Photography Thailand Forum

[gregoire]

As a break from our all-digital photographic lives, I've decided to do a little story for BK Magazine on alternative means of producing pictures. It's nothing ground-breaking--just some Lomo cameras, tips on cross-processing, polaroid manipulation, that sort of stuff.

If you manipulate polaroids, cross-process, shoot Lomo/Holga or any other weird camera, or if you have an ideas related to this topic, please SPEAK UP! I'd love to hear your comments on this stuff.

I'm in contact with this guy who does some cool stuff in this vein, you can check it out at http://www.lomothai.com/

Thanks!

[Chris Savery]

I checked out that site but couldn't make head or tails of it. Wish I knew what it was all about.
I gather a "Lomo" is some kind of brand of camera?
Is there somewhere that explains whatever the idea is in English?
Chris :)

[gregoire]

Well I'm very happy you've never heard of them. That means it's a good idea to do a story on them.

www.lomography.com

Lomo cameras are pretty much terrible cameras that have gained a cult-following because of this very reason. They come from Russia and the story of how they were saved by a couple of Austrian guys and Vladimir Putin himself is quite fun in itself. Legend has it Arafat and the Dalai Lama used them.

Lomo cameras suffer from fringing, light leaks, flaring, and even tend to double-expose. Just like polaroids, there are lots of people who prefer this to good cameras because the result is more "arty", "alternative" or "unique". Of course, you can call it crap just as well. To increase this special look, film shot in a Lomo is usually cross-processed (that means you buy color slide film and ask that it be developed with the chemicals used to develop negative film). The result is a burnt-out, saturated yet washed out, greenish-orange look that you can see plenty of on the Thai link I provided.

Apparently there's quite a big following for them in Bangkok as part of the Lomo culture is that lomographers tend to congregate and have strong web communities as well--which is quite cool. Apparently there's some 500 lomographers with online Lomo homepages in Bangkok alone! There's an exhibition coming up in Khao San Rd. and I'll update you on all this after I meet with some of the ring leaders tomorrow.

[bjorn slis]

Gregoire,
do you know if there is a place in thailand where I can buy lomo camera's ?

[Chris Savery]

Yes, That sounds like it would make an interesting story. I'd go to see the exhibit on Kao San Rd if you can post something about it. It sounds a bit like the people using old 8mm movie cameras for artistic purposes and I think it's a great idea to experiment like that. I know it's a bit silly but I'm happy with digital and I can't see myself going and buying film and another camera now so I wonder if some people have figured out a series of Photoshop steps that mimics Lomo from digital sources? Then us bozos who spent a fortune on Canon gear can "pretend" we're hip and make Lomo images too... tongue in cheek here.

Bjorn - in case you haven't been there - down near Klong Thom but "a block over and down", there is a 4 story shopping center with quite a few used camera stores. I've often browsed through there and seen various weird stuff so I'd say that may be a good place to try. It's just up the block from the covered corner where they usually sell cameras on the street. If you need more details just ask.

Chris :)

[gregoire]

Bjorn, Lomo cameras are available at two places that I know of.

1.) "Room", a shop that specializes in interior decoration stuff (gives you an an idea of how "photographic" Lomos are). This shop is just next to Habitat on the 4th floor (I think) of Siam Discovery. (BTS National Stadium). They have almost every model you can think of.

2.) TCDC, the design center on the 8th floor (I think) of Emporium. (BTS Phrom Pong). Only a couple models.

They're quite expensive though, because of the hype around them and especially considering they are pretty poor cameras from what I understand. Chris's advice to look into other vintage/antique/second-hand cameras is sound. Camera Collection, (new address  is 942/37 1st floor Chanissare Tower on Rama IV, BTS Saladaeng) is another place to look. They carry high-end Leicas and Hasselblads but also some cheaper oldies. Maybe a Kodak Brownie would do the trick? In any case, look it up; I wouldn't rush out and get a Lomo (despite the built-in meter which is rare on medium formats). Whatever you do, don't forget cross-processing is the most important part and has nothing to do with the camera.

Chris, can you give more details on the place(s) you metioned?

Lastly, there are a few techniques in Photoshop for giving your digital shots a "Lomo" cross-processed look. One of the best is on www.istockphoto.com in the tutorials. I've used it adding some sharpness falloff in the corners on top of everything else. Speaking of which, I can't believe they now sell this other "creative" gadget at Fotofile (MBK) for 6500 baht: http://www.lensbabies.com/

Will post details on Lomo venues as soon as I have them.

[bjorn slis]

Thanks for the info, I don't know about Thai prices but in holland they are really cheap starting at about 20 euros I wish I had bought a couple before moving here, it is just a toy so I won't spend a lot on it.

[gregoire]

Yes, a toy is good way to describe it, which also says a lot on how much should be spent on it. Actually I don't know the prices here but seems like the Holga is 60-70 USD online and a refurbished standard Lomo Kompkat Automat is 200 USD!!!

[Chris Savery]

Yes, here is a rough sketch map. Excuse my rudimentary drawing and I may have left out a few soi...

I've added the names where I know them but many of the street's I just don't know, though I've been everywhere in that area over and over for various things. Many, many buses go very near there - a sampling: #1, 53, 73, 8, 37, 4 and of course taxis are good. I think if you tell a taxi "Central Pahurat" that will get you very close.

I've marked a small rectangle where the photo mall is and a little black mark where the street sellers on the corner are. The stuff sold on the corner is generally old Japanese cameras - no digital that I recall - and a mix of binoculars and junk. Inside the mall there are shops on each floor mixed in with toy/model/trading cards/comic/other shops. Some are interesting and some are not. There are a couple dealers in older and unsual brands. I have also seen Canon 70-200L and similar lenses secondhand in there. Some digital too. I have found the prices vary from ridiculous to reasonable. While there is a selection of stuff that seems to always be the same old crap I have noticed some good things come and go too. One or two shop keepers are quite helpful and some are the kind who can barely manage to lift their head when you come into the store. I found it amusing and so every few months when I'm down near there, I like to browse through the place.

Also downstairs and out back is a strange congested network of walkways that form some kind of market containing all kinds of things from electronic games, toys, shoes and who knows what - quite the variety of stuff there.

Chris :)

[David Salmanowitz]

Gregoire--Lensbabies are pretty neat, and they came out with an updated version within the last year. A friend has the older version. He also has a pricey pinhole unit that goes on the front of a digital camera. Ironic how sometimes we like to use new technology to simulate the old. I myself am waiting on digital daguerrotypes.    I remember just a few years ago those Holgas were 15 or 20 $US.

[gregoire]

Chris, thanks a lot. Will check it out ASAP.

David, I'm sure they're loads of fun and I'd love to try one--if it was much much cheaper. I just don't see what lensbabies do that can't be done in Photoshop. It's a bitch to simulate shallow DOF but that's not what lensbabies are about (use any fast lens to get that result). What's really special about Lensbabies is sweet spot focusing which just means blurred edges with lots of chromatic distortion. At 6500 baht, they're a pretty expensive replacement to a few clicks in photoshop. Granted, Photoshop is not as fun.

As for the pinhole attachment, I heard the cheapest thing to do is to punch a hole in a body cap. Getting the hole to be the right size is the tricky part. Found this on http://www.camerahacker.com/Forums/DisplayComments.php?file=Film%20Camera/Canon/EOS_Pin-Hole_Lens.html :

"I tried Your method of making a pinhole out of an old body cap but modified your method slightly; I traced around the body cap with a pencil on a piece of paper, cut out the resulting circle, folded it in half, then half again. That gave me the exact center of the lens cap. I marked the center of the cap and then heated a needle over a flame while holding it with locking type (Vise Grip) needle nose pliers. I pushed the red hot needle through the center of the lens cap. Worked like a charm, though I had to heat the needle several times."

[David Salmanowitz]

Gregoire--Lensbabies are not real cheap. Just looked at B&H's website and the original is $96, and the new model is $150. I think you talking about the sweet spot was right on the money. If one wanted to take lots of blurred edges photos then perhaps it would be a wise investment, as I am of the school that the less you have to do in Photoshop afterwards the better--as in less time in front of the computer.
Thanks for the pinhole link--a lens cap pinhole device is surely a lot cheaper than what my friend had. I do not remember who made it and it was very nicely made, but do remember it was at least a few hundred bucks if I remember correctly.

[Chris Savery]

Following your camerahacks link I found this interesting one on taking a Holga lens and adapting it to a Canon lens cap to take Holga-like vignetted shots on the authors 20D. Seems to me the same idea could be used with any number of low-end lenses cut out of their original home. That camera hacks site is one worth bookmarking. Thanks!

http://www.litratista.org/2006/04/29/homemade-lens-part-1-eos-holga/

Chris :)

[David Salmanowitz]

Chris--I agree, that Camera Hackers site (thnaks Gregoire) is worth bookmarking and it is one I have never seen before--hard to keep up with everything. The site I have been going to for years and can highly recommend is http://luminous-landscape.com, and another highly enjoyable site though in a different vein is http://theonlinephotographer.blogspot.com. Just my 2 cents worth. Interesting that your litratista.org link is out of the Philippines, or so I assume as it makes reference to Pinoy hobbyists. As far as my 20D I was going to sell it to a friend to use underwater, but then being a real friend I told him to go ahead and get himself the new 30D. I loved the 20D, but I like my 5D even more. Will probably turn the 20D into a full time infrared camera, and there was a link on the  http://luminous-landscape.com website all about it.

[Chris Savery]

Gregoire - thanks for the istockphoto link. I followed the methods he gives for Lomofying a photo, trying it out on this photo of an Issan school bus... I'm pretty happy with the effect and may play around with it on others. But I have to add - I'm also happy my camera doesn't take shots like this always! I just noticed I probably should have pushed the vignetting further than I did.

Chris :)