When I was visiting London I was very excited to have the opportunity to visit the Lomography store – the Fisheye 2, a lomography camera, was my first introduction into the world of functional toy cameras and since then I’ve been a fan and collector of these inexpensive cameras.

We made our way on the Tube to SOHO and the Carnaby Street area to the new store on Newburgh Street. As we wondered around this fashionable area we started to notice little lomography cameras in the hands of several shoppers. I thought it was pretty cool and we must obviously be close to the store. When we arrived I was pleasantly surprised that they were offering diana minis on loan for the afternoon – I had missed the last explanation but they made an exception gave me a quick demo and sent me out to shoot with the newest lomography baby.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Diana mini – it was small, compact and easy to use. Now, that being said having to remember to change the settings took me a few tries and I didn’t always get the lighting right or focus distance correct, but I think that was more my inexperience with the camera than the camera itself. I was so impressed, in fact, that I picked one up. It was not a camera that was on my list but I really enjoyed it and I think I will get a lot of use from it.

Now I just need to get a flash for it – it is compatible with the Diana F+ flash so I guess that’s on my wish list! Especially now that winter is coming and day light is getting scarce!

Here are more photos from the first roll and there is more where that came from:

PROS

- the half-frame mode can allow up to 72 shots per roll of film, very handy when you are traveling

- takes 35mm film that can be developed at many places, generally more cost effective then using other film

- it’s very compact and easy to tuck in a pocket or purse
- is able to do multiple and long exposers (‘B’ mode)
- cable release attachment – great for when doing long exposers
- tripod mount
- can overlap your photos for cool panoramas – I haven’t tried it but have seen some cool examples!

CONS
- I found it hard to switch between full and half-frame on the same roll
- no flash included and if you want to use a flash you already have you require a flash adapter
- the viewfinder guide for the half-frame is difficult to see, especially in bright light
- dial to change focus distance sometimes sticks making it difficult to change, I’m hoping it will get easier as I use the camera

Here is the Lomography mini site:

http://microsites.lomography.com/dianamini/

Tags: 35mm film, Carnaby Street, lomography, London, mini diana, pros and cons, SOHO, toy cameras

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 at 10:27 pm and is filed under photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.