in the UK. However, I was pleased with the quality of the case.
I bought the brown case as I felt this colour complimented the orange shade of camera I owned.
The camera comes with a black Leica neck strap but I didn’t feel this colour went with my orange camera and didn’t look anywhere near as cool as the orange, mint and white strap. I therefore purchased the other strap for around £15 in the UK.
I was very impressed at how quickly the photos came out of my camera in comparison to the Polaroid Snap. The quality of the pictures are a million times better than the zinc  printed paper in my opinion and I’m very happy I decided to opt for an instant camera with this type of film.
The downside to this type of instant camera is that you cannot choose between colour and black and white photo modes like I could on the Polaroid Snap. To do this, I either have to load the camera with colour photos or black and white photos then use up 10 shots before I can change the colour. I can also only print one photo at a time as it doesn’t have different style modes, like the Photo Booth option on the Polaroid Snap. However, the picture quality more than makes up for this.
I tend to use the Leica colour film over the own named fujifilm. There have been many arguments that they’re exactly the same, just with Leica noted on the back of the film prints instead of fujifilm. I personally have found that the Leica film produces a warmer colour picture which I prefer.
However, on the black and white photos, I actually prefer the fujifilm brand over the Leica one because I think the photos are slightly cooler in tone which I personally prefer.
I’m sure there are many people who disagree with me about the difference in the film quality but I’m going from my own personal experience of shooting with both of these brands of films.
I tend to buy my Leica colour instant film online from Harrison Cameras as they currently sell a pack of 20 (2 x packs of 10) for £16.00. I can buy my black and white normal fujifilm from any local camera shop since I prefer the own brand of that to the Leica one.
I won’t deny it, this camera was definitely a luxury treat to myself and I’m sure the fujifilm camera’s take just as good photos for the fraction of the price of this camera but I have to be honest and say the look of this camera was what I loved.
I also loved the fact it was a Leica (admittedly not a German produced high quality Leica) but then it would have cost even more if it had been produced in Germany with all metal casing etc.
Ultimately this camera is great fun, is a great conversation point at a party and I’ve had much fun taking photo’s with it. I love the cool retro design and the fact it’s not too bulky to take out with me like a full size Polaroid camera would be.
I certainly don’t regret my purchase and can see me using this camera for many years to come.
Here are some instant photos I took at a family party this year:
Here is an instant photo I took of the steering wheel of my friend’s 1965 Mustang:
I first discovered this camera a couple of years ago when I wanted to get an instant camera for various social events.
I had been to a few social gatherings where some friends of mine were using the Fujifilm Instax Mini instant camera and I really thought it was lovely that I was able to take home an instant picture of the occasion.
Prior to that I hadn’t really thought about instant photos except for the old polaroid instant cameras which were used by my family during the 70s/80s.
I therefore started looking into the types of instant cameras that were available but at a reasonable price as I wasn’t sure how often I would actually use it so didn’t want to spend a small fortune only for it to end up sitting in a drawer several months later.
Whilst looking at the various styles I really liked the look of the Polaroid Snap Cameras as their style really reminded me of the late 70s / early 80s with the colourful rainbow stripe across it.
These cameras come in various colours but were quite pricey at the time (around £105 I recall) which was a little higher than I really wanted to pay. However, to my luck, the pink version suddenly came up in a sale at Urban Outfitters and was reduced to around £49.99. At that price I decided to buy it and it really helped that I loved the pink colour any way (the other colours remained at full price).
I also loved the fact that a really cool case in different colours had been designed for the camera and I bought a contrast white one from Argos for around £15.
What I love about this camera is that it has a magnetic lens protector and it’s very much the same weight of a compact camera so can easily be carried in a handbag on a night out. It has a viewfinder which pops up when pressed up and then closes back into camera when not in use.
What I wasn’t so keen on when I started using it was the type of photo quality you get. This is because the camera uses ZINK Zero-Ink Printing Technology. I found the colour quality to be rather hit and miss.
You can select 3 different types of colour options on top of the camera from full colour, to slightly muted colour and black and white. You can also select a style of print from normal frame, to a border frame and a 4 frame photo (like a Photo Booth) where the camera takes four shots rather than a single one and prints it onto the same piece of paper.
The other downside to this camera is that it doesn’t let you know how many prints are remaining (there are 10 per pack) so unless you keep count (which I struggled to do when at a busy party), I would find myself taking a further picture for it finally to flash at me to state there was no more film and the instant photo moment would have passed so that kind of defeats the object of being an instant camera.
Also, the zinc paper does take a while to print and slowly comes out of the camera so it’s not particularly ‘instant’.
For all it’s faults, it certainly has provided great entertainment over the past few years and I’m pleased that I’ve got full use out of it and it hasn’t sat in a drawer as I worried it may do.
Personally though, I’m pleased I got it for the price I did and didn’t pay the original price as to me, I’m not sure I could have justified it for the print quality of the photos and the inconsistency of not knowing if I have enough paper in there for the photo.
The Zinc paper is cheaper overall per photo than the likes of fujifilm instant film so that is where I think the compromise is.
Since I bought this camera, it has reduced in price to around £69.99 – £89.99. This is because Polaroid have now brought out a newer model called the Polaroid Snap Touch Instant Print Camera with an LCD Screen so you can digitally view the picture on the back of the camera before you print it. There is also bluetooth connectivity and the newer model takes an SD card up to 128gb, which enables you to continue to take photos even if you run out of paper and print them later. This newer model currently retails for around £149.99.
Below are some photos I’ve taken so you can decide for yourself the quality of the images:
Natalie Smart Film Photography 