Thrift Store Find: Lomo Smena 35

This is a Lomography version of a Smena 35mm film camera. I just picked it up at a local thrift store and haven't had a chance to run a roll of film through it yet.

Quick Tip - Attaching a better camera strap to a Holga 120 camera.

I'm not crazy about the stock camera strap that comes with the Holga 120 camera. The stock strap is too short, too thin and the little clips on the strap often come undone at inconvenient moments.

A better camera strap won't fit on the small lugs on the Holga 120 camera body, but by using 1/2" split rings (these are small key rings), you can attach most any camera strap you like to your Holga 120 camera. I picked up the inexpensive strap from my local camera store, Glazer's here in Seattle. If you can't find a strap conveniently nearby, look online. (Check my Where to Buy page for specific recommendations)

This modification doesn't work well with the Holga 135 camera, since that camera only has a single attachment lug for a small hand strap.

I also don't recommend this particular mod for the Diana+,  F+ or Mini cameras. When I tried this on one of my Diana camras, one of the plastic lugs eventually cracked, probably due to stress placed on the lug with the hard metal split rings. A better solution for the Diana cameras might be to use a softer material that won't over stress the plastic lugs on the camera. I think plastic cable ties would work fine for that purpose.

Procedure:

This is a very easy mod to do.

The key ingredients to this Holga mod are two 1/2" split key rings that you can get at most any hardware store or place that makes keys, and a camera strap of your choice that has 3/8"  attachment straps or clips. You may already have an extra camera strap that you can use with this mod.

The split rings are attached to the Holga lugs where the original camera strap attaches.

With the rings in place, the new camera strap is attached to the split rings.

You may want to tape the clips to the camera or do the Velcro Mod on your camera, to be sure that the strap won't pull the clips open when bouncing around in your camera bag or purse.

AViVA - Lo-Fi SLR

I saw this plasticky SLR at my local camera store. A real SLR with a 40mm f/2.8 fixed lens, which has markings that say "Great Wall", perhaps referring to the grandaddy of all toy cameras, the maker of the original Diana camera? It costs about $45. Has anyone tried one of these yet? I looked on Flickr, but there aren't any images taken with this camera. If you've sighted one of these in the wild, let me know.

Thrift Store Find - Bedfordflex 127 film Twin Lens Reflex camera

I found this little gem in my local Goodwill store. The camera's nameplate fell off, but based on other images of similar cameras that I have found on the web, I believe it to be a Bedfordflex. It's a nice little camera. As an added bonus, it had an exposed roll of 127 film in it. I'm not sure if there is anything on it, but since I will be testing a c-41 film processing kit, I will process the film myself.

127 film, while rare, can still be found at online stores like BH Photo Video or Freestyle Photo Supply. It's a paper backed roll film, about the same size as 35mm film. The availability of this size film makes finds like these working cameras rather than obsolete display cameras.

Check out the Where to Buy Section for links to the stores that sell 127 film.

Cost: $2US

The Lomography Diana Instant Back

This is an adapter to use Fujifilm's Instax Mini film with the Lomography Diana +, F+ and Diana F+ clone cameras. It won't work with vintage Diana cameras or Holga.

The prints are 8.6cm x 5.4th with an image size of 6.2cm x 4.6 cm.

Out of the Box , Installation and Loading videos are on the way.