7.12.2010

diana

remember, some time ago, i told you about my diana f+ camera and film? well the reason you never saw it on here is because they truly did not turn out well...i was so sad and kind of just put the camera away for awhile. well i picked it back up again, read the instructions...again (ok maybe i didn't read the whole manual last time), learned how to work the attachable flash and am now motivated and inspired to take some good pictures and master this camera!


hopefully i can get some gems like this one i found on the diana lomography site. so do any of you use a lomo camera? ever had issues the first few times? i'm hoping that it isn't just me :)


7 comments:

Unknown said...

My friend just got a Diana camera and she's getting adjusted with it. She took a pretty awesome picture of my mom and I but the top half of the photo has the waists of the people in the next frame, not their heads! I want one but I'm afraid I would get discouraged by it too. I have a fuji instax instant camera and I love it but the only truly good photos it takes are during the day. It discouraged me for a bit but I've got new slightly cheaper film (from HK) and am going to take great photos with it in California!

Unknown said...

i just pulled mine out again after 2 years, a dismal failure scaring me off. i'll let you know how mine turn out! i look forward to your prints :)

greybreaks said...

found that a lot of the 35mm lomos can be more forgiving if you're not that familiar with film photgraphy.

at the very least you get more tries per roll to experiment with.

i'd check out the diana camera group on flickr. tons of advice and inspirational photos.

bon chance!

Anonymous said...

I have a Diana! So, my first few attempts were terrible. Several years and tried later, I'm now extremely comfortable with it, only ruining shots when I forget to take the lens cap off.

The transition from being bad to good happened when I realized that it's A LOT easier than I was making it out to be. It's a toy camera, for christs sake! A quick flick of the shutter under the N setting in decent light will get you a photo, no problem. You have a flash, but I don't - I was having big, big problems with how long I was to hold the shutter open. Generally, if it's night out, you have to hold it open for AT LEAST 10 seconds, depending on what is being shot. I originally had thought 3 seconds would be good enough. Most night shots of mine are held open for almost a minute now - the longer the better, I've never "overdone" it with night photos, only daytime (which really hooked the sinker with what I said before about quick, quick daytime snaps).

At the beginning I was using film with a higher shutter speed (400), which you DON'T want to do. Lower shutter speeds like 200 are better for the Diana, and I noticed the quality of my photos went up as soon as I made the switch.

Lastly, really just be sure to adjust all the settings before each shot - the zoom on the lens REALLY makes a difference, even though it seems like it may not. Also the settings for sunny, cloudy, etc... Though I've mistakenly taken photos with it set on the Pinhole setting (without doing a real pinhole) and it gives a really neat halo effect around the entire perimeter...

Good luck!
And also, even some bad shots turn out really neat - some of my favorites have been mistakes!

Guiltyhyena said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
stephiejane said...

thanks you guys!! melina, those are great pointers, it's so hard to just read the manual and not get actual real-life experienced people to tell you what's what.

My Farmhouse Kitchen said...

came by to say hi to you and roxy..i am afraid all the camera talk is WAY over my head....

but HAPPY to see you at Farmhouse...

sending love,
kary and teddy
xxx
hugs to roxy