What is there to be said about one of the iconic film camera bodies ever made, within one of the best manual focus lens systems ever made? Quite a lot. In this review I'll be going over the venerable Minolta X-700, some of the features, and raving about both the lens/accessory system and the camera body.
If you have ever trawled a thrift store, flea market, or visited a camera shop with a used section, you've probably seen one. Sitting on the shelf, it seems to vacuum all of the light in the room around it. Most of the time it comes in flat black with the venerable "X-700" listed under the shutter speed dial (there was a less common chrome version, but who wants that? Flat black is the most common!). I have proudly owned no less than five of these cameras. I love the weight, the feel and ergonomics of the body, the meter, and the lens system. I have not tired of this camera in 10 years. I left the system, and came back to this camera...twice. I even use the lens system on my digital body.
Many experts will knock some of the detracting elements - namely the slow flash sync speed (at 1/60), the sound of the shutter, and the fairly limited lifespan (due to low-quality capacitors). Other than those three critiques, there's really nothing else anyone can say against this camera or the system. This camera is LOUD with a satisfying "KER-THACK" with every picture. It sounds like a machine. It feels like a machine. Your subject will know you are taking a picture of them, from 15 feet away. Flash photography is out in all but the darkest and most controlled scenarios. When I need flash photography, I personally will either a) use digital (for social or speed situations) or b) use a medium format camera. Also, remember when I said that I switched camera systems twice? Both times were due to the notorious shutter capacitor issue - it will blow one day out of the blue. You don't know when or how, or what conditions to avoid. It will just...go...and you will be stuck without a camera again. Every time I pick it up and find my batteries are dying, I sweat and think how I want to switch to an X-570 or an XD-11/X-1 for the more reliable electronics. I haven't yet simply due to the cheap nature of these cameras. I haven't spent more than $50 for all five of the X-700 bodies I have ever owned over the years, total. You find them everywhere there are used cameras because they made them for almost two decades.
Enough about the bad, let's talk about the good. What are you buying when you buy any film camera body? You're buying into a name, lens system, accessory system, mod community, and limited set of spare parts (limited by however many other camera bodies there are left).
All the major manufacturer manual focus film lenses are at the very least good enough and better than third party manual focus film lenses - Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Minolta, Contax, Konica, etc. They are all at least good enough in most cases. If you care about name recognition, you may know Leica. In the 90's, Leica actually licensed some of the Minolta manual focus lenses and bodies, and then either jointly developed, slightly tweaked, or 100% copied Minolta design in their Leica R3 and R4 series SLR camera bodies. The X-700 was not one of these designs (Minolta XE-7/Leica R3 and Minolta XD-11/Leica R4) but the X-700 was made by the same people that made each of them. If it's good enough for Leica, it's good enough for me.
Being that they made this camera for 19 years, there are millions of of them in the wild and tons of spare parts if you ever need one. The grips and accessories are second to none. The aesthetics and innovation put forth by the team at Minolta are top tier in all respects. Minolta created the first camera with a "Program" mode in the X-700, making this SLR more of a point n shoot and ensuring that millions of people are able to take photographs without any prior photographic knowledge. I learned framing and how to work a scene with this Program mode, and nowadays I switch between the metered Manual and the Aperture priority, which are still amazing due to how good this meter is. It meters from ISO 25 all the way up to ISO 1600, with 2 stops of compensation in 1/2 stop increments. It takes modern LR44/357 button batteries and they last a very long time because of how great the capacitive touch is with this camera - the on/off switch is only a lock for a half-depress of the shutter. 15 seconds later the camera is off again for as long as you don't fidget. Yes, the camera is 100% off no matter the "On" position, unless that shutter is half-depressed or the exposure lock button is tickled. 15 seconds later, it's completely off again until you're ready to laugh.
The Minolta X-700 has a 1-1000 shutter speed with a bulb mode and it accepts generic shutter triggers. When you find one of these bad boys, most likely you'll also find some no-name 6-inch braided shutter trigger, the manuals inside a dirty camera bag you'll throw away or keep in a closet, and a sweet 45/2 Rokkor lens. Speaking of lenses, most of them are dirt cheap! You can can find a 35/1.8 for less than $300, and 135/2.8, 45/2, and 50/1.7 lenses are plentiful beyond plentiful. I've owned probably as many as I have owned camera bodies. The Minolta SR mount carriers every kind of lens you can imagine from 7.5mm fisheye all the way up to 800mm see-the-birds-in-the-next-town, with multiple zoom lenses, macro lenses, tilt-shift lenses, extenders, screw-on hoods, etc. Minolta was a great player, and that is why Sony bought them.
This will wrap up the review of the X-700. I didn't go over everything that the X-700 has going for it, but I did go over the most important things that it has. Try one for yourself; You'll see.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Thursday, February 16, 2017
2017 /r/Analog $20 Challenge Submissions
Challenge Entry: /u/foxshark
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Zeiss Contaflex Prima | $12.50 | Precision Camera and Video | Receipt |
| Filters | Skylight, UV, and Yellow Contrast | included | Precision Camera and Video | Same as above |
| Film | Kodak TriX 24exp | $5.25 | Precision Camera and Video | Same as above |
Total Price: $19.21 after tax
Description:
It turns out that "parts bins" are full of all manner of fun things; you just have to ask. So with a grin on my face, I asked to see their cameras that were "too junked to sell, but too nice to throw away" after explaining the challenge. As luck would have it, I was told that there was a whole pile of options that could fit the bill, and most of them even [probably] worked too! This is the camera that sealed the deal for me. As a sucker for 1950's and 60's German cameras, the seemingly working condition Contaflex was the obvious choice. As a B&W guy, finding the OEM contrast filters was icing on the cake. I handed over my greenbacks and went home to see how this thing worked.
As all good things come to an end, so it was time to develop the film. As a D76 & Patterson tank man, I foolishly went out on a limb to try steel reels and Rodinal 1+100. Sadly some of the frames ended up touching during the development, and I lost many of the frames I was counting on, while the others had a grain structure that was far from ideal. I suppose this is why they taught you to only change one variable at a time in science class.
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
Description:
I have a running joke with the repair and used equipment staff of Precision Camera and Video in Austin, TX that I am their most most unusual customer. I enjoy tinkering with and trying to fix old cameras, so my usual requests are somewhat of the nature:
Do you have an slow speed escapement mechanism to a K4A Rolleiflex compur-rapid shutter in your parts bin, and if so would you sell it to me?
- the camera ended up being in near immaculate condition
- it had an accurate leaf shutter as a unique bonus
- the selenium cell meter was miraculously still working and appeared to be accurate
- like a Hasselblad, the mirror does not auto-return after firing the shutter
By far the most unique feature was that it ended up being an interchangeable lense camera - well half way at least. The rear element, aperture iris, and leaf shutter are permanently attached to the camera, while the front lens element and focusing ring and helicoid are interchangeable. This gave me the idea to try kludge-macro: holding the front element in one hand a few cm away from the the now exposed shutter. It technically worked, but for serious use would need some sort of tripod, bellows, and adapter. Obviously this would be a luxury far too decadent for this contest. The camera's build quality was fantastic and it was a joy to use. I could hardly set it down, which made short work of my meager film supply of one single 24 exposure roll of tri-x.
I had a great time, and a fun camera out of it too! Looking forward to seeing everyone else's submissions.
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/A_Leash_for_Fenrir
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Minolta 110 Zoom SLR | $5.99 | Goodwill | Pricetag |
| Film | Lomo Orca 110 | $7.90+Shipping | Adorama | Invoice |
| Battery | LR44 | $1.00 | DollarTree | Receipt |
Total Price: $18.64
Description:
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
Hopefully this is allowed, but I had a spare roll of Lomo Lady Grey 400 that I had lying around from buying a Bikkuir film case from Japan Camera Hunter that I wasn't planning on using for anything else. And since I had enough left in my budget for a roll of 35mm Ilford comfortably off of Trademe, I just used the Lady Grey instead, I thought it fit with the theme. I figure you could purchase it for around $10NZD. In the spirit of the challenge I thought I would also home develop the roll in D-76 (which was my first time developing film ever!) and budget digital camera scanned it.
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
Itemized Purchases:
Description:
Wife and I went out to Goodwill two weeks ago to see what we could find. While I was distracted by a Ricoh point and shoot, she pulled out a case that looked like binoculars and opened it up. Inside was something I'd never seen before, a 110 format SLR, a Minolta110 Zoom SLR to be precise. Aside from the video cassette looking things, I'd never even seen a 110 camera. So, a quick check of google to confirm that 110 film can still be got and processed, and we bought it for the princely sum of $5.99
The worst part was having to wait for film, nowhere around had 110 (no surprise there) but Lomography started producing their own emulsions a few years ago, and they're widely available online. Shipping was a killer, so we needed a CHEAP set of batteries (the camera takes 2 LR44) so it was Dollar Tree to the rescue with a 4 pack for a buck. I do think the exposures are a little under due to the cheapo batteries (this camera only does Aperture priority, no manual mode) but other than that, they worked great.
So once I got my film and batteries, I hit the local Trump protest to get some shots, and sent the roll of for development (I don't have a reel that works with 110, and didn't want to risk my ONLY roll on a hack-job to do it myself) The little Minolta also has Macro capability, so the bonsai is using that feature.
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/azaerl
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Zeiss Ikon Contina-Matic II | $15.50 NZD | Picked up in person, bought through Trademe | Receipt |
| Film | Lomo Lady Grey 400 | ~$10 NZD | Japan Camera Hunter | No Receipt |
Total Cost: $25.50 NZD (Around $18.66 USD right now)
Description: So, unfortunately New Zealand doesn't have Craigslist, or many second hand stores that carry film cameras. However it does have something similar to eBay, Trademe, which allows you to pick up your item. So hopefully that's okay? I picked the camera up off of a nice old dude in person after winning the auction.
I managed to pick up a nifty little Zeiss Contina-Matic II, which has a Pantar 45mm f2.8. It's a fully mechanical 35mm camera from 1958-59, and it was working almost perfectly, even the selenium light meter seems fairly accurate. However the shutter does stick on anything slower than 1/4th of a second, but that's okay, I wasn't going to be using those speeds anyway. It's scale focus and the coupled light meter uses the EV system, so it was a bit of a change of technique for me. But I set it to f8 and went out to be there at my little town's annual fair this weekend and got my Cartier-Bresson on. I quickly shot the whole roll and was so excited I went home and developed the roll that afternoon.
Hopefully this is allowed, but I had a spare roll of Lomo Lady Grey 400 that I had lying around from buying a Bikkuir film case from Japan Camera Hunter that I wasn't planning on using for anything else. And since I had enough left in my budget for a roll of 35mm Ilford comfortably off of Trademe, I just used the Lady Grey instead, I thought it fit with the theme. I figure you could purchase it for around $10NZD. In the spirit of the challenge I thought I would also home develop the roll in D-76 (which was my first time developing film ever!) and budget digital camera scanned it.
I'm quite happy with how the images turned out, and I had real trouble narrowing it down to just three (I was stuck deciding between six all day today). The lens has a real old vintage feel to it, they just have got that Cartier-Bresson look to them (or maybe more Capa since he was the Zeiss guy...) and I actually quite enjoyed the 45mm frame of view. I think I'll have to post a few of the others up here. The photo of the boy with the hammer might have to be my inferior version of his Boy with the Bottles of Wine.
I super enjoyed the experience, scouring Trademe for a cheap, interesting camera, and especially my first time developing myself, definitely gave me a lot more enthusiasm, which I have been lacking lately. I might do this just for fun more often!
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/AndreasG32
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Minolta Freedom Zoom Explorer | $5.30 | Goodwill | Receipt |
| Battery | UL 123-1 | $2.64 | Micro Center | Receipt |
| Film | Kodak Gold 200 24exp 3 Pack | $9.53 | Ritz Camera | Receipt |
| Miscellaneous | Sand Paper & Electrical Tape | $2.12 | Dollar Tree Stores | Receipt |
Total Cost: $19.59
Description: No crazy stories here, just a simple point and shoot from the thrift store. Most of my street and landscape shots turned out not well, so patterns it is. The films' speed was dx code hacked with sand paper and electrical tape to 400 ASA for grain & contrast. Developed and scanned by The DarkRoom, pushed +1. No post processing at all.
Challenge Entry: /u/vanishdoom
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Olympus Infinity | $2.11 | Goodwill | Receipt |
| Battery | Panasonic CR-P2 | $9.96 | Amazon | Receipt |
| Film | Kodak Colorplus 200 24 exp. | $7.23 | Amazon | Receipt |
Total Cost: $19.30
Description: I kinda got put into a bind with the battery and film in this challenge, as I started it a little late, but I made it under $20. I was bummed half of my budget went to the obscure battery for the Olympus Infinity, but I absolutely LOVE the camera. The flash is perpetually ready to fire, and the lens is very very sharp. In the Pittsburgh, PA area where I live, the light during the wintertime is TERRIBLE for the most part. On my last day of shooting I was fortunate to have a clear shot at the sunset.
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/prodszee
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Pentax Espio 90mc | 2.99 | Goodwill | Receipt |
| Film | Kodak Ultramax 400 | 4.53 | Tempe Camera | Receipt |
| Battery | CR2 | 5.99 | Tempe Camera | Same as above |
Total Cost: 13.51
Description: First off ignore the portra film on the receipt I bought it at the same time as the other stuff, although I still could of shot with that and come in under budget. But I really wanted to do the challenge as cheap as I could. The camera must have been in a weird mode or something because all the photos turned out panoramic in like a super wide aspect ratio although they still looked pretty cool imo. I went to downtown Phoenix to shoot most of this roll because I really enjoy urban and street photography and I wanted to try this challenge in that genre. I'm pretty new to film but I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to all the other submissions!
Challenge Entry: /u/SuperconductingHobo
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Vivitar PN2011 | $4.99 | Savers | Receipt |
| Film | 2 x Tri-X 400 24exp | $4.49/ea | Samys | Receipt |
Total Cost: $15.06
Description: I bought the only working camera at the thrift store: a Vivitar PN2011. A good disposable camera might have been an upgrade. You're stuck at f8 and 1/125 with a fixed focus 28mm lens. It took almost a month to fill the roll, and I progressed from trying to get good shots from a bad camera to getting interesting bad shots from a bad camera. The latter was much more fun. The two circular ones were taken inside of a shiny copper tube. The other one was from Long Beach on a gloomy evening.
Challenge Entry: /u/jodeln
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Ilford HP5 Plus Single Use Camera | $9 | B&H | Receipt |
Total Cost: $9
Description: I lost my receipt, I hope my entry is still acceptable. The photos were shot on a Ilford HP5 Plus disposable black & white camera, which I purchased at B&H in Manhattan.
Challenge Entry: /u/CorianderPanic
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Pentax K1000 | £10 | Charity shop | Price Tag |
| Film | Fomopan 100 classic | £3 | Hillfield Trading shop | Price tag(coming soon) |
| Battery | LR44 light meter battery | £2.99 | Boots | Website price (bought in store) |
Total Cost: £15.99
Description: The challenge took me on some extensive hunting, first I had decided to pick up a rangefinder from a local shop but I decided that the cost of anything I wanted would eat into my budget too much. Then I got excited over seeing an Olympus AZ330 in a charity shop, a ridiculous plastic beast of a camera that has a double exposure mode. When I went to bite the bullet and buy the camera I realised the rear door of the camera was cracked pretty badly and would expose the film, I like the light leaks effect but this would have been too much. My patience paid off though when I found a Pentax K1000 for the bargain price of £10! The Pentax was dirty and the lens had a pretty major dent in it but it was all functioning well.
I was in a bit of a creative lull with my photography and didn't feel particularly inspired during this challenge but I was pleased with the results from my first time shooting black and white film. I was rushing to use up the film to enter the challenge which led me to try some abstract ideas to get the shots in!
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/glidej
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 80 | $10 | Craigslist | Receipt |
| Film | Fuji Superia 800 | $9.53 | Local Camera Store | Receipt |
Total Cost: $19.53
Description: I had a lot of fun doing this challenge! It's easy to get hung up on acquiring the next piece of gear, but you can really capture interesting shots when you get out there. I chose Superia 800 because I haven't used Superia before. I'm surprised how muted it is until you find something with color, then it pops!
A side effect of this challenge is an obsession with compact cameras has been sparked. I already snagged a AF35M and I'm trying to secure an XA for a reasonable price (they're becoming so popular).
Challenge Entry: /u/jkgfilm
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Holga 120s | $12.50 | Monk Thrift Shop(Accidentally listed as T-Shirt) | Receipt |
| Film | Ilford Delta 3200 120 | $7.07 | Adorama | Receipt (Same as image above) |
Total Cost: $19.57
Description: I got hyped for the challenge early, and decided on shooting medium format from the get go. I knew that meant my only option for a camera was a Holga, and therefore my only option for getting enough exposure reliably was Ilford 3200. Getting the camera took me about a week of thrifting, and it was hard to talk the guy in Monk down from $15 to $12.50 when he saw $20 in my hand, but I guess I convinced him I was on a tight budget.
Other than that, it was all self developed/scanned, and I did cropping/contrast adjustments in Lightroom.
Thanks for checking it out!
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/35mmDSLR
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Canon WP-1 | $10 | Craigslist | Receipt |
| Film | Two rolls of Gold 200 | $2.14 | Oviedo Antique Mall | Receipt |
| Film | Superia 400 | $1.07 | Oviedo Antique Mall | Receipt |
Total Cost: $13.21
Description
When I met the guy with the camera in a CVS parking lot by Seaworld, it looked like brand new, even had a working battery! I didn't dare test it's waterproofness or flash to kill the expired on 2011 Energizer lithium battery in the camera, but it did have two great features: A 2-second shutter and self timer. I got the Orlando Eye shot by either propping up or setting the camera against natural objects in the surrounding area using my finger to cover the light sensor to get a maximum 2 second exposure. The fire breathing I just hand held hoping to get one. Barbara-Lee was taken when I was out camping on a buddy's boat.
This contest was soo much fun I'm glad I got to enter this year :)
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/jeffk42
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Agfa Ansco D-6 Cadet | $4.00 | Craigslist | Box O' Goodies in Some Guy's Trunk |
| Film | Ilford HP5+ (2x) | $10.96 | Colonial Photo & Hobby | Receipt |
Total Cost: $14.96
Description: Well, this is what happens when you wait to the last minute! Oh well. :-) I got the camera pretty quickly in the first few days, but then kept putting of shooting until I was down to the last two days.
I got the camera off of Craigslist, a guy had a box full of old cameras he had been using as display pieces in his house. They were dirty, dusty and neglected, but he wanted $4 each. So I ended up buying several. Not all of them worked obviously, but I did end up with a Canonet QL17 GIII that didn't look great. After some intense cleaning it turns out that the camera is basically in mint condition, with perfect optics inside and out! But then I started to feel like I didn't want to use that one for the challenge. I'm not sure why, maybe because I already own one so it wouldn't really feel "new" to me.
So I decided to go with the Agfa Ansco D-6 Cadet, an old box camera from about 1935. It has one shutter speed which is unknown, one aperture which is also unknown, and uses a long-dead film format (116). I opened it up, cleaned it as best I could, noticed that it still had a 116 takeup spool installed, and did a quick viewfinder test. Everything looked fine.
After noticing that the 116 spool's outer diameter is almost as big as the lid of a 35mm canister, I found one and dremeled it down until it made a good spacer for the 120 roll. As an added bonus, the red window for the 116 backing paper lines up nicely with the 6x4.5 numbers on a 120 roll. I did some math and determined (only somewhat incorrectly) that I'd have to start on frame 3 and advance a little more than two frames each time I take a shot. The result is a negative that's about 6x10.5 cm.
Anyway, at this point I got pretty busy and kept putting off shooting until the Sunday before the end of the challenge. I finally brought the camera with me when we went for a hike along a FL trail. I expected to get 8 shots out of a roll, but some inaccuracy in my frame count calculation meant that I only got 6.
When I got home, I developed the film in Ilfotec HC (1+31) for about 5.5 minutes (shorter than normal to account for assumed overexposure due to using ISO 400 film) but that means that I inadvertently heavily underexposed everything that was in shade. I thought I had enough light, but apparently not. :( This represents most of what actually ended up being usable, rather than what I would have wanted to submit. But again, that's what I get for procrastinating!
At least I can say that this year (unlike last year) I never once met a weird guy from Craigslist in a storage shed, and I never saw any penises.
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/Eddie_skis
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Nikon f-801 | ¥700 | Box store | Receipt |
| Lens | Tokina 28-70 | ¥550 | Box store | Receipt |
| Film | Fuji Acros | ¥680 | Yodobashi Camera | Receipt |
Total Cost: ¥1,930
Description: Picked up a Nikon f-801 from a rental box store in Osaka. The seller had kindly written that it was in working order and included batteries (though it did skip two frames). I picked up an af Toking 28-70 f3.5-4.5 to go along with it. I was surprised to see that it offers no manual focus ring at all, but the af was more than sufficient for the task.
With my new camera and lens, I just needed some film. I decided on my favorite Acros. After shooting two frames I realized box speed wasn't going to give me enough so decided to push to 400 and dev in T-max with an extrapolated time of 10m 30s. The negatives all came out reasonably dense so makes me wonder if it can be pushed to 1600. Shot a few snaps around my local area for the challenge and thoroughly enjoyed being limited to 35 frames when I would normally blast through a roll without giving it a second thought.
The f-801 (n8008 elsewhere) really is a fantastic slr for the price. Nice to have 1/8000 shutter, matrix metering, P,A,S,M modes and a high speed drive mode as well as viewfinder illumination, top lcd, af lock, ae lock. I'll be going back to my much smaller om4ti after though as I felt somewhat self-conscious raising the beast up to my eye, unlike the much more inconspicuous om4ti.
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/mikefrizz
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Ultronic Panoramic | $1.00 | Salvation Army | Receipt |
| Film | Fuji Neopan 100 | $6.49 | Amazon | None |
Total Cost: $7.49
Description: The only film I was able to find in a store was a four pack of Kodak Ultramax 400 that was going for $25 at Walgreens, so I cheated and bought film on Amazon. I know this isn't allowed. I got the camera in a dollar bargain bin at the Salvation Army. I bought it because 1) it's completely mechanical, no need for a battery, 2) it looked clean enough, and 3) the idea of a panoramic camera intrigued me. Obviously it's not really panoramic, it just masks the top and bottom of the frame, but thinking in wide angles was a very interesting experiment. I'll probably never use it again but it was fun while it lasted.
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/lemons44
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Holga 120s | $12.00 | Craigslist | Forgot to ask for a receipt |
| Film | Ilford 3200 120 | $7.00 | B&H | Receipt |
Total Cost: $19.00
Description: Inspired by my buddy, I wanted to find a camera I could shoot 120mm film on. After he found his thrift shopping I was inspired to look around for one too. Well I had much less luck thrifting, but luckily came across the craigslist post of a local photographer in the middle of "spring" cleaning. Made my way across town, and in my excitement bought it without checking it at all (and picked up some 4x5 instant film thinking it was 3.25x4.25). Because it was missing the 6x6 insert, I had to use the box the film came in to make sure the film stayed "flat" against the back. These were the only 3 pictures that weren't severely underexposed. Overall, I loved shooting this thing -- and got a chance to learn a thing or two about developing at home.
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/rowdyanalogue
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Nikon Zoom Touch 470 AF | $4.99 | Hope Thrift Store | Receipt |
| Film | Korean Kodak Gold III 100 | $3.00 | Hope Thrift Store | See Camera Receipt |
| Film | Kodak Ultramax 400 | $4.45 | Colonial Photo and Hobby | Receipt |
Total Cost: $12.44
Description: I was lucky to find this Nikon point and shoot AND a strange roll of film inside of a giant thrift store located next to a church in Kissimmee, FL. I checked it out and found a battery inside, but it wouldn't power on. I bought it anyway and figured I would pick up a new battery for it at Walgreens or something, but I quickly found out that 123 Lithium batteries don't come cheap.
I found a single battery at Walgreens for around $13, and a two pack $15 at a hardware store (No, they didn't carry a single pack.) and most other stores didn't carry them at all. Out of desperation, I tried rolling the battery in my hands for a couple minutes to "jumpstart" it. To my surprise, it worked.
The camera itself is pretty neat. 35-70mm zoom macro lens. The macro part of that is questionable. But, it has a kind of zone autofocus system, flash with slow sync option, and self-timer. I loaded the film and closed the door, and realized that there was no way to change the ASA in the camera, which kind of screwed up my plans. I was planning on shooting the Gold over a couple stops as it was easily a couple of decades old.
After shooting the Korean Gold III, I dropped it off at Colonial Photo and Hobby for push processing and went to work. A couple hours later I get a call telling me my negatives are extremely faint. So, naturally I panicked and loaded a roll from home to start shooting.
I picked up the scans the next day and kind of relaxed. I had already loaded the other film, so I decided to shoot it, but to keep myself honest I bought the same kind of film and only used shots from that roll I took after buying the new roll. I took a walk around Mills Avenue and took a few pictures and dropped it off for development. Looking back, I should have bought fresh film from Colonial in the first place and foregone all the drama with old film, but the LoFi look does have an appeal to it... I just feel like the camera wasn't given a chance to shine in some respects.
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/roterabe
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Zenit 11 | 7,50 euro | Local thrift store | Receipt |
| Film | Expired-VX 200 | 2,50 euro | Online | Receipt |
Total Cost: 10 euro
Description: Ok time to explain some small details here and there. First of all I'll start by saying that film is hard to find around here so I had to order and since I'm already doing myself a favor, I decided to make it harder by searching for an old roll. Later on I decided to look around a close thrift store which offered all sorts of cameras but this one grabbed me due to the fact that I have a slightly older model Zenit E. As soon as I bought the Zenit 11 I found a bit of problems. The 1/500 shutter speed option had a bit of a problem with the second curtain catching up to the first one which results in half exposed photos so I took all the photos with the speed of 1/250. The lens is a simple Helios 44-m m42 mount 58mm which offers a nice bookeh which I have not reproduced on this roll for some obvious reasons visible on the photos. The lens was shaky so I had to take it apart and tighten the screws and voila. My main concern was that this roll of VX film is around 10 years old. So I decided to compensate a little but alas too little. The photos came with a very strong tint and noise and many photos were underexposed. If anyone is interested I could show the full roll. I got 37 exp. out of it. Ok so I didn't expect such results but that's that and then I sent it for development and scanning. So the first photo is of my girlfriend's cat. Her name is Aiva and yep, she's just lazy I have 2 photos of her but this one stands out best as the sun crosses her face. The second photo is of a casino I stopped by which had this cool retro neon sign and I couldn't get past it without a photo. And the last photo is of my girlfriend herself. The photo turned out too noisy though and tinted. And with this I conclude my submission. P.S. The delivery of the Film roll cost me about 1,50 euro which is why the total cost is 10 euro. Also 2 leva= 1 euro.
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/ApocSurvivor713
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Kodak Star 735 | $2.12 | Goodwill | Receipt |
| Film | Lomography ISO 100 | $14.95 | Amazon | Can't find the receipt, sorry. |
| Batteries | Triple A | $2.00 | Bought 2 from a friend at a dollar a piece. | No receipt. |
Total Cost: $19.07
Description: I didn't plan on participating this year, but when I ran across this camera in a thrift shop, I knew I had to. I had purchased the film online (after January 15) but wanted to try to find something local. I was unable to, so I decided to just go for it and see what came out. I shot a roll of film in a couple days. I was limited by the fact that this camera only has one shutter speed and two f-stops, the wider of which can only be used with the flash on. In darker situations, I improvised by holding my finger over the flash. All of these pictures were shot in an alley in my town, and the entire roll was shot in town and on my campus. I really enjoyed how much this challenge made me think about composition and lighting, but I'm looking forward to getting back to my SLR setup.
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/cbdhalkyard
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Ricoh FF-9 | €6.00 | Leboncoin | Receipt |
| Film | Fuji Superia 400 | €2.50 | Monoprix | Receipt |
| Battery | Lithium CRP2 | €9.10 | Lisphoto | Receipt |
Total Cost: €17.60
Description: I picked up two cameras at €6 each from the French equivalent of Craigslist, and decided to use the bright red Ricoh FF-9. It doesn't offer much control over the settings, but it does have a fun multiple exposure mode, so I played around with that and experimented with different lighting. These are my three favourite photos from the set. It was a whole lot of fun taking the camera around Paris and Amsterdam, and I'm really happy with the results. Hope you guys all had fun too!
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/jspencer87
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Time Magazine Promotional Camera | $10.00 | Craigslist | Receipt |
| Film | Fujifilm Superia x-tra 400 (Redscaled) | $6.47 | Walmart | Receipt |
| Parts for Mod | Dental Floss | $0.87 | Walmart | Receipt |
| Parts for Mod | Paper Clips | $0.67 | Walmart | Receipt |
| Parts for Mod | Glue | $1.08 | Dollar Tree | Receipt |
Total Cost: $19.09
Description: This camera caught my attention when I was looking through craigslist. It wasn't the typical point and shoot that you can find just about anywhere. After a bit of research it turns out to be a giveaway that several companies did, with their own logos of course. In the case of Time they gave them away with subscriptions starting in the mid 80's as far as I can tell.
The camera itself is odd. It is all mechanical and super cheap feeling. It has a bit of weight to it but that is because of the chunk of lead in the base. What was surprising is that it did have a glass lens in it. I think it is only a single element but not the plastic lenses of similar cameras. The strangest thing is that the film plane inside the camera is curved. I am guessing that this is to compensate for the single lens distortion. I spent WAY too much on this camera but the lady wouldn't come down and I was running out of time.
I knew from the beginning of the challenge that I wanted to shoot redscale so reversing the film in the canister was my first step. Somewhere along the line I took apart the camera and found that it would be very easy to mod it so I could reset the shutter for multiple exposures. So I went out to Walmart and Dollar Tree to try and squeeze what was left of my budget. I ended up with some dental floss (to tie to the shutter mechanism), some paperclips (to add a bit of weight to the floss and to have something to grab hold of) and some glue so that the floss wouldn't come untied.
As I was taking my pictures I noticed that something wasn't right. I was going through my roll faster than I thought I should have been. When I got the film developed I was right I only had 13 photos on a 24 exposure roll. Either I broke something when I was doing my mod and caused the counter to go up too fast or it just wasn't very accurate to begin with.
Overall I really enjoyed this challenge. I just wish that I ended up with more photos to choose from. But I guess the unpredictability is what makes this challenge so much fun.
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
Challenge Entry: /u/thefartographer
Submissions (click to see a larger version):
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Itemized Purchases:
| Purchase | Name | Price | Source | Receipt Link |
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| Camera | Pentax ME Super with Asahi SMC 50mm f1.4 | Free.99 | The Camera Exchange | |
| Film and Batteries | Ilford HP5 and Varta Photo Silver | $19.68 | The Camera Exchange | Receipt |
Total Cost: $19.68 USD
Description: This competition was a lot of fun! I haven't seriously/successfully shot a film camera since high school and deal only with digital now. My last attempt with film was using a Pentax Spotmatic SP II which I unsuccessfully repaired myself, a fact I realized when I found shredded film in the thing. This ME was an interesting find considering its combination of analog and digital controls and its lack of aperture preview.
The situation with this camera being free was covered by friend and fellow Redditer, /u/jspencer87 here. TL;DR I told the one of the people at the store what I was trying to do for this photo competition so she tried giving me a super discount ($2) on a camera that she didn't know what was wrong with it and was going to donate to one of her repair technicians. Along with this, she was selling me two rolls of film and batteries; when the total came out just over $20 after tax, she decided to void out the camera which I thought would show on the receipt but didn't. As for what was wrong with the camera: the batteries were in backwards...
For my photos, the first two entries are pictures I took in my backyard while I was out sick from work and the third photo is a dragon mask from a local Asia Festival I visited in hopes of finding some interesting subjects. I definitely rediscovered a massive appreciation for photographing on film and then developing (/u/jspencer87 and I developed these rolls ourselves) and just the overall experience. The look of film just has this quality, or lack of, which is indescribable yet appreciable, and waiting to develop the film is like receiving a surprise gift from myself. Will it be awesome? Will it suck? I'm definitely very happy with this camera, especially for the price, and look forward to seeing what other images it spits out in the future.
Original Reddit Entry: Submission
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