If you’ve tried using the Blackbird, Fly camera, you probably find that the images ain’t as ‘toy-like’ as you thought/hope they’ll be. Right? Well that’s how I find it and also feedback from some friends. I own a few of them but they have been sitting on my shelf as deco pieces instead of getting put to good use. Duh!
Anyway … recently there is this Japanese magazine that once brought us the Gakken stereo pinhole camera … and now this volume comes with a plastic TLR! Cool! At first I was not very excited about it because I thought it will be just another 35mm TLR that produces normal looking results. I was wrong. Dead wrong!
A friend in Japan bought it and ran a roll through it and according to his feedback … the viewfinder is ‘real’! ‘Real’ as in … you can see what you are actually focusing. Ermm … I am not sure how to put it in words. Hahaha. Okay … it is unlike the BBF where the view in the viewfinder is always the same thing … no matter how you focus. Get it? Ermm … I hate it when I can”t describe things properly. 🙁
Anyway … I saw the photos that my friend took and I was blown away by the results. (Check it out here). The results does give me a feel of photos taken with the good old Dianas (not the Lomo remakes). I was told that the magazine (plus cam) costs about S$50 locally on special order. You have to spend time to assemble the pieces before you get the actual camera though. It is more like a DIY project thingie. It even comes with some stickers for you to ‘dress up’ the naked black camera.
I have a couple units arriving from Japan soon but they have all been snapped up. The local toy camera store ThirtySix (at Sunshine Plaza) will be stocking up on these too … real soon.
If you think the BBF is way over your budget and would love a plastic 35mm TLR … this one is a must!