My much awaited camera has finally arrived! I’ve been drooling over this camera for months. I’m an amateur lomographer. I got into film photography when my friends posted their interesting pictures using their toy cameras. At present, I only have 2 toy cameras – the Vivitar ultra wide slim and this new acquisition, blackbird fly camera. I would like to buy the Supersampler too but my friends would always advise me to maximize my latest camera first before I buy a new one. I guess that way the novelty of the camera won’t fade quickly.
Why Blackbird Fly? It took me some long decision-making before I chose BBF. I’ve debated over Diana, Holga, BBF, and Fisheye. I don’t know much about the mechanics of a camera. I’m more of a simple point-and-shoot photographer. So what decided me was the pictures that lomographers took with these cameras. Holga is interesting but it’s hard to process 120 format films. Diana I thought function just like my Vivitar while Fisheye can become boring after some time. Although BBF is way expensive, I decided on this camera because I think I can do much with it. Furthermore, it looks cool!
The Blackbird Fly Camera is a twin-lens reflex camera: one lens is used to expose the film, while the other is used like a viewfinder. It’s a famous style of camera whose history stretches back to the 1920s. The Blackbird fly uses 35mm film. There are two ways to take a picture with the Blackbird fly. For quiet and reflective framing, you can hold the camera at waist level and look down, to compose your shot using the finder lens. For a quicker style of shot, you can use the sportsfinder, which approximates a viewfinder through a notch in the top of the camera. The Blackbird fly can take pictures in standard 35mm film format (24×36), but using a different (provided) mask, it can also produce square format pictures (24×24). You can even remove the mask entirely and make a larger square format image (36×36), which fills up the entire width of the 35mm film, including the side sprocket holes. For shooting during the day, you can alternate between apertures f/7 and f/11, with a shutter speed of 1/125. At night, you can switch the shutter to B-mode to let in as much light as you might need, or you can also attach a flash for even more possibilities. Variable focusing, from 0.8 meters, makes for a sharp subject. The Blackbird fly uses a wide-angle 33mm lens and also allows you to take multiple exposures on the same frame.
Detractors for this camera would always comment that it’s a very expensive toy camera when it is only made of plastic. As one photographer has said, it is what you can do with the camera not what kind your camera is, that’s important. For me since I’m not much of a technical photographer, I would really enjoy using this camera. Vivitar works great with slide films but I’m expecting that BBF will take great shots on both slide and negative films. I can’t wait to go on an excursion and take my BBF with me!
Ebay and amazon are the more popular stores that sell the BBF. They have lowered prices than the other retail stores. I bought mine at Amazon.com because buying is easier and I don’t have to wait for bidding and shopping is more secured.
To learn more about lomography, click here. To learn more about BBF, click here. I’ll be posting my BBF shots in the future. For my Vivitar album, you can view them here.
Related posts:
- Tips on an Affordable Lomography lifestyle
- Film Photography: Getting Started
- Vivitar happy in China
- It's time to buy a new camera
- What is lomography?
Calvin
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:27 pm
hmmm ang bulky naman for trips. isasabit ba yan sa neck?
Katkat
February 24th, 2010 at 9:38 am
cool looking naman.
Pattaya Girls
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:26 pm
wouldn’t a digital camera have made more sense
although the blackbird does look cool.
Katkat
March 4th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
That’s my debate abt it. But i become more ‘artistic’ with film photography by point and shoot technique and innate nature of the camera. im just too lazy to learn the hard technicalities of a dslr.