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Goldline Presto N – Reflections on October’s #ShittyCameraChallenge

Following on from the two crappy cameras at the last #ShittyCameraChallenge, I moved on to a fixed focus point and shoot for the October edition. The Goldline Presto N is a point and shoot with built in flash, fixed focus, fixed shutter speed and fixed aperture.

In fact, it very much works like the disposable cameras currently on sale: along with the overall primitive set-up, the flash fires whenever the shutter is pressed.
Unlike in the case of disposable cameras, the battery can be removed and an ordinary film cartridge has to be inserted. The shutter Continue reading “Goldline Presto N – Reflections on October’s #ShittyCameraChallenge”

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Two Crappy Cameras

I have been reminiscing about this summer’s #shittycamerachallenge as the next one is due to begin. During the previous one, I used an old, beat up, Agfa Silette which I had picked up in a charity shop for £5. Not a shitty camera as such: it is simple, a fully manual view finder camera, with an f3.5 Apotar 45mm lens. This particular example though had been through a lot.

2 Cameras

Somewhat uncharacteristically for Continue reading “Two Crappy Cameras”

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Basic Colour Filters

Recently, I stumbled across a youtube clip discussing five photography gadgets the vlogger regretted buying. Three of these were obviously or plausibly useless but no. 5 was taken by ‘basic colour filters’ which apparently suck because you can create the effect as easily in photoshop. The reference was clearly to basic colour filters (an orange filter was shown as an example), not more subtle colour correction filters.

I was puzzled initially, Continue reading “Basic Colour Filters”

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Trolling Comrade Yezhov

Petapixel recently published a piece on Soviet image doctoring, obviously prior to Photoshop. Early efforts, it says, were based on scratching and repainting negatives. Well, they may have been, but the infamous work done on the removal of Yezhov is praised as neat. With this in mind, I am wondering how modern tools would do by comparison.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I unleashed my limited post-processing skills on Photoshop, Serif’s Affinity and Continue reading “Trolling Comrade Yezhov”

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In the beginning …

… was an Instamatic -I don’t remember exactly which one, but even I am too young to have started with a Brownie. Anyway, I still have one of the first rolls from this camera and hence one of my first photos. This seems like a fitting subject for a first post:

This is a shot of my kindergarten’s sand pit, and important place for me at the time, taken from a first floor window. Note the two old car seats in the background: the grown-ups were happy for us to play on them. Something tells me they would be considered an unacceptable safety hazard today.