Lavec LT-002

I didn't want to let another week go by without a post, however some may wish when they see the Lavec LT-002 that I had.  I had a case of the Lomo Bug and put some film in this camera that had been sitting around for a while.  I think it came from a garage sale last summer.  It was still in its box wrapped in plastic.  So likely it had never been used.  That seems pretty common for these cameras. A lot of them were give-aways that people didn't want to waste film on.

The Lavec LT-002 has apertures of 5.6,8,11, and 16.  Instead of a round opening for the aperture the Lavec LT-002 uses a rectangular slit.  I think that is what accounts for the vignetting at the smallest apertures.

I suppose that the standard that I use in judging these 35mm cameras for their Lomo qualities is the Holga. By that standard I think the Lavec LT-002 has some potential.  It even has some light leaks and occasional flaring. Although it is not usually as extreme as in the image below.

I have wondered why from time to time I chose to run good film through these cameras that are disdained by most photographers and humanity in general. My best guess is that after so many years of doing photography I know enough to have very good control over the results that I get when using my better cameras.  With a camera like the Lavec LT-002 there is a lot of uncertainty about what results I will get. I can chose my subject and make some attempt at composition(which isn't easy since the viewfinders usually show much less than the camera sees), however much of the result is beyond my control.  And there is something about that which I enjoy.  Although I imagine that the same experience would cause much discomfort to some. 

Anyway the Lavec LT-002 looks like it has some potential.  Although it probably won't be the first camera that I pick up the next time that the Lomo Bug bites.

Time Promotional Camera

It is possible the the Time Camera is both the most reviled and the most imitated camera in the history of photography. The Time camera was introduced in 1985 as part of a magazine sales promotion by Time magazine. At a time when many photographers were complaining about the increased use of plastic in cameras, Time decided to add metal in the form of lead weights to their otherwise plastic camera.  With this innovation the Time camera had the extra heft that many at the time felt was the hallmark of a well-made camera.

Apparently the Time promotion was a success and set off a wave of offering a free camera as a promotional item.  Most of these cameras were either a clone of the original Time camera with a different name, or were a minor variation on the Time camera theme.  Maybe there were a few people who thought that they were getting a high quality camera, however it appears that most people didn't value these cameras much.  Today this type of camera is a staple of the thrift shops and garage sales.  Many are found still in their original packaging.

Back when I was more into toy cameras than I am today I used many of the Time type cameras.  However I had never had used the father of the family until I recently bought one at our local Salvation Army Thrift Store.  The Time Camera offers the choice of four apertures, f/6,f/8,f/11 and f/16.  The shutter speed is 1/125. The pictures that this camera took are better than I expected.

Of course I took most of the photos on a sunny day while visiting some antique shops in Danville, IL.  Such conditions are likely to bring out the best in a camera with the capabilities of the Time Camera. Nonetheless I was pleased with the pictures it made which I can't say is true with every camera.

If you are anywhere near central Illinois, Danville is a worthwhile place to visit if you like antique and thrift shops.  The town also has a nice mix of old buildings to take photos of.

So now I have used a Time Camera and was not traumatized by the results. My biggest complaint about this camera is that it seems that what I saw in the viewfinder was only about half of what would end up in the photo.  Its maybe the most useless viewfinder that I have experienced.  Still if I had to I could probably make do with the Time Camera.

Kalimar Precision Zoom

Kalimar got its start in the 1950's importing Aires 35 cameras from Japan for sale in the US. Eventually Kalimar would be a distributor for cameras and accessories from most of the camera making world, until it was bought out by Tiffen in 1999.  At some point Kalimar put its name on the Kalimar Precision Zoom.  The Kalimar Precision Zoom is unusual in that it is the only cheap plastic camera that I have seen with a zoom lens.  I would guess it was made in the 1990's since that is when a zoom lens became the standard lens for many cameras. Other than its zoom lens the Kalimar Precision Zoom is a standard toy camera.  It has one shutter speed and one aperture.  It doesn't need a battery unless you want to use the flash.  The Precision Zoom does seem to be more solidly built than most toy cameras.  It also fits nicely into my hands.  Below are a few sample images so you can judge the value of the camera as a picture taker for yourself. All were taken with HP5 developed in Xtol.

Suprema Mini GTG

I am not sure if it is some kind of illness, however I do have the habit of buying these cheap plastic cameras when I see one at a garage sale or thrift store.  Then I start to wonder what kind of pictures it will take and I usually end up taking a roll or two before the camera comes to rest in a box with my other plastic cameras.  Of course there are so many of these cameras that I do have to have some limitations.  One thing I look for is a wider than normal lens.  The Suprema Mini GTG made the cut with a 28mm lens.  I also look for colors other then the standard ones.  So being blue helped the Suprema.  Probably my firmest limit is that I won't pay more than $2 for one of these cameras.  And the Suprema cost $1. 

The Surprema Mini GTG has only one aperture f/8, and one shutter speed of  1/125.  It doesn't need batteries unless you want to use the flash.  The lens seems to be soft all over. 

Occasionally there are light leaks and there almost always is some vignetting. So the Surpema Mini GTG does live up to toy camera standards.

I used Kodak Max 400 which had expired in 2005 for these pictures.  Probably this image showed the most color shift.  I tend to enjoy some of the unexpected images that I get from the cheap cameras and expired film.

If you have made it this far then maybe you would like to see some more images from the Suprema Mini GTG.  If so here is the gallery

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A Bentley and a Lexxus

I can only speculate on the the rational for naming these cameras.  It probably would be fascinating to talk to someone who was involved in the actual naming.





Both cameras were likely give-a-ways or very cheaply sold cameras during the 1980's.  The Lexxus has the feature of a sliding lens cover.  The Bentley has three choices in aperture setting.  The Bentley also likely has some lead added for extra weight because it is much heavier than a plastic camera should be.

My favorite photo from the only roll of film that I have taken with the Bentley. 

The Lexxus's rendering of an old fuel pump.






















The Bentley and the Lexxus fall into the category of cameras that I have only taken a few pictures with.  And it is highly likely that I will not take pictures with either again.  Still at least they deserve a little place in the sun, so I made a Toy Camera Gallery for photos for these two and some other cameras that fall into the same catergory. Hopefully I will add more cameras when I get the inclination.

Garage Sale Finds

Twindar Star, Suprema Mini GTG, and Vivitar T200








Pickings have been slim around here camera-wise.  I went to the Champaign County Humane Society garage sale and the cameras above were the best I could do.  And this is from one of the largest community garage sales of the year.  This haul did only cost $2.  I also got four rolls of expired Kodak Gold Max 400 for a dollar and five rolls of expired Kodak Gold 200 for the same price.  The Twindar did have a manual that says it is f/9 with 1/100 for the shutter speed.  The other two don't give those details although I would guess they have similar specifications.  The Suprema has a 28mm lens.  The other two look like 35mm. 

So I have nothing to add to a museum of fine photographic equipment.  Still I am looking forward to putting a roll of the expired film through each one and seeing what happens.  I am getting quite a collection of these cheap plastic cameras.  Some I have gotten some pleasing results from.  And at least they don't cost much.  Still I hope that I run across some more sophisticated cameras this summer.

If you need to purge your eyes after looking at these lowly cameras this link may be helpful to you.  It is to a bunch of articles on historic and classic cameras at Shutterbug Magazine.

Waiting on Film

For most of my life if I wanted pictures from a camera I would need to either develop them myself or send them out. There always was a time of maybe hours, maybe days before I could see how my pictures turned out.  And for me at least there was a tendency of focusing on the frustration of the wait and forgetting the pleasures of finally seeing how things turned out.  A pleasure that I think was increased by the wait.  When digital came along I embraced no longer having to wait.  Still I have never felt the pleasure in seeing my pictures load onto my computer that I remember from seeing negatives come out of the developing tank, or from getting that fat pack of pictures in the mail.

Saturday I had the pleasure of getting some pictures back that I had sent off in the mail a few days before.  The feeling for me is very much like I can remember as a child opening Christmas presents. The films were from a variety of cameras taken over a few months time. Like Christmas I expected there would be both some wonders and disappointments. 

I have heard others report feelings similar to mine about getting film back. Although I haven't often heard such feelings enter into the film vs digital debate.  Instead I think that it is taken for granted that quicker is better.  And maybe sometimes it is.  However if you have never done so before try taking some pictures on film and send it off somewhere that makes you wait a few days.  Then see if when your results come back if you experience a pleasure and excitement that made the wait worthwhile.

One set of negatives I got back was from a roll that I had taken last summer and forgot for a while that it was in the camera.  The camera is an Argus STL 1000 with a Cosinon 50mm f/1.8 lens. The film is Fuji 200.

I also got some results from the Argus Dual HFM II that I have written about in an earlier post. The film is Fuji 200.  Although 200 ISO is the recommmended film for this camera, I suspect the a 400 ISO film would work better.

Last results for today are from the Sawyer's Nomad 620.  Whoever I bought this from had loaded it with a re-spooled roll of Porta 160.  I took a couple of pictures with it when I first got the camera and didn't get around to finishing the roll until this winter.

I got the results from 11 rolls of film from 11 different cameras so this is just a small sample.  I would recommend the place I sent the film to.  They do a good job and are inexpensive.  Sharp's Photo

March of the Toy Cameras

Toy may be the kindest categorization that these cameras get. Here I am talking about the simple amateur-oriented cameras of the age before digital. Still when looked at in the long arc of human history these cameras are a marvel. If in the middle-ages you had a Polaroid Color Pack and a supply of film you might have been seen as a great wizard or as somebody to be burned at the stake.

Throughout most of the time in which there have been people it has been very hard to make images or save descriptions of the things that mattered to us. I used to wonder why in the Bible there are few if any descriptions of what the people looked like. I thought maybe appearance didn't matter as much to the ancients as much as it seems to matter to us today.  Then I realized that in those times the materials to write on were often expensive and making copies was a pain. So it is likely that only what was essential was recorded. I have not researched this, however I would not be surprised if descriptions of people in literature did not become common until the printing press and cheap paper became available.

And while making and transmitting verbal descriptions used to be hard, making illustrations was even harder.  Even though literacy was rare in the olden days someone with the skill to make a reasonable representative of what he saw was probably even rarer. Today ancient forms of illustration like the reliefs in the Parthenon or the statutory in a Gothic Cathedral are still admired. However I think it is hard for us to appreciate that at one time such illustrations were about the only show in town.

The birth of photography in the 1830's started a progression to where almost anyone could capture an image of what mattered to him.  By the 1950's in the US almost every family had at least one of the simple box cameras that we now call toys.  Most of the time you could take a decent photo with these cameras without a lot of expense or trouble.  You could even make copies of your images to send out to family and friends.  An amazing advance that seems to have been quickly taken for granted and probably is under-appreciated.

Maybe some day in the distant future someone will come across a cache of ancient photos from the 50's and 60's and wonder why all the children were gathered around a circular object with burning candles on it. I imagine even then there will be little appreciation for the cameras that made this puzzle possible.

  


Taken with Kodak Duaflex II

Taken with Kodak Duaflex II




















More Information about the Kodak Duaflex II at Matt's Classic Cameras.