Polaroid hack.

I found this amazing Polaroid body hack yesterday, I realize it is old at this point, but still very, very cool. mark, the author, took a Polaroid One Step (1000) and gutted it, but added a web cam inside. (the author has passed away too, so sad, look around his site for other amazing stuff). Click the link for more pictures and build out.

This would be even greater with a nice lo-fi .3 megapixel sensor inside, and a nice small screen on the back side, for a portable camera. If you could jam a Polaroid printer inside, even cooler!

If anyone tries this, please e-mail me. I might even try it myself.

via. 

10 Best iPod Touch Camera Apps

Now that Apple has finally released an iPod Touch with a camera, iTouch users can experience the same photo fun that the iPhone users have had for years. Since the quality of the camera is lower than that of the iPhone, I have pushed these more toward the toy camera angle, plus since that is really the focus of this blog. I also have added the ones I have found the most useful, and what I use most often.

1) Hipstamatic - $1.99, additional effects are .99¢
Hipstamatic is the the gold standard for toy camera emulators for iPhone. Both in it's design, and in it's function and end product. Well thought out all the way through, well designed, and it takes great, dreamy photos. It is a bit pricey though, and is quickly becoming the new "myspace photo angle" meaning it is a very saturated app. Still definitely worth getting, it is the one app you need to start from really.

2) Classic Toy Camera - FREE, but effects are .99¢
Classic Toy is fastly becoming my favorite camera app, it is the one I use the most for sure. Not only does it take great pictures, it has many more  different options than Hipstamatic. I generally use it on the pinhole setting, but it also mimics multi-frame images like the Pop Cam and the Lomo Action Sampler, and the Pop 9. Lots of great film effects as well, from damaged, to saturation, all for a great price. Highly recommended.

3). Photoshop Express - FREE
Comparable to Photoshop 1.0 on a computer, this free app comes in really, really handy, for turning the orientation of pictures on the fly, desaturating, cropping etc. Trust me, you will use it much more than you think, and it is free.

4) PicasaSync - $1.99
Again, another app that isn't necessarily a picture taking app, but this one you will appreciate later on, especially if you buy it early on as I would recommend-before you have a ton of photos. Basically what it does is it uploads the pictures you take to your Picassa account, which you have free if you have a Gmail account (also free). It isn't automatic, but it is fast over wi-fi, and easy enough to upload 20-30 pictures a week to back them up. The lite version doesn't do much, but nice to see if you would want to use it. Of course, you do have a backup on your computer each time you sync, but having an additional cloud backup is definitely nice.

5) More Lomo  - FREE
More Lomo is one of a slew of Lomo styled apps. I like it best though. One, it takes the best Lomo-y pics of any of the ones I have tried. Two, it is super minimal to use, just open and tap, then pick to save Lomo + Original, or just the Lomo and at whichever quality you choose. I have often used it instead of the regular Apple camera. So worth it.

6) Cam-U-Flage  - $1.99
Simply the best and most useful spy camera app in the app store. You can set an image as your 'viewfinder' then set the transparency, or not, and tap the screen to take a photo. In essence, anyone looking at you will think you are looking at your screen not a camera app. I set my image to a screen grab of my home screen, so it is even more hidden. It also now takes video, which is awesome. Totally worth the price. Though use it responsibly, please.

7) Video Panorama  - $1.99
Seen that commercial of the video camera that can turn your footage into a panoramic photo? Well as the corny saying goes "there is an app for that". Video Panorama s a good simple quick app for making quick Panoramic images, and as an added bonus, it does some weird stuff where it sews the images together, go crappy! (I mean that in the best way).  For super high quality Panoramics, try Pano, it is my other option.

8) CameraBag - $1.99
CameraBag, as the name suggests, is basically one app full of a lot of camera's. It mimics Holga, Polaroid (both old and new), cross process, magazine, cinema, etc. The nice thing about it is that you can take one photo and save it in whichever option looks the best. The drawback though is that you have to go through all those options, granted you can remove the ones you never use. I find that I use the magazine effect the most from this app, partly because it fills a gap in the other apps. I would definitely suggest you get it, maybe even first, it might do all you ever need.

ShakeIt Photo

9) ShakeItPhoto  - .99¢
You can see my write up of it here from before. Simply put it is the best image quality of all the Polaroid knock off apps there are.

10) IncrediBooth - .99¢
This app is by the same guys that created Hipstamatic. The graphics are simply great, and it is a great use of the front facing camera (which in fact you must have to use this app). Since the iPod Touch now has the front facing camera,  this app should be a no-brainer to buy, and will probably soon account for 80% of the photos your friends post online.

There you have it. The 10 apps you should download to take pictures and enjoy the camera on your shiny new iPod Touch. Any of these apps work just as well on the iPhone 4, and are definitely recommended as well.

Enjoy.

Introduction to the world of crap photos.

I guess before I get too deep into this blog I should create a launching point for you.

My goal with this blog is to help anyone interested in iPhone camera apps, toy cameras, Polaroids, weird film effects- ie. light leaks, emulsion pulls, lens flares, damaged or expired film - find out what those effects they like might be, how they might be able to get them, other fun ways to get weird and fun effects, and basically build a little bubble of photo stuff I think is cool, old and new.

This isn't meant to be a 'serious' photo blog. The world of toy camera's already shows that, otherwise you wouldnt still be able to buy cameras using film at Urban Outfitters. It is more for fun and for hobbyists, than a serious professional, though of course they can and do partake, and push this form even further. It is interesting that with the advent of the web, these various forms of low tech photography have somehow become one type of expression.

In this day and age, where almost any style can be downloaded to our iPhone or mimicked via an Adobe program, it is nice to know what, where, how, and why many of these things exist, and why they are fun. And to learn about other weird cameras of the past (I for sure have not seen them all.)

Basically, I just wanted to share the limited knowledge I have gained over the past years, and the new daily usage experience I have now with various apps. This of course is intended to act as a type of bridge between the digital new world, and the old film world, ultimately what you see is the picture, not how it got there, and with most things the end result is what becomes covetable, each in their own right. Digital, like it or not, can be just as viable in it's own right.

Expect fun posts about vintage cameras - film, digital and instant.

Expect illumination of great photos found around the web and on Flickr and Tumblr.

Expect reviews of iPhone camera apps, tips and tricks, sources and more.

Expect to have fun, and just enjoy. This is all about experimentation and DIY.

Thanks for reading.

Enjoy.

Polaroid alternatives.

First of all, let me say, nothing quite beats Polaroid, the 'magic' in that film is undeniable, and the process revolutionary.

On that note though, and following my last post on how  readily available legacy Polaroid equipment is and its needed film and batteries are around as well. I also wanted to highlight many of the modern day alternatives.

First, there is the infamous app POLADROID that is great to use on your actual computer (for all of you non iPhone owners) The quality is pretty great, and you can save at various stages of the development to get different effects of exposures.

Here is their pool on Flickr...




The next alternative is for the iPhone owners, and future iTouch 4 owners, ShakeitPhoto, is one of the earliest Polaroid apps. Imho it has the best quality in color, saturation, and exposure of all the faux Polaroid apps.(side note, there are LOTS of apps called shake it, this one has a rainbow on the icon). Definitely an Essential iPhone App.

Here is the website for it..

Next, is the app Camera Bag. It is a bit more at $1.99, but includes many other effects, so it is well worth it. The Polaroid effect is good, not the best, but nice to use on any of your existing pictures, plus the waiting and shaking thing can get old sometimes.

There are a few more (actually lots more) 'Fauxlaroid' apps in the store, but with these two you can definitely fulfill your mobile Polaroid needs.

For real world, physical media replacements, you really need to look no further than Fuji, as I have mentioned before, they have the instant film thing down with various models to choose from as seen below.







Instant joy.

inspiration - pull apart emulsion film

See previous post regarding Polaroid Land Cameras. This is what those photos generally look like, you can also use the negative part, scan it, and inverse it, to get even weird edge effects, as many of these have.

Polaroid isn't impossible. You could be using one right now! For less than $50.

You could be taking Polaroids RIGHT NOW, tons of the Land Camera series -model numbers usually in 100, 200 or 300 range- are around and CHEAP.

Here is one on eBay right now!

VINTAGE POLAROID LAND CAMERA MODEL 210 AUTOMATIC

For $21.22 it could be yours. I don't know if it works, but generally they just need a bit of cleaning and cleaning of the battery contacts, your mileage may vary.


BUT wait, what about film? and batteries? That is the real issue right? Wrong.

Though the Impossible Project, as awesome as it is, is making Polaroid film they no longer make, that doesnt mean you can't get film, new unexpired film. The Impossible Project is making film for the much coveted SX-70 and 600 models. Not for the Land Cameras, which use a pull apart emulsion film, not the self enclosed type.

Step in FUJI. Fuji has been making instant film cameras in Japan for ages, and you can still get a new one and film for it now, here. They have also been making film that the Land Cameras can use, and it is readily available, costs about the same, and is considered by some to be even better film (not by all though). Film comes in 10's and is roughly $1 per photo cost.

For this Land Camera above, assuming it functions with a fresh battery, you can get either the 667 b/w type film which in Fuji land is known as the 3000b, or you can get the similar 669 color film FP100. Note that the b/w film is 3000 speed (yes really fas and good in lower light (not in dark though) and the color is 100 speed, so it needs a good sunny day!

Okay so that solves that part, now for the batteries...

These Land Cameras use a battery called px-24, not the easiest to find, but they are out there (and have been for years), here is one for $15.99.

SO there you have it, for approx $22 + $16 + $10 = $48, you could take 10 Polaroid pictures now. And of course, after this initial cost, the film is your only cost moving forward.


If you try it, good luck!