Crystar sub-miniature "Hit" camera.

I bought this Crystal Sub-Miniature Camera (made in Japan) at the International Bazaar at the Seattle Center (home of the 1962 Worlds Fair) in the mid 1970’s.

This type of sub-miniature camera is known as a “Hit Camera”. The camera has a shutter speed of about 1/30th of a second and an f/11 aperture. These cameras have fixed focus lenses and use 17.5mm paper backed roll film. I bought the camera when I was just a kid. Indeed what kid could resist a camera this small? I did not think about how I was going to get the film processed or where to get more sub-miniature film. After 40 years I finally cut film for this camera and took my first photograph. I put electricians tape over the frame counter window at the back of the camera. I cut down Ilford HP5 35 mm film into approximately a 17 mm strip inside a black bag. I loaded the small strip of negative into the back of the camera. I was shooting one piece of film at a time. Note: 100 ISO film would have been a better choice. My first shot was of a horse in the morning light, I shot two self portraits and had Mrs. Akula take a third photo on a walk that afternoon. I processed four mini negative strips lose in a film tank. The negatives came out square format 14mmx14mm with a dark circle in the center; I thought I had nothing until I scanned the negatives. The scans revealed a white circle in the center of the frame of my first shot, which obscured the horse, however I could see the fence and trees.

One self-portrait did not come out at all; the second self-portrait has my face obscured by the white circle. The photo Mrs. Akula took turned out the best.

This is easily the worst camera I have ever used; I took this as a challenge.

escrito por akula en 2014-12-14