Thursday, July 23, 2009

And in this corner...

It is probably a well known fact by now that I seriously dig toy cameras and what they can do.
My very first was the bright red Holga a lot of my friends and family have seen. Since then has come the Oktomat and the Cheki, the latter of which I am foaming at the mouth to shoot with but my %*!#*(*&! film has not shown up.
I had been eyeing the Diana F+ cameras for a bit now, specifically the "Glow" model (featured previously and drooled over copiously) but in the back of my mind I kept wondering if there was enough of a difference between the two to justify the expense. After all, they were basically the same thing, a plastic box with plastic lenses that you stuck film in and clicked away at. Just one was more square, and one more rectangular with an external flash.
But then apparently someone else had this thought, or at least felt the need to compare the two in open, Mortal Kombat. (Not really, althought that would've been cool.) From this came the Holga vs. Diana+ Shoot Out where the two cameras were taken out and used to photograph the same things side by side.
On the whole you can tell there IS a difference. They are both prone to the same darkening around the edges, the same tapering off of focus in to haziness and blurred edges. However, they do it very differently.
You can check it out for yourself if you click here.
Some of the images, though plain, are very beautiful through the lens of a toy camera.
The most important distinction I noticed is that that "dreamy" haze they pound in to you as being a great selling point at Lomography.com is far more pronounced in the Diana. Upon reflection I would've loved that quality in some of the photos from Tokyo, but what I got wasn't bad. The Holga in general just has better focus.
There is another thing that I noticed and that struck me most sharply. The Holga 120N that they used rendered an image that was on the warm side of the spectrum every time. I am assuming that they used a standard 120N straight out of the box prepped to prevent against light leaks and then took off from there. I am assuming the same for the Diana+, meaning that the Holga they used wasn't much different from mine, glass lenses and included color flash aside. So that means in situations where we'd be shooting people, cities, or a warmer-toned environment a Holga would probably be enjoyable.
Of further amusement to me is that the Diana+ shot on the cool/blue end of the spectrum in every shot. I can see all sorts of benefits from this, using it to take pictures of landscapes, oceanscapes, skyshots anything with a lot of green and growing things in it, etc. I can also see where it would affect the outcome of black and white film used in it. I got some gorgeous shots with my Holga in b&w. I would get a cooler more old time-y look out of it with the Diana+.
Nevermind that the Diana has a lot more accessories that go with it, this now shows to me that it would be a different experience to shoot with one. Bob might kill me for getting ~another~ toy camera, but the chance to play with one that's the same yet so different is a little too appealing.
Just not right now. Maybe it'll be a "yay, you have a new job and won't force your new husband to be destitute with you" present. That would rock.

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