2016, or is it 1973 again?

Sony PS-HX500

Kodak Super 8

What the! ...Perusing some reports from the recent 2016 CES trade show in Las Vegas, I see products announced or released that include at least five vinyl turntables and one Super 8 camera from Kodak.

The turntables are;

• Audio-Technica AT-LP60-BT,
• Crosley Radio Snap,
• House of Marley Stir It Up Turntable,
• Sony PS-HX500 (which looks almost identical to my ancient Sansui) and  
• Technics SL1200-GA)

Was this the most retro or hipster CES to date?

Lomography Belair X 6-12 City Slicker - First impressions.

Boxed Lomography
Belair X6-12 City Slicker

Lomography have shipped their first batch of  Belair X 6-12 Cameras. Pictures and specifications of the camera can be found at the Lomography Belair microsite.

Here are my first impressions of using the City Slicker with the 58mm wide angle lens;

• It is delivered in a nice cardboard package with the body, 2 lenses (58mm and 90mm) and matching viewfinders.
• The viewfinder is very approximate, particularly at less than 5m focus range.
• The 58mm lens is really soft at f8. As you would expect it gets a bit better at the f16 setting.
• Focus fall off from the centre is quite severe on the 6x12 format (this lens would be better with the 6x6 and perhaps 6x9 formats)
• There is a stop or two of exposure falloff from the image centre to the edges (for that lomo vignette effect)

Here are two sample images from the first roll;

Stone shed. Kodak TMax 400, Lomography x6-12, 58mm @ F8

A girl and her dog. Kodak TMax 400, Lomography x6-12, 90mm @ F8

However even with its flaws,  all in all it is a very light & fun medium format camera.

Obsolete Photo Gear #2

Obsolete photo gear cluttering up my bottom drawer. - #2 KODAK Dead Black.

No, it's not a pot of eyeshadow for Emo or Goth kids.
Dead Black is a matte black paint used to minimise light reflection.

Obsolete Photo Gear #1

Obsolete photo gear cluttering up my bottom drawer. -

#1 Kodak Monochrome Viewing Filter

This filter is used to visually approximate the relative tones of gray produced in black-and-white prints by different colors under daylight illumination. It is very dark with only 10% luminous transmittance.