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The Konstruktor - a neat little film camera
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July 6, 2013
5:15 pm
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I came across this special little camera and wanted to tell folks about it. It’s a plastic 35mm film camera that you put together yourself — and it only costs (of course) $35.

It’s called the Konstruktor. Go here to learn more and order one of your own.  http://microsites.lomography.c…..nstruktor/   Also, the lomography.com site is pretty cool, too. They’re all about film photography using modern remakes of old Soviet-era cameras. Very Instagrammy in terms of look/design… 

Assembling the Konstruktor was total joy!! Caution, there are lots of tiny screws — the kind that fly away just by exhaling (I’m talking millimeters tiny — ever taken apart a cell phone? yeahh…)  And there are a couple springs that you have to attach, some about as big as an eyelash and not nearly as resilient. So by all means, do this in a quiet place away from any craziness (library, closet, etc.)…   Then settle in. It was so relaxing to just focus on something else entirely for a while. I almost want to get another one just to do it again…

And it works perfectly! It’s a very unique experience — from setting up the viewfinder, to advancing the film, to arming the shutter. Just fun. A little tricky at first, but becomes pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Another warning… be very gentle advancing the film. Hey, it’s a plastic $35 camera – not a Nikon/Canon chunk of titanium. No silly buttons, dials, or settings to worry about. Just a fixed aperture lens (f/10), with a fixed shutter speed (1/80s), and a focusing distance of 0.5m – Infinity. I’m still working on my first roll and I’m having lots of fun with it. Will get it developed soon and post the results. That is if I can find a local place that processes film. Costco and Target looked at me like I was from Mars when I asked them about it.

Enjoy!

 

kon01.jpgkon02.jpgkon03.jpg

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July 6, 2013
5:50 pm
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It looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing! I didn’t know Costco doesn’t process film anymore. Maybe It depends where you live. I processed film in ou local Costco about 2 years ago, so I don’t know for sure. 

July 6, 2013
5:59 pm
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Just looked at their website. Very cool photos. Did you possibly tried to cross-proces your film? This is why Costco would not do it? 

July 6, 2013
6:06 pm
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You’re probably right about it being location-specific. I processed film at Costco and Target last year, too. But the reason they won’t process the film now is pretty simple. They have removed their film processing machines. They only print digital. Confused  Sad, but I guess it’s the way things are going these days.

I found a local, smaller photo shop that handles film. I’ll use them if they’re not too pricey or elitist (they gave off that vibe last time I was in there). Otherwise, I’ll send the film off to Mpix.com for processing. I’ll post the results when I can. I did try some double-exposures, so we’ll see what happens! Wink

James

July 6, 2013
10:37 pm
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Cool! Looking forward to see the result! I love film. I think I will go and shoot something with film too one day. We will see if my Costco is still processing it. 

July 8, 2013
10:30 pm
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A few pics from my first roll of film through the Konstruktor (http://microsites.lomography.c…..nstruktor/). It works just fine and produces a very specific look. The effect can be mimicked in Instagram and Photoshop very nicely. But it was neat to be able to get the result in-camera. These are the best 5 shots from the 24 exposures. The rest were woefully underexposed – my fault entirely. I used 200 speed film and was in very low light. Like I said… my fault. But it was the first pack of film I could find in CVS…

It was really fun experimenting with the Konstruktor. I struggled with framing using the top-down viewfinder (left is right and I think the image is reversed). And having virtually all variables removed was simultaneously a freeing and frighteningly grounding experience — mostly the latter. With no buttons, knobs, or settings to fiddle with, I was only left with composition and creativity (and luck). And clearly, I have much to learn in those areas.

While this was a mostly experimental exercise, I learned that digitizing the negatives requires a litt… no a LOT more attention to detail. Admittedly, I could have done a much better job cleaning the scanner and handling the negatives. And I could have spent a lot more time in post-processing cleaning up all the dust and fuzz particles. But I was more interested in sharing the results. Hell, I’d still be working on the first one, otherwise…I could have scanned the prints, but I wanted to try and stay as close to the negative as I could.

I’ll probably put a couple more rolls of film through it. But the control-freak in me will force me to use a more traditional camera to satisfy my love for film.

My favorites are the one with the crazy light trails and the double-exposed (which are a snap on this camera) city shot with the big shiny ball. Got super-lucky on that one and ironically I have a unique picture of that shiny ball (finally!).

Brief descriptions:

1. Shot from the steering wheel. Held the shutter open a few seconds.

2. Double exposure with the city and a big shiny silver ball art exhibit/thing that’s in a park nearby.

3. Beautiful sunset with a little bit of double-exposure on the left side. See the trees peeking in? The film gear must’ve slipped some while advancing.

4. Fan beside desk. Shooting in very dim light indoors is asking a bit much from 200-speed film. Oh well.

5. Lamp beside desk. Behold the scratches and dust!

Here you go,

James

 

konstruktor_01.jpgkonstruktor_02.jpgkonstruktor_03.jpgkonstruktor_06.jpgkonstruktor_07.jpg

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July 11, 2013
5:03 pm
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Very interesting set of images. #2 is my favorite as well. #4  also looks cool to me. I love all the lines and patterns in this image. I actually kind of like that images have dust on them. It makes them look more vintage. 

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