Future of Negative Film

Lomography based on 3 types of film. 35mm film, 120mm Negative film and instant film. Lomo fans don't bother about Digital cameras. So future of these film matters to everyone who connected with Lomography. Do the film has a bright future ? or film is already history ?

In the beginning of 2012 Kodak filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and also announced   the discontinuation of its line of professional color reversal films. So you won't see Kodak 35mm film and 120 film after the current stock is gone. Fujifilms hasn't commented on their plans for 35mm film and 120 film but there are rumors their film department still profitable even thought there is a slow decrease in demand. Now Fujifilm have almost monopoly on 35mm market they might keep it alive. Also There are small scale Manufacturers like Ilford, Ferrania, Agfa etc. They will probably keep their production rolling too ( I hope) 

Also There is Lomography Co which sell their own Lomography film. But there is bit of controversy if they have their own factory or they just rebrand film bought from others.  Many believe they just re-brand 120mm film from Lucky (a China based company) and 135mm film from Ferrania ( Made in US or Italy). Check the box to see where film is made. Ferrania's original film making days are long gone so if your box says made in Italy that means you got a film from their last available stock (known as quality film).

But probably the growing interest on Lomography might save the negative film industry from a total collapse. Some still use 35mm film cameras for learning and teaching purposes but only Lomo fans use 120mm and 135mm film anymore. Even if you have film the biggest problem is you can't find many places where they develop these type of film. It's getting really hard to find places which do this and even though there is a grown in lomo camera users it doesn't help in this case a lot. It's getting harder and harder getting your film developed. New Cameras stores or drug stores don't do it and only you can get this done is in places which belongs to old camera owners or fans who try to stay faithful to industry. Maybe it future you will have to do it your self, getting your film developed like in old days.

Anyway Negative film won't die anywhere in near future. There are still manufactures who makes these film and there is a still enough demand to keep it going. Alternative Lomo fans have for this is using an Instant back for your Diana and Holga cameras. Both Fuji and Polaroid keeping the instant film and cameras going so you will able to use to to keep Lomography alive too. But no worries for that. Not yet ! Lets hope it will stay as that.

Lomography Soft Focus Effect

Soft Focus effect really is an lens flow which lens forms images that are blurred due to spherical aberration. It's not same as out of focus. In photography Soft Focus Effect used in order to give the appearance of blurring the image while retaining sharp edges. It's same for Lomography too. This one one rare time photography take advantage of  flow. But flows in Photography is which makes Lomography. There are several methods how to get Soft Focus effect.

Plum Blossom by sung ming whang

How to achieve in-camera soft focus effect 

1. Most easy method to get this effect is put something infront of your camera lens. Something like glass, piece of plastic, polythene etc. Even Shooting through nylon stocking would work.


2. There are diffusion filter which you can buy for this.These filters also known as fuzzy filters. or You can buy a UV filter and  put something like petroleum jelly.


3. There are specifically made lens for this such as Canon EF 135mm lens or Pentax SMC 28mm f2.8 FA Soft Lens. These specail lenses have adjustable levels of spherical aberration at wide apertures and if you want you can disable it too. This method is called Chromatic Aberations.


4. There is another way to achieve soft focus effect using multiple apertures. There are some professional soft focus lenes called Rodenstock Imagon which are made for this. These lenses were made  from 1931 to the 1990s in different focal lengths for small-screen , medium and large format cameras.


5. Spherical Aberration is the last method probably the most original way to achieve soft focus effect. Basically this is a flow in lens. This best way to get it is homemade lenses made from a single element or achromatic pair.

Some great Soft Focus Effect examples

buckshot @ Lomography.com

Jonespointfilm

Nao.k

Evonne

Lomography.com

You can find plenty of great soft focus photos just by searching in Google search. Cool thing about this is you can do this without spending money at all. No expensive cameras or lenses needed. Your simple Lomo camera is more than enough you can use all kind of things you can find at home to cover the lens and see how this effect works.

Fujicolor Pro 400H 120mm Film

120mm Film is something special for Lomography. Nobody else use this film anymore so its not easy find 120mm film in camera stores. Also there aren't many companies which make this kind of film anymore. If you are looking for 120 film to buy the Amazon is a great place to find those for cheap prices and free shipping. FujiColor Pro 400H Color 120mm film is one the best you will find in market and you can buy a 5 roll pro film pack from Amazon for only $25 ! I doubt you will find this quality film pack for cheaper than this. FujiColor Pro 400H Color 120mm film has high speed ISO 400. You get great skin tones and excellent three-dimensional appearance. 6th Color Layer Technology with enhanced optimization of spectral characteristics.

This 120mm film work great for both low light and sunlight. A lower contrast film that has a gorgeous grain structure and great color. Works great with Lomo cameras like Holga cameras and Diana cameras. Something really good is FujiColor Pro 400H Color 120mm film gives you faithful color reproduction of scenes under a wide variety of lighting. So this combine with unpredictability of Diana and Holga Lomo cameras you can make wonderfully creative photos. Product descriptions says this 120mm film is ideal for  portrait work, as well as indoor or outdoor location photography, particularly in limited light. That's exactly what you get from it. This is why Amazon customers have given 17 five star ratings out of 19 total ratings.

Get a 5 Roll Pro pack for only $25 with free shipping  >>>  From Amazon

Also make sure to read reviews at Amazon before picking this film I'm sure you will be happy to buy after reading those.

Holga 120N Plastic Camera

Holga 120N Plastic Camera is one the best selling Lomo Cameras at Amazon.  It has a standard tripod mount and bulb selector for extra long exposures. You can use between 12 and 16 exposures of  120 film. It's a perfect 120 film camera for Lomography ! No batteries needed like Some other film cameras. You can get all standard Lomography characteristics like vingetting, soft focus and the enchanting possibility of light leaks. Features include two masks for either 6 x 4.5cm or 6 x 6cm images -Standard tripod mount (1/4-20) -Bulb selector for extra long exposures -Hot shoe flash sync Uses 120 film or 35mm. Also it's very cheap camera. Only cost you 30 USD !  You can use it for fun or even give it as a small gift to you your boyfriend / girlfriend who love Lomography or to small kids who like to take photos.

Remember this is not a camera for " Photography " but for " Lomography ". It got a plastic lens and no flash, no light metering, no focusing. Only downside is not everywhere you can find places develops 120 film. But these are so much fun. Holga 120N Plastic Camera is very much like thiose Diana camera models of1960s and 70s but with few improvements like tripod mount and bulb selector.

Who should buy a Lomo Camera ?

If you are a person you looking for a camera which gives you result as you plan then Lomo cameras are not for you. Lomography is totally opposite of photography. We use Lomo cameras to get what we called all bad stuff in photography and totally unexpected results. as to Lomography society there are 10 facts you should consider,

• Always have your camera with you.
• Take photos regardless its day or night.
• Make Lomography just a part of the life.
• Shoot from the hip level.
• Closer photos rather than long distance photos. 
• Don't think or plan.
• Be fast.
• You don't need to know what will be the result.
• Afterwards either.
• Forget rules of Photography because this is Lomography.

I think these 10 facts give you an understanding what really Lomography is and why Lomo camera are more like toy cameras rather than those expensive DSLR or other digital camera models. You always get what usually photography would call a terrible photo like high-contrast photographs or unusual saturation and color.

What is Lomography

Lomography is an analog camera movement which prefer taking unique, high contrast photos with vignettes and soft focus. Founders of Lomography society, Matthias Fiegl and Wolfgang Stranzinger used Lomo LC-A camera created by LOMO PLC of Russia (Soviet Union at that time). These cameras were cheap toy like cameras but they were fascinated by the photos with vignettes and soft focus so they started distributing these cameras out side of Soviet Union. Later they have started roducing their own range of analog cameras which is called as Diana Camera.

The Lomographic Society is formed in 1992 and they have a strong online community. They do lot of charity work like, They have worked with Light for the World to raise money for vision care in Kenya, and with the International Red Cross for famine relief in East Africa.

In Lomography.com, There are 10 rules that define ‘Lomography ’ 

• Take your camera everywhere you go.
• Use it any time – day and night.
• Lomography is not an interference in your life, but a part of it.
• Try to shoot from the hip.
• Approach the objects of your Lomographic desire as close as possible.
• Don’t think.
• Be fast.
• You don’t have to know beforehand what you captured on film.
• Afterwards either.
• Don’t worry about any rules! (funny ha)

They are trying to show the world that even toy camera can product great photos if photographer has a creative mind. Lomo cameras are usually very cheap. So you never want to spend loads of money for like latest DSLR cameras. You can find a good Lomo camera for around 20$ - 50$ and Even though those look like toy cameras those can do a lot !