Photography With Cheap Plastic Cameras

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Cheap Plastic Cameras seem to hold their own in the Art World. When I see photo exhibits featuring images taken with a Holga, I know the adage, "It's not the camera, it's the photographer" is true. What is also true is that working with a "Toy" Camera can free you from worrying about all those little adjustments you need to make on your $500 auto-everything SLR to get a photo that Steichen might have made. So, instead of going Digital, go the other direction. Minimalist Photography. Keep in mind, I am talking about achieving interesting and quality images, not just a bunch of light-leaked vignetted photos that sometime get passed off as "art."

You know you have a cheap plastic camera when it says "Optical Lens" on the front. I guess a non-optical lens would be a pinhole camera? The genre of camera I refer to here are often called "TIME Cameras" because many of these cheap 35mm cameras were given away as promotions for subscribing to the magazine of that name. However, as you will find, many of these cameras have appeared under various names. Some seem to be better than others, but they all probably have a 1/100th shutter speed and 4 f-stop settings along with a plastic body and probably a plastic lens. The one good thing about them is that you can pick them up at thrift shops for a dollar or less, often in unused condition. These cameras and their relatives are often called "Toy Cameras," and there are a number of websites devoted to Toy Camera Photography. There are also a lot of "Premium Cameras" and by that I don't mean high-quality. They were promotional give-aways. Those cameras are usually just a 35mm box camera - no adjustments can be made.

What I haven't yet included are the "disposable" cameras. Under ideal conditions, many of these can take fairly decent snapshots. There are now some cameras that are packaged like one-time use cameras with flash, but are actually reloadable by the consumer -- available for less than $6.00, no less. If that's not a cheap plastic camera, I don't know what is. There are 110, 35mm and 120 plastic cameras, all with varying degrees of sophistication and quirkiness. You can go the Kodak Brownie route, but all of the cheap box cameras from Kodak take 620 film, which means respooling 120 onto a 620 spool.

My Cheap Collection

I recently purchased a LOMO Smena 35 camera from Freestyle Camera in California for less than $12. This camera may be cheap an plastic, but it has a glass lens, adjustable aperture and shutter speed, a hotshoe and zone focusing from 1 meter to infinity. A lot like the Argus Model A of 1938, but easier to use. So to me, the Smena 35 is the "top of the line" cheap plastic camera. It may be mostly plastic, but the design works well. I would recommend it in a photo class, because the students could adjust aperture and shutter speed, use a flash, and at $12, haven't spent a lot of money.

LOMO Smena 35

LOMO SMENA PHOTOGRAPHS

Lomo Smena Page

TIME Camera and Clones

What I like about these cheap plastic cameras is their...cheapness. I opened the back of one to put film in it, and the door just flew off. Gaffer tape to the rescue! Well anyway, the photos were not that bad. The difference between these cameras and a cheap point and shoot is that they try to appear to be more than they really are. However, the aperture IS adjustable, and you can put a $25 electronic flash on a $1.00 camera.

The Time Camera, Sceptre yn800 and Photoflex MX-35 are all very similar, yet each is a bit different. I ran a roll of b&w through the Photoflex, and it has a light leak somewhere. The Sceptre actually produced some acceptable photos, and the Time Camera won't produce any photos that will win awards, but hey, it was cheap.

While there is no guarantee that these cameras will even produce an image as good as a disposable camera, they can be used to shoot some interesting (or not) photos:

Taken with the Sceptre YN800. Fujicolor 100 print film.

Taken with the TIME(tm) Camera. Fuji 100 print film. Everything is in focus -- soft focus, that is...

Taken with Photoflex MX-35 by Mike Ebinger; Ilford Delta Pan 100.

Holga Cameras

I bought a Holga 120S in the summer of 2001, and have been using it as a 6 x 4.5 cm camera, not the 6x6. To be honest, this camera does not do a bad job, considering it costs less than $15 and uses 120 film. It certainly is a lot of fun to see what results from shooting with it. It works well with 400 ASA film, and I have added a tripod socket to it for my only modification.

Whitefish Point, Michigan Series

Random Holga Images

Abandoned farm, Marquette Co., MI - Fuji 400 print film. July, 2002.

I have an 8x10 of this sepia-toned, and I like it a lot.

I used a closeup filter over the lens-- and I got lucky!

A pumpkin wagon.

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Last updated March 15, 2004