Challenge! A 'Lo-FI' A Day Challenge

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As (strange) luck would have it, I chanced upon one of the super-cheap, absolutely trashy cameras I was looking for the other day without finding them.

This is a Rollei(!) CompactLine 50 - well, "compact" actually fits it.

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(Gosh, at closer distances, the Nikon 1 18.5mm *really* distorts ... maybe I should give that a try for lo-fi ...)

The Rollei has a 5MP sensor - "non-descript" is probably a very nice way of describing it. Most webcams are better ... Here are some of today's results (with some pp).

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Fun fact: The camera has both an "Infinity" and a "Macro" setting ... shifting the "sharpness" plane from about one metre (why?) to half a metre ...

Anyhow, I'll use it for the last couple of days ... On the plus side, it slips into just about every pocket ...

M.
 
As (strange) luck would have it, I chanced upon one of the super-cheap, absolutely trashy cameras I was looking for the other day without finding them.

This is a Rollei(!) CompactLine 50 - well, "compact" actually fits it.

View attachment 249855

(Gosh, at closer distances, the Nikon 1 18.5mm *really* distorts ... maybe I should give that a try for lo-fi ...)

The Rollei has a 5MP sensor - "non-descript" is probably a very nice way of describing it. Most webcams are better ... Here are some of today's results (with some pp).

View attachment 249854

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View attachment 249858

Fun fact: The camera has both an "Infinity" and a "Macro" setting ... shifting the "sharpness" plane from about one metre (why?) to half a metre ...

Anyhow, I'll use it for the last couple of days ... On the plus side, it slips into just about every pocket ...

M.
I've read some things about the "vintage digital" look reminiscent of the early 00's, these photos have that "look." Ugly but charming at the same time. I suspect that will grow to become a bit more of a style over time.

I have several more shots (including a couple Polaroids to scan) I need to post to catch up, just been too busy to actually do it.
 
This is so....
(words fail me)
But (taking a deep breath), it's either a disturbingly brilliant portrait...or a great piece of documentary photojournalism. Or both. Either way, it rocks.

Just two (and a half) more questions, please:
1. Who is your subject?
2. Have you already sold the movie rights?
2.5 Because, if you haven't, I'm interested.
Miquel thinks of something very sweet to say. I, on the other hand, think of my complexion as a teenager.
 
I occasionally find myself wondering if my Future holds another camera for me.
Normally, questions like these are impossible to answer.
But fortunately I have a source who not only Knows the Future - but is also willing to tell me what it may be, when I consult him.

His name is Zoltar---

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But under the merciless light of my Lomo Automat flash, he seems to momentarily mutate into another state of being--

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Fortunately, when things are reduced to their bare monochromatic minimums...then he is more forthcoming---

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And lo and behold... Zoltar Speaks!
 
In a way, one could argue that our fascination with Lo-fi photography - is really nothing more than a love for photography of a bygone age, for dinosaur technology... for cameras which, for most people, are no longer either used, or even functioning.

In short, for dead cameras (which, in our own ways, we are reanimating, or bringing back to life).

Thinking about death, of one's own camera, can grow to obsessive dimensions. The technical term is necrophobia - "a morbid dread of one's own demise". Edgar Allan Poe wrote ghastly tales of premature burials, which touched on the fear of being buried alive. But such fears are for the supersitious... do any of us really believe in them today?

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Maybe in our Lo-fi obsession, we have opened a Pandora's box; or, worse yet, dug up a gravesite that should never have been re-opened. I think we should be afraid, be very afraid...

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...if our old cameras emerge from the comfortable darkness where we left them buried.
 
I like to think of it more as a love of style over substance. Lo-fi and older cameras just remind me that photography is about the image and not the sterile perfection of the current and modern technology and gear. When I go for a lo-fi image, I know itā€™s not going to be technically perfect, thereā€™s going to be imperfections. And Iā€™m OK with that. But what that leaves me with is that I must come up with a compelling composition, a great subject.
 
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