My relationship with the Nopo has been complicated. I became interested in this camera when it was on Kickstarter several years ago. It is 35mm pinhole, which I’m not fond of usually, but this particular camera intrigued me with its shutter and the fact that you could rewind the film back into the original canister. The first roll I shot through it was ruined because of user error. I was working the shutter the wrong way. The second roll through this camera was meh. It was on the second roll when I broke the winding knob. I decided to gift it to my friend Todd who designs and makes pinhole cameras. I thought maybe he would be interested in the shutter system since it is unique. I ended up getting it back on Pinholeday last year with a new knob! Todd fixed it for me! I ended up just buying film on that trip so I could try it out again. The film has been in the camera for months now and I haven’t shot a single frame. Until now. I believe I have Fuji Superia in the camera.
Olympus Stylus
When we went to California I also brought my Olympus Stylus. I loaded it with some slide film because, why not? I thought slide film would be perfect for the sunny California coast. This is the first time I’ve used Ektachrome and I’m looking forward to seeing how it comes out. I did not cross process.
I am still not sure about the Stylus. On the one hand I love how compact and easy to use it is. It is the best camera for vacation photos. It fits into any pocket and it is ready to shoot so quickly. However, I have felt very '“meh” about my results so far with it. I took it to Boston with me last year and didn’t love any of the shots that came out of that roll. I think this is partly because I don’t really love 35mm and don’t shoot it very much. I basically only shoot it when I’m on vacation. Hopefully this camera will love the slide film.
Woodbläk
The Wookbläk is truly a magnificent camera. It is made from a single block of wood by Kurt Mottweiler. It’s beautiful to look at and to use. Everything about it is just easy. To load the film you simply pull the back off of the camera which is being attached by very strong magnets. The winding knobs very smoothly usher the film through the camera. Kurt outfitted my camera with a strap so It’s convenient to carry around with me when I’m out for a walk. It’s a little bit bigger than my Reality So Subtle so I don’t take it traveling with me as much as that one. However, my husband and I took a quick weekend vacation in California, and I decided to pack it because I wanted to see how well it would travel.
I loaded it with Lomogrqaphy Color Negative 100, which is a very inexpensive film and does a fine job but can be prone to fat rolls. This is the film I used most recently in my R.S.S. and I notice when I use this film in that particular camera the film gets stuck at the end of the roll and I have a fat roll. luckily, in the Woodbläk, there was no fat roll when I took this film out of the camera.
I shot this roll of film at Hearst Castle, and the towns of Cambria and Harmony on the Central California coast. I also shot a few frames at Mission San Miguel. I will share the results in a later post.
The Woodbläk at Hearst Castle.
Argus Seventy-Five
The next camera I decided to feed film to was one of two Argus Seventy-Five cameras that I own. My husband wants to make one of them into a pinhole camera, but first I would like to shoot a roll through them to see which one is better. This particular one was given to me by my brother in-law. It uses 620 film, which I bought at Blue Moon Camera And Machine. You can easily re-roll 120 film onto a 620 spool but I didn’t have enough 620 spools laying around.
The camera itself is fun to use. It’s viewfinder is very bright. There isn’t anything fancy about the camera, just point and shoot basically. I shot this roll of Illford Delta 400 around town on my walks to and from work. I finally shot the last photo in on the roll this past weekend. Unfortunately I won’t have time to develop the film for awhile because we are planning to move over the next month, and my life is going to be all about the move. I have packed all of my cameras and film to save me the temptation of veering from what I need to do.
Week 1ish
Hi there! So, I have started this project, though It has taken me longer than a week to shoot this roll of film. I think, to be kind to myself, the time period in which I use the camera will be a little fuzzier than a week. Because, you know, life and stuff gets in the way.
This week-ish, I used my Reality So Subtle pinhole camera and Lomography 100 color negative film. I shot some really mundane pinhole photos on my walks to work, and while doing housework. I finished the roll yesterday.
I’ve been having a little bit of an issue with film getting stuck in this camera at the end of a roll. I’m going to have to figure out what the issue is.
The RSS is one of my favorite pinhole cameras, and my favorite for traveling. It’s very compact and and fits into a pocket easily. I also love how discreet it is. I don’t have results yet, but will post them when I do.