agfa | LostAruban

.Analog Paparazzi

By: Nestor

30-07-2012

I went to a party met some cool people and took some photos. This was actually the second party and I don’t quite recall all the details on how I got there. But the important facts were that A) there was a bathtub full of beer B) a kitchen full of Satay and peanut butter sauce C) friendly folks.

I brought along my Golden Half camera filled with Agfa Vista 400 film. And because it was indoors I brought along a flash which I was firing off camera with the help of some cheap Yongnuo flash triggers. This was my first time experimenting with it and the results weren’t too bad. I really like the fact that such a small camera has hot shoe. So if it’s there, why not use it?

Some of the photos were overexposed due to the 400 film plus non-adjustable flash and closeness of the flash and the blood-alcohol level of all involved parties. The photos were also very grainy which may be due to the expired film or the scanning of the lab I use. Around that time they had gotten new equipment and their scanning wasn’t great. At a later date when I will finally get a scanner will rescan these negs and see whose fault it is. Place your bets now ! Banzai !

On the left you can see the people handholding the flash. People were eager to get their photo taken by this weird small film camera and me handholding the flash.

The important bathtub filled with beer.

The Golden Half is great for just firing of shots at a party , since you get 72 photos from this half-frame monster on a 36 exposure roll. Just make sure your flash can keep up. I was using a cheap $10 holga flash I got on Ebay, so the recycle time was quite slow.

The flash fired back at me on the left.

Where do you want this hole?

By: Nestor

11-04-2011

Camera Gear Overview

This was my first experience building a camera. It was an anniversary gift from my thoughtful girlfriend. Sadly the package only came with a Japanese only manual, but thanks to the this amazing set of connected tubes called the internet I was able to contact somebody at Sharan and get the English PFD instructions.

I put on some relaxing music and went to work. It took about one hour to put everything together and I was very careful not to touch the plate with the actual pinhole worried I would plug it up with some piece of dead skin or something.

I threw in Agfa Vista 100 film and went on my merry way to Haw Par Villa. It was my first time shooting with a pinhole and I didn’t feel like using a tripod so I just had to look around to find stable platforms because of the 4 to 5 second recommended exposure.

After picking up my scans I immediately noticed light leaks and some more light leaks. I had to do my best to contain these red streaks, but I did fire up another roll in my pinhole for another round of photos.

Return to the 36 exposures of the Golden Half

By: Nestor

05-04-2011

Event & Location, Roll of Film Review

After my review of the Golden Half I realized I hadn’t used it in a while and I threw in some Agfa 400 color film, promptly forgot about that and mistakenly believed it was 100 film and went to Little India to shoot.

When you get of the Farrer Park subway station and head north along Serangoon Road you will come across 2 Indian Temples in close proximity to each other. Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple is the larger of the two and the starting point of the annual Thaipusam ceremonies.

I remember when shooting with the Golden Half that only the center image will be sharp and there will be a sharp dropoff in term of sharpness near the edges. This forced me a bit to center my subjects.

Overall I was happy with the images, it was just a bit frustrating not knowing for sure which images were paired together.

Agfa Vista Plus 400

By: Nestor

20-02-2011

Roll of Film Review

The following images are shot with negative film Agfa Vista Plus 400 in my Olympus Mju2, aka MjuII aka Stylus Epic.

Mural of the fearsome TigerBunny in the Korean neighbourhood of Hongdae. This was taken on new years eve 2010.

Chinese Korean dish called Jajangmyeon consisting of wheat noodles topped with a thick sauce made of chunjang (a salty black soybean paste), diced meat and vegetables. Delicioso.

Korean streetvendor in Hongdae, Seoul.

Conclusion

Pretty versatile film. I like it allot. Almost all my shots came out properly exposed with nice colors. Works well at night combined with a fast lens. Will consider this film for sure in the future. I do wonder if the Plus is just a marketing gimmick. I guess I could google it to find out, but why spoil the mystery ?

Film Review: AGFA APX 400 Black and White

By: Nestor

28-01-2011

Roll of Film Review

The following photos were taken in Seoul, South Korea with my Olympus Mju2 aka MjuII aka Epic Stylus.

Conclusion

Pretty good film. It was my first time shooting with APX 400. Relatively little grain. I will pick this up again.

Camera Review Series: The Golden Half

By: Nestor

14-01-2011

Camera Gear Overview

I have always been fascinated with Half Frame Camera’s (cameras that give two vertical images on one frame of film). I always appreciated the increased efficiency of turning a 36 roll of film into 72 exposures. But even more than that is the new perspective of framing and composition of taking two images and creating one new complete image.

A couple of years ago I kept unsuccessfully bidding on the Olympus Pen series and Canon Demi on Ebay. In the end I settled on a Olympus Trip since I loved the esthetics of this camera so much. But this camera was a traditional single frame camera and it wasn’t until I got a Golden Half Camera as a Christmas gift that I had my first half frame camera.

Good and Great things:

This camera is small and light. This is the lightest and smallest camera I own. This one truly is one of those that fits in your pocket.

It has a hot shoe. Most toy cameras don’t have a flash also don’t have a hot shoe. It even works with a

Even though it is a plastic build, it somehow feels pretty solid and also because it is plastic I don’t worry about it too much and let it bang around wherever I carry it to.

Not so great and bad things:

In my experience I needed allot of light, or some very fast film to get good results. But that is to be expected when you are dealing with a camera with a plastic lens and no manual controls.

Because of the lack of the build in flash, one you do throw a flash on it, you have doubled its size and weight.

Like all half frame cameras ( AFAIK, let me know if I am wrong) you don’t know which frame you are shooting on. It is frustrating to take two great contrasting images right after one another and then when you pick up your developed film, they were on two different frames.

Outside of the center the image is pretty soft.

Cartier-Bresson Top Tip:

If you want to make absolutely sure you have two desired subjects on the same frame then you should do the following: Take a picture of one subject first, then take a picture of the second subject and then go back to the first subject. This means you are “wasting” one half frame, but since you have 72 images to take it isn’t that bad, plus you never know that what unexpected paired images give you.

Conclusion:

It’s a nice fun light affordable way to get into half frame photography. But personally I would recommend to go for an Olympus Pen. You would have to pay a little bit more, but end up with a very sexy camera, manual controls and a fast 2.8 lens.

Click here for More Golden Half Pictures !

Other films you can use with this Golden Half camera:

Fuji Sensia Xpro
Kodak 400 Tmax Black and White
Fuji Superia 200
Lomo 800 Color
Kodak 160 VC

— LostAruban

.Analog Paparazzi

Where do you want this hole?

Return to the 36 exposures of the Golden Half