Cheap Cameras of Beauty

by Ryan Macalandag

I like to contradict myself.

Last week, we spoke about how buying an expensive lens can greatly improve the quality of the photos you take. With pro lenses, your photos become sharper, crispier and cleaner. Better lenses certainly improve quality but not the creativity and beauty of your photos.

However, cheap, plastic, toyish lomography cameras are revolutionizing the photographic landscape and quickly gaining fame in the artistic photography circles today. Each retro, distorted, grainy, photos that these el cheapo cameras churn out are little precious gems of beauty themselves that evoke feelings of joy, love, loneliness, quirk, nostalgia and everything else in between.

The general rule is: shoot from the hip. Ergo, don’t think, just shoot. If you want to create artsy photos yet could not manage to mess with camera settings and such, this is just about perfect for you.







Lomo cameras use film, set manually and are not battery operated except for the flash, if any. Most types have basic and practical settings with picture guides to help. Sun for sunny day, cloud for cloudy day. How hard can it be?

For as low as P2,000 a pop, you can have the classic Diana or the Holga, the Oktomat (which has 8 lenses that opens and closes in a rapid succession), the Super Sampler (four consecutive images in a single frame) or the Fisheye that lets you see the world through the eyes of – yep, you guessed it – a fish. The Colorsplash has a flash provided that you can rotate to change the flash colors.

Lomo cameras also come in many stylish colors and designs. You can have one to match your outfit of the day. If it doesn’t match, give your camera a quick spray-can makeover and there, terno. I mean, how cool is that?

Film is dead or so the digital naysayers proclaim. Lomographers – ever ingenious – found a way to resurrect film. Literally resurrect dead (or expired) film. The effect is really cool. Expired film has a certain randomness of flaws that entices photographers to use it. You would never know what to expect.

The community of lomographic photographers has also grown. All over the internet online lomography websites and forums have popped up. Support and discussion groups are available. Supplies are ordered online and delivered the next day.

Here in Bohol, I and my wife, we have a Diana F+, an Oktomat and a Fuji Instax Mini (not really lomo but a cheap polaroid). My sister, Liza, has a Super Sampler and a Holga. A lawyer friend of mine has both a Diana and a Fisheye No. 1. A few others are following suit.

Point here is, cheap doesn’t always means uncreative and not beautiful. An expensive digital camera in the hands of an uncreative snapper can make bad photos. Conversely, a cheap lomo in the hands of a passionate, artistic and dedicated photographer can create beautiful images as well.

Please check out these online sites to know more about lomography:
www.lomography.com
www.lomographicembassymanila.com

Happy shooting!

(For questions and comments regarding this column, please email me at ryanmacalandag@yahoo.com or look me up on Facebook. You may also catch me on these websites: ryanmacalandag.blogspot.com and www.flickr.com/ryanmacalandag. )