What are your favorite "junk" cameras?

K

Krasnaya_Zvezda

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I was lured into camera collecting down a very quick slippery slope once I discoverd Lomography and the cameras lomographers used. I bought a Smena 8 and an 8M, and saw something called a Fed 5... got one of those, and three Zorkis, two Feds, a Kiev, two Zenits and a lot of other stuff, I show no sign of easing up... in fact, I finally admitted to my lovely wife the other day that I no longer make a pretense of buying cameras for the features of their use, but I am buying merely to collect. There, I've even said it here. But I digress.
By "junk" camera, I guess I mean those of dubious optical/mechanical quality, and inherent 'cheapness', but possessing of a certain charm, I guess.
Some that come to mind, and I nominate as the number one junker, the Diana, also Holga ( I proudly own two, one with a Polaroid back) the aforementioned LOMO stuff (I love my Lubitel 166B and my Smena 8 (but I don't love my 8M).
I need to stop here, the coffee has me on warp drive---
Looking forward to hearing from junk camera lovers here.
 
Forgot to mention another of my favorites, although I don't use it much, since it is not worthy to sit amongst my real cameras: Action Sampler.
 
Well, according to one inlaw of mine ALL my cameras are junk"What? NO megapixels? and youhave to focus that thing your self? Get a clue"I think he said to me one time.
The ones I think fall into this category:
My polaroid I-Zone camera--the teeny pictures are too cool.
I also have a Nickelodeon Fotoblaster. Two shots on a halfframe neg(not in sequence like the action sampler) --silly but it was a gift from my then 11 year old nephew.
Ther is also my Argus C4 that was in two peices when I found it (50cents or 1$)the lens had been partly disassembled. I have all the peices but right now I use it for 35mm pinhole. Some time I will try to put it back together.
I'm not trying to make great art with any of my cameras but some times I need to be a little silly and these 3 cameras do the trick nicely.
Rob
 
My favourite is the Lomo LC-A. Nice cam for shooting around with or without any sense. I also have an Action Sampler but never finished the first roll of film with it. This cam is really junk. Totally plastic and the frame counter does not even work.
 
My action sampler is crap. I still have it but only because my little girl might like to use it for a while. Otherwise it would have been thrown out long long ago.

I have two Lubitel 2's. They're nice enough but I can't ge used to the upside-down-moving-the-wrong-way view in the VF. I also don't like the cost of having 120 film developed and that I have no proper means of scanning the negs. I may be tempted to sell them if anyone is interested....

I love my Holga. I converted it so I can shoot 35mm film in it. I haven't used it in over a year bbut that's because my Bessa R, Leitz CL and Leica M2 take up all my shooting time. :) I've taken some really nice shots in them Holga days.

Shouldn't this thread have a poll? :)
 
The same thing that happened to Rob occurred to me, but it was my side of the family! I have a $15 Ansco Super Regent, a.k.a. the Agfa Super Solinette, that never fails to deliver excellent photos with its 4 element Solinar set within a 10 speed Synchro-Compur. Plus, it's a folder. So, it's pocketable.
 
Hey, I didn't say the Action Sampler wasn't crap--- I just said it's one of my favorite junkers. When my grandson gets another year or so older, it'll be something he can destroy without worry.
Argus C4, that's a nice camera. When new, it cost about $500 translated into 2005 dollars. I didn't mention, prior to being sucked into the Red Side, I acquired quite a few Argus models, all of which are IMHO underrated and very good shooters. I can't put them in the junk category, but of course it is all opinion, as pointed out by Rob and his discerning inlaw.
 
I'm a bit of a sucker for any odd/cheap cameras. I have a Holga that I spent more time modifying (apertures, fitted PC socket etc) than taking pictures with, while that bug was biting I picked up a Diana clone (Asiana) that is still sitting on my desk with a partly exposed test roll in it. The one I do get some use from is my Loony Tunes Polaroid :D I got it off ebay for next to nothing and was given a load of out of date film (still works fine) to play with, it always gets a smile when I pull it out but I have to keep an eye on it... everyone’s kids want to make off with it..hehe. I'd like to get a Lomo LC-A but they are so in they are out and a few of the smaller cheap Soviet cameras are on my wish list but I cant be trusted once I get started buying, I'd have to have a 'set' :rolleyes:
 
Holga 35mm results

Holga 35mm results

Going over my Holga 35mm shots I came across a few that I quite like and make want to dig up the old plastic beast again. :)
 
While not technically junk, I have 18 Brownie Hawkeyes that I like. Also two Dianas, 2 Diana clones, several Time/Sports Illustrated etc. give away cameras, and two Anny/Colt 44's. If you want to talk real junk, I also have a box of Meikai, etc. plastic crappies I used to pick up for little or nothing at yard sales.
 
Well, I have a Kodak/Vallenda Junior 620 that my wife got off a swap-meet table for $0.50. The winding tab wouldn't engage the spool, but I got that fixed. Sorta junk, I guess, but I haven't shot any of the 3 rolls of Portra 160 I got for it at $10/roll, so it cannot yet be a favorite.

I started off with cheap cameras: first a Regula, then a Petriflex V and a Petri Half-7 before going with Pentaxes. Not really junk, and I did get a lot of good use out of the Petris.

I guess the Argus C3 could fit the category, affectionately cheap as I paid $10 for it some years ago when I wanted a camera with manual shutter cocking for a multi-exposure project. It's actually a pretty decent shooter!
 
Re: Holga 35mm results

Re: Holga 35mm results

RML said:
Going over my Holga 35mm shots I came across a few that I quite like and make want to dig up the old plastic beast again. :)
Click to expand...

What a beautiful shot! Holgas rock, man.
 
Doug said:


I guess the Argus C3 could fit the category, affectionately cheap as I paid $10 for it some years ago when I wanted a camera with manual shutter cocking for a multi-exposure project. It's actually a pretty decent shooter!
Click to expand...

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, Argus made fine cameras back in the day. The C3, for all its ergonomic shortcomings, was (and still is) a great shooter. They were quite expensive to purchase new in their time, a C3 kit in 1954 went for I think $74.95, not a mean sum in those days. And I don't believe you will find many who will malign the Cintar lens. One of my favorites is the a-four, a viewfinder with a non-inter-changeable 44mm Cintar, very sharp with fine color rendition.
No, Argus stays out of the "junk" category.
 
Krasnaya_Zvezda said:
No, Argus stays out of the "junk" category.
Click to expand...
Well, I can respect that too. To support that view, I recall a sergeant in my USAF unit who'd been previously stationed to Honolulu. He'd take his Argus C3 to Waikiki and take postcard shots on Kodachrome ASA 10, and then regularly sell them to postcard printers. A bit of income to help him pay for film and processing! Umm, I'll have to admit he related this story to me in the early-60's...
 
HOL GA!
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HOL GA!
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HOL GA!
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HOL GA!


(that is a crowd chanting, everybody join in)
 
I have a Petri 7 1.8 and a Petri 7 1.8 that I bought as junk cameras off Ebay. Both were listed as not working. After replacing the light seals with craft foam, and working the sticky mechanisms approximately 1,000 times each, I ended up with two very nice manual rangefinders, even the meters in both are working.
Kevin
 
Kevin, do you mean you have TWO Petri 7 1.8 's? :D

The only junk camera i ever had was the family's old Smena 8M. Its charm lies in the fact that it was the first camera I used to actually take pictures - and the only one up to the age of 23. The lack of a meter in it teached me some about photography and light however, i don't have any good pics to show...
 
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