As soon as I saw this little piece of intrigue I knew I had to have one. Why? I don’t know. Maybe because I like putting stuff together and I don’t do it nearly often enough. Looking around the Lomography site did not dissuade me from thinking that this was something I needed to try.
I bought one. I built one. I used one.
Unfortunately, what this video does not really show is the weird view finder. Well OK, it does “show” it, but it was not clear to me what I was seeing. This view finder is one of those old timey ones where you have to look down into the camera. For your viewing pleasure you are presented with a highly vignetted, blurry, reverse image of what you are trying to capture. Until I had the film developed I had no real idea what I had been looking at.
Along with the camera kit I bought a box with three rolls of film, mixed, so that I can learn more about what is available. I decided to load Lomography’s Colour Negative 100 first. I will keep the black and white film for last. I don’t want to waste that treasure.
To fill the roll with images I walked around school, Sanbon and Bomgyae with the weird little camera in hand, looking for things and scenes to capture. All the while I was searching, asking for help on Facebook and chatting to an online friend, to find a place to develop the film. What follows are the results (with minor cropping and an exposure adjustment on one photo where I think the developer over adjusted.)
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Considering that I was working with a new camera, could not really see what I was capturing and don’t have any experience with how film work, I should not be as disappointed as I am. I got 8 OK photos, 4 of which I kind of like. On a roll of 36 that is not that bad. I don’t think I get that on my digital camera.
The Konstructor comes with a 50mm lens, a focal length I really like. As far as I can tell it is the only Lomo that is fitted with this focal length. Even though I am looking into getting another Lomo, I guess I will be coming back to this camera every now and then just for the lens.
From looking at the photos I have learned two things. There is a delightful cratch on almost every photos. The Konstructor does not like things to be to close. I guess about 1.5 meter or more should be fine. And the 100 rated film likes a lot of light.
Having the camera close to the subject produces an interesting dreamy blur, but I can’t see that being all that useful most of the time. I also noticed that the 100 would be a great film for portraits where you want part of the subject to be visible and part in the shadows
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