The classic cheap, bad camera is the Diana. Modern/Pop has on several occasions
published the work of Diana photographers. I think it was Steichen who once said
that we hadn't yet exhausted the aesthetic potential of the box camera, but I'm
not sure the Diana or LOMO is the correct way to explore that potential.
David Vestal insists his beginning students set their cameras on manual and set
the focus/exposure to hyperfocal/dull daylight, then concentrate on the picture,
rather than setting the camera. So it's quite possible to explore "simple"
photography using a good camera.
I just took a glance at http://www.lomo.com. What a model of what a Web site
should look like! Amazing that it's dedicated to such an indifferent product.
(But see the second paragraph following...) The LOMO trademark appears to be a
stylized dog. Uh-huh.
The site describes the LOMO as having a "technically astonishing" lens. It is,
if you consider the incredible amount of vignetting it exhibits. In this regard
it is equal (at least) to the Hologon, a far more-expensive lens.
The lens is also described as "mak[ing] colors radiate." In other words, it has
severe flare.
On a more-serious note... The people promoting "lomography" aren't in it just
for laughs. They're out to make a quick buck, by selling what appears to be a
crummy little camera at an outrageous price, by converting a poor-quality
product into a joke, which "you've just gotta have." (Camera, book, film, and
membership are $180!)
Product Misrepresentation: Although the LOMO is an "automat," it doesn't even
supply pie or coffee (let alone macaroni and cheese or lime Jell-O).
By the way, although it's just an incredible coincidence, the word 'loma' means
'dirt' in Spanish. But amazing nonetheless.
>>>>>
I'm surprised that several people have damaged screens with isopropyl alcohol.
The only common plastic it attacks is polystyrene (as far as I know). Don't get
it near your CD jewel boxes.
The focusing screen in the SX-70 is actually a Fresnel mirror. (Yes, mirror.)
Polaroid tested hundreds of organic solvents to find one that would etch the
"land" (pun intended) between the mirror ridges "just enough" to permit easy
focusing, but not enough to dim the image. So, sometimes strong solvents and
focusing screens _do_ go together. (But stick with Dawn.)
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