The $50 film camera project revisited.

Dr. Lomo here again. I thought it only fair that I preface the_wolf_brigade’s tirade with an explanation. He won the $50 film camera project, run by Brian Auer at Epic Edits Weblog. Yes, you read it right – his peers decided to award his insanity by feeding it with another camera. Although, I must confess, I’m feeling a little swayed by his infectious enthusiasm for film…

*Cough cough* Back to the original intention of this update. He asked for permission to write a follow up post to the project. Seeing as denial of his requests causes him to get quite aggressive we decided that this request seemed reasonably harmless and that we’d let him do it. The thing is, he gets quite involved with things and tends to make them more complicated than they really are. So, in case you don’t feel like reading his lengthy musings about what he achieved by undertaking the project, here is the short version:

He fell in love with his Samurai all over again. He won the competition. He received the Diana F+ and film combination today. He loves it.

So there you have it. No need to read the rantings of a madman in case you become infected too.

Dr. Lomo, The GAS Research Institute, Australia.

Some time ago Brian questioned what his next project should be. At even the hint of a film based project I was instantly excited – just check the comments if you don’t believe me! However, a few months on and there was no sign of the project being announced. I was at the point where I thought I might just do the project by myself and post the results. Then it was announced. Understandably I was quite excited, especially at the prospect of winning a Diana – a camera that I had craved for months.

I decided to use my Yashica Samurai, a camera that I had failed to get a grip on in the time that I had owned it and one I had not put more than two rolls of film through. You can read about the lengths I went to for my entry here. Thankfully after receiving a mention from the two official judges I picked up the peer voted win.

Today my Diana arrived. First impressions? Well it’s lighter than I thought it would be. It’s more solidly build than I thought, but at the same time I can see that there may also be possible problem areas if care is not taken. However, it would be redundant of me to review the camera when Brian already has.

What I would like to say though is how impressed I am with the Diana package. Selling such a cheaply built camera for the price it goes for takes skilful marketing – an aspect that LSI has in spades. I was pleasantly surprised that the Diana F+ package came with a thick book containing photos and various writings from the people at LSI. For an analogue buff like me it was fantastic having some new reading material. Especially since they don’t allow me much in the way of photographic related reading material in here….

Anyway, the medication is making me sleepy, but I promise to try my new toy out soon and let you know about the results!

P.S. My GAS still isn’t cured! Hahahahah! Nothing has worked!