Photos from Photokina

[Nick De Marco]

I've seen many good and useful photos from other photographers there showing off some of the latest gear released at the fair, so this gallery doesn't attempt that, but tries to give a taste of the atmosphere of the show and the impressive architecture in which it is staged (as well as testing a couple of lenses). One funny thing I notices, zig-zagging between the highly professional exhibits of companies like Canon, Hassleblad and Leica, and the stunning model shows put on by Panosonic and Samsung, was that by far the 'coolest', most original exhibit was that put on by the makers of the cheap plastic Holga, with their laid back/punk atmosphere, funky photos, and cheeky "Analogue is the Future" banners. Unfortunately none of my photos were taken with a Holga (I left it at home) but their exhibit has inspired me to take it out more often.










Please have a look at the whole gallery: http://www.pbase.com/nickdemarco/from_photokina

 

[bennyng]

Thanks for sharing! I love the tagline "The future is analogue"!

Cheers,

 

[srtiwari]

Gorgeous pictures, Nick !
I am impressed with the 5D + Leica glass images. Maybe I should hold on to my Contax SLR lens and do the same.
Subhash

 

[Roger Hicks]

Surely Lomo not Holga.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Nick De Marco]

Of course you are right, Roger. But Lomo make Holga and since I have a couple of Holgas I call them by that name.

 

[Roger Hicks]

. . . Lomo make Holga . . .

Dear Nick,

Really? I didn't know that.

Herewith some more photokina pix, some taken after the show had closed to visitors.

Cheers,

R.

 

[jbf]

Nick you used leica glass on your 5d for these shots? How is manual focusing? Im looking into buying a used 5d around christmas time, and a leica 35 and 50 R lens would go great with it I bet... but im not sure how easy it'll be to focus or how bright the finder will be.

 

[Nick De Marco]

Roger - yes indeed... they make a range of multi coloured holgas and some Diana + cameras now. It's quite the thing in some circles. Check out their website... http://www.lomography.com I think they are worth an article in AP.

I have a standard Holga and a Holga panoramic pinhole thing which is fun. Here is a double exposure I took with it in St Peters recently

Like your pic no. 2 a lot Roger

jbf - having used manual focus lenses before, it's not too difficult. The viewfinder is pretty good. Plus these R lenses are so nce that even if the focus is off a little you have nice effects. I think its worth it for the good bokeh on the 5D and I have recently invested in a few second hand R lenses (which you can pick up surprisingly cheap on ebay) for the 5D.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Roger - yes indeed... they make a range of multi coloured holgas and some Diana + cameras now. It's quite the thing in some circles. Check out their website... http://www.lomography.com I think they are worth an article in AP.

Dear Nick,

Keep taking pics like that and you might persuade me that Holgas are worth bothering with! I really liked it.

Have you seen the stereo Holgas yet? I saw them at photokina along with the coloured ones. Odd I never realized they were made by the same people as Lomo.

Thanks for the kind words about the pic.

Cheers,

R.

 

[nksyoon]

I thought that Lomography marketed the Holga but that it was owned/manufactured by a different company. Lomography on their website don't claim to own or make the Holga, but they have been influential in popularizing it and packaging into different kits.

http://www.lomography.com/holga/about
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holga
http://www.holgapolis.com/history.html

 

[Nick De Marco]

Thanks for your kind words Roger. I plan to do some Holga stuff next week.

nkyson, I think they do make Holga. As you say they definately market them. I just bought some new Holga gear from the Photography Gallery in London (which have a great stock of stuff) - only ever got stuff from ebay before. The Intsruction manual states "Holga Flash Camera by Lomography" and the Lomography Society are the only company listed in the documentation. Granted, they no doubt sub-contract the manufacture out to some factory in China, but I would not be surprised if it was the same one that made the Lomos or the Dianas which they also sell. For all intents and purposes Lomo, Holgas and Dianas appear to me to now be al part of the same stable