The Lomo Apparat - a quick take

Lomography introduced the Apparat 35mm camera in 2022, and while I was somewhat interested in the new camera, its price of $90 was a bit off-putting. Furthermore, it was an all-plastic camera - which isn’t surprising, but I decided a while ago not to jump right on a new Lomography product until I had seen some reviews about it.  In October 2023, KEH had a 20% off sale on some film cameras, and lo and behold -- a brand new Apparat for a reasonable price, so I ordered one.

The past couple of years has seen a number of simple plastic 35mm cameras coming to market, most of which are quite similar in features.  The Apparat though, features a 21mm lens with an integral  rectangular lens hood, flash with color filters, and B+ Instant, as well as a multiple exposure option, and a tripod socket.  It’s a small camera that encourages experimentation, as it comes with a close-up lens, multi-faceted “kaleidoscopic” lens, and a Lomo “splitzer” attachment, that when used under the multi-exposure option, allows for different sections of the frame to be exposed separately.  It uses 1 AA cell for the flash, which can be turned off when shooting the camera in daylight. 

After I received my Apparat kit from KEH, I carefully went over everything, and for one, Lomography does a great job packaging their products, making them inviting to open and examine.  Like many of their cameras, the Apparat has a paperback book accompanying it with photos that really showcase the camera’s results,  projected with that fun Lomo “shoot from the hip” ethos.  

Camera specifications:

• Film- 35mm film 
• Shutter- 1/100 sec, plus B and multiple exposure
• Lens- 21mm f/10 
• Tripod socket: yes
• Viewfinder- almost centered, with view approximating the lens coverage
• Flash- uses 1 AA battery, with ND  and multiple colored gels placed in pop-up holder
• Film advance - manual, with thumbwheel
• Film rewind - manual, no detensioning needed
• Film door - clear film reminder window, storage slot for the color flash gels

At first glance, the Apparat resembles on of the many iterations of Kodak 126 Instamatic cameras, except for the obviously large front element and lens hood.  It is definitely more robust than the RETO Ultra-Wide and Slim with the 22mm lens, and has more features.  The included metal wrist strip is quite nice, and complements the black plastic camera body.

In use:  While the Apparat is pretty easy to figure out, I do like the fact that the front switch with B, N, and OFF is easy to see, and when in OFF position, blocks the viewfinder and locks the shutter release.  That’s a welcome feature for any simple-use camera.  In addition, pressing the lower lighted switch beneath the flash turns the flash off/on - also a welcome feature.  My only real complaint is that the thumbwheel film advance is hard to turn as it does not protrude very far from the back.  Also, there is no button to depress to rewind the film. You just turn the rewind lever to pull the film back into the cassette.  I really like the lens hood and the nice secure fit of the lens cap.  I have not yet tried the accessory lenses.  

I shot a roll of Fujifilm Superia 200 in late October - mostly while on a trip to Dutchess Co., NY.  I had the film processed at my local camera store, Ball Photo in Asheville, NC.   I scanned the negatives with my Epson V700, and did some post-scan correction.  Overall, I was happy with my results.  The Apparat is a very simple camera, and I didn’t have high expectations for the results, but I liked what I did get from it.  It’s definitely a step above the typical simple-use cameras that have recently appeared on the market, and it has some features that no other cameras in its class offer.  The images are fairly sharp at center, with some blur towards the edges of the frame, and I don’t think that the wide-angle distortion is really noticeable.  You can be as close as about 1 foot from your subject, and if you use the flash, you can use the neutral density filter gel if you are really close so that the flash doesn’t wash out the image.  

Unless you are out on a bright sunny day at the beach, I recommend using ISO 200 or 400 film.  In cloudy weather, 400 ISO film should definitely be used.  I have yet to try the Apparat with b&w film, and look forward to doing so.

Is the Apparat for you?  It’s a bit lo-fi, but it feels secure in the hands and has a great wide-angle view that is better than any other simple-use camera.  It has options to encourage experimentation at a relatively low price.  It’s not as fragile as other simple use cameras, and it is fun to use.  I know that people will complain about the B option and no cable release, but if it’s on a solid tripod, there is not going to be much in the way of camera shake.  And because it does have a B setting, once could use it with low-ISO film, tripod, and guesstimation for the exposure.  You could use Lomo’s Babylon (ISO 13) or Fantome (ISO 8), and in full sun, a 1 second B exposure should be fine, with longer exposures accordingly for other conditions.

Here are some images from my first roll with the Apparat.

 

Appreciating a Classic Lens - Nikon’s 50mm f/2 Nikkor-H

My Nikon FE with a factory AI'd Nikkor-H

Over the years, I have had lenses come and go in my “toolkit” and some lenses become favorites for a time, to be replaced by another another focal length that fits my photographic practice.  Early on, it was always a 50mm lens of some sort on whatever camera body  you can imagine, and I have used an awful lot of different “normal” lenses.  In the Nikon ecosystem, there have been 50mm f/2, f/1.8, f/1.4 and f/1.2 lenses.  While I love the 50mm f/1.4 for a lot of things, the old, old, Nikkor-H 50mm f/2 has been around for the Nikon SLR since day 1, and it’s a lens that I know will always render a scene very well. Sure, it’s not the fastest of the bunch, but as a do-it-all 50, it’s at the top. Why?  

Above - the front and rear of an early non-AI 50mm Nikkor-H. This one lacks the 
rear of the lens held in place by 5 screws, meaning that it cannot be factory-
adapted to the more modern AI mount.

For one, it’s one of those lenses that has had many iterations as technology and camera bodies improved.  The original 5 cm Nikkor-S  came out in 1959, and it was a 7 element lens with 4 groups.   In 1964, the lens was changed to a 6 element lens with 4 groups, and renamed the 50mm Nikkor-H.  That lens became the sort of de-facto normal lens for many years, until 1974, when Nikon replaced the silver and black barrel with the 50mm f/2, an all-black barreled lens with a rubberized focus ring.  In 1977, the AI (auto-indexing) 50mm f/2 came out to be included with the Nikon FE, FM, Nikkormat EL2 and FT3, all of which were no longer required to use the old non-AI f/5.6 “double twist” to set the maximum aperture for the metering system.  The Nikon 50mm f/2 was dropped in 1979, and replaced in the lineup with the 50mm f/1.8, which has also had a number of iterations, but I won’t delve into them.

Above - The last iteration of the 50mm f/2 with an AI-mount.

Second, the 50mm f/2 has a very flat field with little distortion.  Perhaps that’s partly due to the f/2 maximum aperture, but in my experience, it’s sharp at all apertures, but especially so at f/5.6-f/16.  I’ve used it to copy documents on a copy stand, as a macro-lens with a bellows, and of course, general photography.  The lens was briefly given the H.C designation in 1972, to indicate improved coating surfaces.  For more information, see this account on the Nikon site. 

Real-world tests, not the sharpness of brick walls, indicate how a lens performs.  Lately, I have been using a 50mm Nikkor-H that was Nikon modified to be an AI-mount.  I don’t exactly remember when I started using it - probably last fall, but I have come to appreciate its performance with my Nikon FE, F3HP, and FM3A bodies.  In the past few months, I have been using the lens on my Nikon FE with various color films, and am really pleased with the results.  Is it any different than the last AI version of the 50mm f/2?  Probably not, but I love the classic look of the lens, and the knurled focus ring feels right.

Last and earlier versions of the 50mm f/2. The lens on the right was 
factory modified to be an AI lens.

Today, 50mm seems to be out in favor of expensive zooms, or, wide-aperture prime lenses.  I’ve certainly used  the 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor, and it has a special use for low-light or really shallow depth of field situations.  Overall though, as an all-purpose normal lens, the 50mm f/2 is one of the best lenses you can own.  The Leitz and Zeiss fanboys will probably disagree, but price-wise, you’ll not find a better 50mm lens.  It’s an SLR  lens that’s been around for over 60 years, and untold thousands have been used by photographers in all sorts of situations.  On a full-frame body such as my Nikon Df, or on a Nikon F or FM3a, the results will be excellent.  The AF equivalent would be the 50mm f/1.8 AF-D Nikkor, which is a pretty common lens and often overlooked in favor of the faster f/1.4.  However, with higher ISO settings on a DSLR, the f/1.8 aperture is not limiting.  

Old with the new 

The lenses one decides to use should be based on how they perform in the types of photography that you do.  Some times a prime lens or a set of them will be all one needs for a majority of his/her photography, and other times a zoom lens in a certain range fulfills one’s requirements.  While I have my share of zoom lenses in manual and auto-focus versions, I find myself using prime lenses most of the time.  There’s a lot to be said for using a single lens for many situations, and one photographer’s choice of say, a 24mm lens for many situations will result in quite different compositions than another photographer’s choice of 50mm, or 85mm.  You can “zoom” with your feet, if necessary, like many did when all you could afford was a single lens — the one that came with your camera, and it was most likely a 50mm prime lens.  

The Nikkormat FTN and 50mm f/2 Nikkor-H
A perfect match!

As I posted previously, I find that a 35mm lens is perfect for when I am on the street or traveling.  Often, I find myself packing one Nikon body with the 35mm f/2 and black and white film, and another Nikon body with color film and the 50mm f/2, and a 24mm and 85mm in the bag.  Those pretty much cover my needs for a lot of what I shoot, and that many decades old 50mm Nikkor-H f/2 has never disappointed me.

The more modern 50mm f/1.8 is a tad faster than the f/2, and is capable of slightly
closer focus. It's also an excellent normal lens.

My factory AI'd Nikkor-H has slotted screws on the back, vs the
Phillips screws on later versions. Those knurled sections are very
satisfying to the touch.

A few very recent results from that 50mm f/2 Nikkor-H with the Nikon FE and various color films.

Wassaic, NY. FPP Color 125

Amenia, NY FPP Color 125

Millbrook, NY Reflx Lab Pro 100

Amenia, NY Reflx Lab Pro 100

Kent, CT, Fuji Superia 400 at 200.

Kodak 2238 and a Rollei 35 TE

I first reviewed Kodak 2238 in 2017, and shot it under winter conditions, where the contrast was already quite high.  Also known as Kodak Panchromatic Separation Film for use in the cine world, it’s a low ISO film that’s rated at 12-25 ISO, and does not require a special low-contrast developer to get a proper negative.  That’s what I like about it, since D-76 and D-96 are my favorite developers.  But the other thing I like about 2238 is it’s ultra-fine grain - nearly grainless, and the way it renders landscape scenes.  I loaded a roll into my Rollei 35 TE, which I’ve owned for well over 20 years.  The Tessar lens in that Rollei 35TE is sharp as can be, perfectly suited for a high-definition film like 2238.

Since 2238 is shot at ISO 25, I limited use to daylight photographs, as my Rollei 35 TE shutter no longer operates at speeds below 1/15 sec.  That’s due to the way these cameras are typically stored - with the shutter cocked and the lens retracted into the body.  Long-term storage like that causes the loss of the slow shutter speeds.  

I shot most of the roll of 2238 on a trip to Ludington State Park, Michigan, in mid-September.  It’s a great little camera to keep in my camera shoulder bag, as it takes up very little space, and I have always had great results from it.  While it does need a battery for the meter, I rarely use the meter, and just go with an external meter of sunny-16 estimates.    

Ludington State Park is on the Lake Michigan shoreline about half-way up the west coast of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. There are lots of sand dunes, inter-dunal ponds and wetlands, as well as Big Sable Point light house at the northern end of the park.  So, it has great lakeshore access as well as a nice road/trail that runs N to the lighthouse.  I mostly shot that day with my Nikon F3HP, but the trusty little Rollei 35 came out towards the end of my day of shooting. 

The film was developed in FPP D-96 for 12 minutes, and the results were what I expected.  It turns out that the roll of 2238 had been loaded nearly a year prior, when I was in Lexington, VA.  That’s what happens when there’s a small camera in my bag — it sometimes can take a year to shoot with it.  Here are a few shots from that roll, all scanned on my Epson V700.

my favorite of the series

I encourage you to try some of these oddball films like Kodak 2238.  They are not what I’d call general-use films, since they are very slow.  But, for detail-rich landscapes, architecture, and a different take on portraiture, they can yield great results depending on the lens and the lighting.  Another good choice for slow films is Rollei RPX 25, which is readily available and can be easily developed.  

PANOZINE - for Panoramas

I’ve been thinking for a long time about publishing a zine dedicated solely to panoramic film images.  The first iteration in a way, was the Monochrome Mania issue No. 9 featuring the works of 4 photographers using the Ansco Pix Panorama camera.  Instead of being a typical portrait 8.5 x 11” format, I switched the layout to landscape format, so that the page was 11” long and 8.5” high.  It worked well, but there was a lot of white space, which in the presentation of Monochrome Mania, is quite okay.  However, I didn’t feel that it was the best way to convey the panoramic idea on the page.  It would have been even better to have a page 11 or 14” long and about half the height.  I started looking at the page layout offerings of my printer (Mixam) and found that they have a 4 1/4 by 11” print size.  That could work.  So, after developing the negatives from my Sprocket Rocket from my mid-September trip to Michigan, I immediately started working on the first issue in the new format, and PANOZINE was born.

I feel pretty lucky to be able to afford to have a zine printed and then be able to sell it, and with Monochrome Mania already established as a three-issues/year zine, I have a ready audience for any new venture.  At least I hope so. My plan is to sporadically publish PANOZINE, with each issue featuring the results from a particular camera.  I also would like to be able to print in color, as well as feature other photographers.  I’m not yet sure how I’ll do that, as I don’t want a situation where I get a hundred submissions from random people for a single issue.  Given that panos are not something that everyone does, and fewer do well, I think the opportunity to present other photographers’ work could be quite interesting.  I can envision issues either featuring a certain camera or a theme as being something that could work.   I will probably do what I did for the Ansco Pix MM issue, and invite photographers that have already produced quality panoramic images.

This first issue of PANOZINE features images from my Lomography Sprocket Rocket, a camera that certainly has a distinct look, and provides pretty good results within in its capabilities.   My camera has a bit of history, as I bought it from Trish Korous in Chicago, back in early 2017.  I have been using the camera every so often, and when I see my negatives, I usually wonder why I don’t shoot with it more than I do.  Anyhow, after my September Michigan trip, I realized that I had enough shots with it to put together at least a proof-of-concept zine with the name I had stored away in my head - PANOZINE, which of course, sounds a bit like some Italian dish.  

My run of this initial issue is 60 copies, as I am not quite sure how the sales will be. If you are interested in a copy, it’s 32 pages with covers, in b&w, and the cost is $7.00 + your state tax and $1.50 for shipping via first class mail.  I am selling only in the USA at this point. You can order it from my Etsy store.

So, perhaps you’ll see color and more pages in future issues, but I guess that depends on how well this first attempt sells.  I do have high hopes for this venture, though. It’s certainly been a really fun zine to put together, with minimal text and one photograph/page.  If you have purchased a copy and are reading this, I would definitely appreciate any feedback.

The Simple Plastic Camera

 Over the course of a couple of decades of photography, I’ve often extolled the virtues of simple plastic cameras, and with two issues of Monochrome Mania that dealt with medium-format and 35mm simple cameras, I guess I have promoted them as much as anyone can. That doesn’t mean that they are the best cameras, by any stretch of the imagination. But what they do well, is to offer a different image than something from a much better set of optics that are found in your "real cameras."  I’ll never forgo using my Nikons or Spotmatics, Leica M2, or my Yashicamat, Pentax 6x7, etc. in favor of a simple plastic camera. However, that does not mean that I won’t carry one in a camera bag along with the pro gear. Michael Kenna, a fantastic photographer that has mostly used Hasselblads, published a wonderful book of Holga-based photographs which I wrote about several years ago.  It’s often dependent on a situation where one can use a simple plastic camera (toy camera, crappy camera, etc.) in a way that complements your other cameras. In fact, there have been times when a Holga image from my travels captured a place and time far better than any more complex camera could have. Part of that is knowing the best situation for simple cameras, and knowing that the exposure falls within the capabilities of the camera. 

In the past few years, we have been inundated with new plastic 35mm cameras that are reusable, and generally have the same specifications - a 35 mm focal length lens with an aperture of f/8 or f/11, and a single shutter speed of about 1/100 sec.  All have a flash, and that’s pretty much it for control.  We all know that those small acrylic lenses are actually pretty good, because the single-use cameras have been using them for years. I’m not saying they are better than my 35mm f/2 Nikkor, which they are not.  But they have a specific character that I find endearing - sharp at the center, but no so much at the edges.  These cameras also weigh nearly nothing and are compact.  So, adding one of them into your camera bag or jacket pocket isn’t a big deal. 

I recently finished up a roll of film in my Dubble SHOW camera.  It had been bouncing around from bag to bag for over a year, and it had a roll of Fujifilm Superia 200 loaded the whole time.  It’s obvious that I didn’t shoot with it a lot, but when I had the film developed I was surprised at how long it had been loaded with the same roll of film. I had shot the last half of the roll when I was in downtown Asheville, and had already shot the film that was in my Leica M2 and Spotmatic, and rather than reload them, I just shot with the Dubble camera on my way back to my car.  I’d forgotten even what film stock was in it.  I was quite pleased to see the negatives, and the Superia 200 has a very good latitude of exposure.  What pleased me the most though, was that the scanned images had saturated tones and just enough loss of detail, that they demonstrated that sharpness does not matter nearly as much as composition and subject matter.

It’s certainly possible that one could use one of these little plastic cameras for a lot pf photographic projects and come away with some memorable images. Yeah, I know it’s not the camera, but the photographer, but if you work within the parameters of the camera’s best scenario of exposure, you will come away with better images.  A lot of people trying film for the first time will pick one of these simple cameras and then wonder why their photos look like crap.  Most of the time, it’s because they don’t understand exposure or understand light.  These cameras will do fine if in perfect (for them) conditions, and loaded with any film of ISO 200-400.  After all, they are basically nothing more than 35mm box cameras.

But whoa, if these cameras are just cheap little plastic box cameras, why am I recommending one?  As I said in the beginning, put one in your bag with your better gear.  You may find that perfect moment when using one makes sense.  It’s not about the megapixels, it’s not about perfect sharpness and great detail - it’s about emotion, sense of place, and the unsharpness of memory. I’ve used toy cameras for 20+ years, and whether it’s a 35mm Holga, a Vivitar T101, a Reto Ultrawide and Slim, or the latest Kodak/Harman/Ansco/Reto /Dubble 35mm camera, you’ll find that having one (or even two)  in your camera bag will afford you the opportunity to exercise some creativity and even freedom to try something different. If you are curious about what 35mm simple plastic cameras are available, get a copy of Monochrome Mania Number 7 - The Magic and Allure of Toy Cameras, Vol. 2 - 35mm. It’s a steal at $10.

Someone’s going to ask - "How do I know what are the right conditions?"  Learn about exposure as it relates to ISO - film sensitivity to light, aperture, and shutter speed.  If your plastic camera is the Harman simple use camera or the Dubblefilm SHOW - it has a 32mm f/8 lens with a 1/100 sec shutter speed. On a day in full sun with ISO 100 film, it will slightly overexpose the film (should be f/11 or f/16) with that combination.  Overexposing a bit is not a problem with b&w and color negative films.  On on cloudy bright day, it should still be good.  Not so good in shade or overcast conditions, though.  Under overcast conditions, ISO 400 film would be a better choice.  Indoors, you’d need to use the built-in flash for subjects no farther than 12 feet away.   The specifications for the other cameras introduced in the past few years are going to be similar.  In most cases, if you use a 200 ISO black and white or color film, you will be pleased with the results with outdoor photographs on sunny to partly cloudy days.  

I highly recommend David Mihaly’s "The Old Camera Guy" YouTube videos where he uses simple plastic cameras.  They’ll give you a good idea of the type of results you can expect.  Unless your camera has a Bulb mode for long exposures, stay away from any film that has an ISO lower than 100. ISO 200 film is the sweet spot for most of these cameras.

Photography should be fun, and while one should be attentive to the proper techniques for the best results, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to take a chance and let that imprecise 35mm plastic camera do its magic.