wip : work in progress

While surfing the web today, I came across a link to "wip", a PDF format photography magazine. wip

The included photographs are not necessarily part of a completed series but are "works in progress" hence the name of the magazine.

The first 4 issues that can be downloaded from the wip website and they contain some great inspiring pieces of work.

Link: http://wip.gr/

Holga TLR

Holga will soon be releasing a twin lens reflex (TLR) camera and are currently testing it in the Hong Kong Market. Holga TLR

The camera comes in both a glass lens version and a plastic lens version.

At the moment, the only place to pick one up outside of Hong Kong is on eBay where the buy it now price is $53. Not a bad price when compared to Superheadz Blackbird Fly TLR which costs around $120.

Link: eBay [via ToyCamera.com forums]

Olympus Pen Anniversary = A New DSLR?

A few days ago I wrote that Olympus is releasing a new Micro Four Thirds format DSLR camera and it is possible that it could have the retro styling as shown at Photokina last year. Well, Olympus now have a teaser campaign based on the 50th anniversary of the Olympus Pen camera.

Olympus Pen

Especially telling is the URL of the link above : products/dslr/special/pen50th/pen/ .

Hmmmm.............

The next update is scheduled for May 26th.

Link: Olympus [via The Online Photographer]

Update May 26th : The update promised for today is a new video, this time for the Pen EE. Looks like the site will drag out the tease for a little longer. Next update is June 2nd but you can probably see a sneak preview of what will be featured next on the Pen History page.

Tomorrow is Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day

I hope everyone is ready for Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day. Even if you don't have a pinhole camera, you can make your pinhole cap for you digital SLR camera.

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Just get a piece of a soda can and make an indentation with a pin (don't go all the way through the aluminum). Then using fine sand or glass paper, sand down until a tiny hole appears. Drill a hole in  SLR body cap and tape your pinhole to the cap.

Using this method you won't have the best pinhole in the world and it will probably be real blurry but it is very easy to do.

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I will probably be using my Daylab 3x4 Polaroid pinhole camera.

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Link: http://www.pinholeday.org/

Four Corner Store

Aficionados of toy cameras are probably already familiar with Four Corners Dark , the toy camera blog written by Nic Nichols. Well, today Nic opened up Four Corner Store, an online shop supplying toy cameras and expired film. New items will be added regularly but right now there is a nice collection of 110 cameras & 35mm cameras including the LOMO Smena 8M on sale at $45 (half what LSI currently sells this camera at).

The film being sold is a "house brand" that is "guaranteed to produce unpredictable results from any 35mm camera you run it through". At $13 for a 12 pack of 36 exposure films, it won't hurt the pocket too much to give them a try.

Link: Four Corner Store,

Ritz Camera To Close 300 Stores

Ritz CameraRitz Camera announced on Thursday that they will shut down 300 stores in the US. The closures will also include some Wolf Camera, Kits Cameras and a few other stores they own. This is all part of a bankruptcy reorganization. I never really liked Ritz. This dislike stems back to a time many years ago when I was developing some film that wouldn't be ready until the next day even though they were charging "one hour" prices. The name of this particular store was even "Ritz Camera Big Print One Hour".

Still, this is a sign of the times. Coupled with the recession and the abundance of Internet stores and "big box" stores, these small camera shops are finding it difficult to compete.

I came across another sign of the times today.  I visited my local camera store called The Kamera Korner looking for some of Kodak's new film,  Ektar 100, and was told that the store would be cutting back on the film they sell. Once the current stock is used up they will only carry some Tri-X. I also noticed that the chemicals shelf was empty so I will now need to find somewhere else to buy my Rodinal.

Digital LOMO - Has Hell Frozen Over Again?

In October 2003, Apple proudly announced "Hell Freezes Over" with the launch of the iTunes Music Store for Windows. The unthinkable had happened. Apple was making software for their arch enemy's operating system and the world was coming to an end. So with the recent announcement by Lomographic Society International that they will move into the digital photography realm, is there a cold front moving through hell once again?

For those that don't know, Lomographic Society International (LSI) is a company based in Austria that sells photographic equipment and accessories. They started out as a distributor for cameras they bought on the cheap from Russian optics company LOMO but over the years they started to create their own plastic "toy" cameras and even created a replica of the famous LOMO LC-A when the LOMO company stopped producing the camera themselves. The one thing that distinguished LSI from many other camera retailers was that they only sold film based cameras.

Long bashed (hated even) for what some people perceived as inflated prices and alleged aggressive marketing techniques, LSI was often defended in online forums because "they helped in the sale of film." With the rise in digital photography, many other retailers were pushing their film offerings to the bargain bin in the corner of the store but LSI continued to promote film photography as something trendy and chic and here to stay. Their marketing techniques were quite successful with a whole generation of users who grew up with digital cameras but were now making the switch to film based photography. LSI coined the phrases "Lomography" and "Lomographer" and the Urban Outfitters crowd all wanted to be a part of the scene.

LSI wasn't the only company focusing on film of course, but they were one of the more succesful companies in enticing young people into film photography for the first time and older photographers back after their switch to digital technologies.

But is all that now about to change? With the recent LSI announcement about the introduction of a new digital camera, it would appear so. Called the LC-D, this new compact digital camera is based on the iconic LOMO LC-A. In fact, it uses the same body as the LC-A+, the lC-A replica manufactured by Phenix Optical Company. The new camera has a 7.1 megapixel sensor and has built in x-pro, B&W and "enhanced vignette" modes. Unlike regular compact digital cameras, the LC-D still uses the zone focus mechanism of the LC-A and also allows double exposures like it's film based cousin, the LC-A+.

This isn't the first time a predominently film based company dipped their toes into the digital pond. In May 2008, another film hold out, Unsaleable.com, sent a newsletter via their Polanoid.net website announcing a new digital printer from Polaroid called the PoGo (see the newsletter here.)  "horrid, horrid from Polanoid.net" stated one post in the Polaroid Flickr group but it was easy to see why Unsaleable were looking at the PoGo printer. When Polaroid announced that they would stop making instant film, the end for Unsaleable's business was in sight. With only Fuji making instant film for a limited number of cameras, the bulk of the business would have ceased to exist due to lack of supply.

However, rather than heavily investing in digital photography, Unsaleable, now called Polapremium, instead invested in last run lots of various Polaroid film types and have been very successful in keeping analogue Polaroid film alive, at least for now. 

In the LSI case the situation is different. It is difficult to see exactly what the motivation behind the LSI move. There is currently no problem with 35mm or 120 film supply. It is true that some manufacturers are stopping production of specific film products but there are still plenty of brands available. Some new lines have even been introduced in recent months. Perhaps this is a way for LSI to increase their market share again. With a digital option now available for both existing and would be "Lomographers", there is no longer a reason to buy the more confusing film equipment to be part of the Lomography club. If you can be part of the same tribe and get the same effects without having to send your film off to be developed, why spend the time and money on the older cameras?

Back in October 2003, the world did not end and hell warmed up quite nicely. In fact, iTunes changed the way many people obtain their music, their news and their TV. A positive change in my opinion. But I'm not so sure about this change. Hell freezing over is a long shot. LSI is not Apple in it's reach but there may be some minor changes in the world of film, and down at the Urban Outfitters store.

Update: OK, so this was an Aprils Fools Joke. Lame? Yes. But could it happen some day...?

Holga Inspire

There is a new website from the people who brought you the famous Holga camera called Holga Inspire. According to the website,

The mission of Holga Inspire is to support creative artists and professional photographers who use the Holga as their medium of creative expression.

To this end, the website features work from photographers such as David Burnett and Michelle Bates.

For a lot of people, who made the Holga was a bit of a mystery, some people even thinking that the Lomographic Society created it. It's nice to now see the company getting it's own face on the web.

http://www.holgainspire.com/

Holga Prints For Sale

Recently I selected two of my Holga shots to sell as prints on Imagekind.com. Monorail

Seattle Center Art and Classic Car

There are a wide range of print options available including paper choice & frame type.

To test the quality I got these two photos printed on "premium photo glossy" paper and framed in a wide square black frame. The prints were 11" x 11" and the frames were about 18" square.  I was very impressed with the quality and both prints are now hanging in the hallway of my house.

Check out my gallery and come back often as I will be adding more photographs over time.

Link: http://davedunne.imagekind.com/