The Camera:
Allow me to introduce y’all to the cutest “toy” camera on the market. This is the Fisheye Baby Bauhaus Edition from Lomography. This camera is 2.5in across, made almost entirely of plastic and is only $35. Lomography has its origins in LOMO (Leningradskoye Optiko-Mekhanicheskoye Obyedinenie aka Leningrad Optical Mechanical Association), which was founded in 1914 as a French-Russian camera and lens company. It was nationalized in 1921 and continued production throughout the Soviet Union. The company went public again in 1993 and stopped manufacturing cameras in 1996. Lomography, an Austrian camera company, signed an exclusive distribution agreement with LOMO PLC in 1995 to produce the LOMO LC-A camera that “started it all.” Since then the company has produced hundreds of unique cameras, lenses and films.
This camera has a super-wide 10mm fisheye lens that can capture 170°. The “fisheye” concept was first explored by Robert W. Wood in 1906 when he built a camera in a water filled bucket. He placed a photo plate at the bottom, a short focus pinhole lens halfway up the bucket and then a pane of glass at the top to prevent water ripples. His objective was"to ascertain how the external world appears to the fish." The initial use of the lens was for meteorology and it was not until the 1960s that fisheye lenses became mass produced for photography.
The Film:
For the maiden voyage of this camera, I used expired Barbie branded Kodak color 110 film that I acquired in an auction. 110 film was introduced by Kodak in 1972 and comes in a thin, funky cartridge. Each frame is 13mm × 17mm and the cartridges come in 12, 20 or 24 frame varieties. The film is half the size of standard 35mm film and is considered “subminiature.” The 16mm film size was able to be developed in already existing machines that developed movie film, which was 16mm or 8mm. The Barbie branded film came from a Barbie toy camera set that was sold in 2000. and it included one roll of the 110 film.
Making the Photos:
I brought this cute little camera on a recent trip to North Carolina to try it out for the first time. Loading the camera is the easiest thing imaginable. All I had to do was flip open a little window in the back, slide the cartridge in, flip the window back into place and wind the dial. I knew the film was old and had likely lost sensitivity to light so I tried to keep most photos in direct sunlight. Because of how wide the angle is, I wanted to try it with people’s faces close-up as well as landmarks around UNC’s campus. As a “point and shoot” camera (I hate that term), there are no controls to change the exposure.
The Process:
Developing C-41 film generally involves seven steps to produce a proper negative (wash, developer, bleach, fixer, wash, stabilizer and final wash). I used a special at-home kit that shortens the process. After mixing the powder concentrate with water, the developer must be precisely heated to 102°F and the “blix” must be between 75°F and 105°F. The steps are as follows:
Load the film in a Paterson reel and tank in total darkness.
Wash the film in water that is roughly 102°F to warm it up to temperature and prepare it to evenly receive the developer.
Pour the developer in and agitate (invert or rotate the tank) for 30 seconds and then agitate for 5 seconds, every 30 seconds for 3.5 minutes.
Blix (combo bleacher and fixer) with the same agitation pattern for 8 minutes
Wash for 5 minutes in running water and you’re done!
The Results:
I attempted three rolls of film on my trip and only one turned out. The one that did work was pretty faded and a little dark. Also the tiny film size makes it hard to get good resolution. However, the circular fisheye look is still so cool to me. It inspired me to buy some *new* 110 film that I am excited to try out. But for the photos I got this time around, I got to capture some of my favorite places and people in a fresh way.
Fun Fact:
In 1992 TYCO released a 110 “spy” camera that was meant to look like a pack of Reese’s Cups.
so cool glad a roll came out!
Fisheye on top!