Akira TC-002

[sweathog]

So I'm in a thrift store on East Colfax Ave in Denver, just popped in on my way down town, and on the desk there's a box of cameras for $5 each. An Oly P&S, some kind of disc camera, and... an Akira TC-002. I'd never heard of these before, but I figured that for $5 it wouldn't hurt. The only manual ability it offers is selecting the aperture, using either cloud/sun symbols or f numbers (5.6, 8, 11 and 1, what a range!) so it should be relatively straightforward, methinks...
As soon as we get to a Walgreens I pop in to get a cheap roll of their 400 C41 film, and proceed to point and click my way through the next hour, resulting in some mixed results. At times there seem to be leaks, at times the exposre seems way too long, the shots end up unsharp regardless of the fixed focus, things develop halos, but at times it gives some nice shots. I may try putting through a roll of 100 film, as a lo of the shots seem overexposed, so I'll get those up if/when they're done.

 

[sweathog]

Some shots from the 400 test roll

Some shots from the 400 test roll

 

[sweathog]

The 100 test roll

The 100 test roll

So I went and picked up a roll of Walgreen's 100 C41 film, shot it all 'wide open' at f5.6, and the results were slightly better. The thing I'm finding most interesting is that the camera has no consistency, the results vary, sweet spots seem to move or even cease to exist, which is interesting. Anyway, here's a couple of shots from the new roll.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

So I went and picked up a roll of Walgreen's 100 C41 film, shot it all 'wide open' at f5.6, and the results were slightly better. The thing I'm finding most interesting is that the camera has no consistency, the results vary, sweet spots seem to move or even cease to exist, which is interesting. Anyway, here's a couple of shots from the new roll.

These fake SLR cameras are pretty much the 35 mm equivalent of the Holga and Diana. The manufacturing quality control of these things is so low that no two are exactly alike. The results are certainly interesting even in color, but I think B&W film would work better. But of course that is your artistic decision :angel:

 

[sweathog]

These fake SLR cameras are pretty much the 35 mm equivalent of the Holga and Diana. The manufacturing quality control of these things is so low that no two are exactly alike. The results are certainly interesting even in color, but I think B&W film would work better. But of course that is your artistic decision :angel:

I completely agree; in fact, I said to my girlfriend's father, who is here too that it seemed to be essentially a 35mm Holga.

I would like to put a roll of BW though, but I wanted to check the integrity of the camera before I put a more expensive film through. I'll try to pick up a roll of BW400CN when I get to Boulder. I'll keep you posted.