Black SuperSampler by Lomography
I recently ordered a SuperSampler film camera offered by Lomography. I’ve had a chance this week to shoot my first roll of film, and I’ve been having a lot of fun with it (Skip to the pictures). The SuperSampler is a 35mm film camera with four lenses. The lenses shoot in sequence, either 4 pictures in 2 seconds or 4 pictures in .2 seconds, and they all have fixed focus metering of .3 meter to infinity. Due to the fast shutter speed, you need a lot of good light and a high ASA film. My first roll was 400 ASA, but Lomography recommends 800 ASA. You need a bright sunny day, and I wouldn’t recommend shooting inside.
This is a great camera for some fun shooting. The lack of settings makes it nice to just carry around and shoot without having to plan and adjust shutter speed, fstop, etc. The multiple lenses also provide a whole new element; the ability to capture motion and movement. Whether it’s you moving, the camera moving, or your subject moving, there are endless amounts of concepts and ideas. I love my Canon, but the SuperSampler is a nice change of pace.
The camera itself is very lightweight, and a good size to carry around. There are no need for batteries, or memory cards, or anything along those lines. Just your camera and some 35mm film! To advance the film, there is actually a rip-cord that you gently pull. It’s a cool feature, but I also worry it may break in the future. The warranty says they will fix or replace your camera if that happens, but that is never a fun road to go down. We’ll see how it goes if the need ever arises.
Pro’s
- Four Lenses
- The multiple lenses offer a whole new element to shooting film
- 35mm Film
- Affordable, for both the film and the development
- With film almost extinct, a lot of places still develop 35mm film
- You can use Color, Black and White, or Slide film
- Portable
- Light weight
- Small size – No additional lenses to carry, no batteries, etc
Cons
- No settings
- This isn’t completely bad, but it limits you. For example, because you can’t control shutter speed, you can only shoot in high light situations.
I have to admit, trying to find one thing for the cons list was somewhat difficult. Granted, I’ve only had the camera for about a week, so we’ll see if I can add anything to that list over time.
I have already been learning things to do, things not to do, and things to do differently with the SuperSampler camera. I wanted to make sure I got my subject completely in the frame, and after developing the photo’s, I found I could have been a lot closer a lot of the time. Note for next time!
Now, enough words (almost), here’s the pictures! I got them developed at CVS and the prints are great. I got a photo CD as well, and the images were 72 DPI files. A lot of the quality in the prints was lost, and you’ll probably see that in the pictures here.
As always, click the picture for the full version!
Toto
Backflip!
Izzy
Izzy and my thumb
Cruisin'
Alanna the jock
Spinning
Ozzy and the oversized soccer ball
Can you guess what this is?
Toto!
Get the ball!
8 feet!
Grass
Shame about the 72 dpi on the disk…
Four shots in 0.2 seconds is pretty dang quick! I can think of an image I’m trying to put together now that would make good use of that kind of speed. It takes me about 0.9 seconds to get four shots off with my camera.
Each of these images is a single picture on the roll, yes?
.-= James´s last blog ..Want some Cheetos? =-.
Hi James,
I haven’t found too many situations where I can use the .2 second speed, but I’m sure more will come up. What’s the current image you are trying now? I’m curious, and as tempted as I might be, I won’t steal the idea, haha. And yes, each one of these pictures is on one single picture on the film. So, if you get prints made, you have four frames on every individual picture.
(laughing) In photography, ideas are cheap. It’s making it work that is the challenge!
You know from my blog that I enter the monthly photo scavenger hunt on Flickr as a way of keeping the ideas coming. One of the categories for this month’s hunt is “close call,” and whether it’s catching a fragile item or keeping a glass from spilling, that quick shutter speed could make for an interesting shot if you hit it at just the right moment.
.-= James´s last blog ..Unknown Flower =-.
Hehe, Lomo cameras are great fun aren’t they?
I’ve just bought a Nikon converted for IR photography, it’s pretty cool too
Hi Gary,
Lomo cameras offer a nice change from time to time from conventional photography. Granted, they might not serve as much of a purpose, but they’re definitely fun!
I haven’t done any IR photography in the past, I look forward to seeing some of your results!
Loving the Super Sampler. Great photos. Lomo cameras are great fun aren’t they? I’ve just bought a Nikon converted for IR painting, it’s pretty cool too
I tried photography on Lomography camera long time back when I started working out more time on Photography and it was an awesome experience with it. Right now my focus is on SLR camera, it gives best result.
in the process of trying the lomograpghy camera myself, so far so good.
This camera sucks. I shot 2 rolls of film and the shutter button just stopped working. I toke care of it like I do with my other cameras and there is no reason other than manufacturing defect for this problem. I would not recommend buying this camera.