Screw Instagram....

By Titoist
in Digital Camera Lab

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Grand Master

Titoist

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Posted

Instagram... I knew you were fake to begin with. You are nothing but a copy-cat. Bow down to the true master and original "Hipster" camera.... the Soviet Lomo.

It was a nervous time for film photography when digital cameras took off in the 1990s, and seemed set to take over entirely. But with some help from Vladimir Putin - then deputy mayor of St Petersburg - the little Lomo camera became a retro cult classic, and showed film had a bright future.

In 1991, a group of Austrian art students on a trip to nearby Prague found, in a photographic shop, a curious little camera.

Black, compact and heavy, the camera was rudimentary. The lens was protected by a sliding cover. Loading, focusing and rewinding were all done by hand.

After developing the shots, the students found it produced pictures unlike anything they had seen before.

The colours were rich and saturated, an effect heightened by the lens's tendency to darken the corners of the frame to create a tunnel-like vignetting effect, and there were dramatic contrasts between light and dark. The Austrians were hooked, and so were their friends when they showed them the results back home in Vienna.

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Distinguishing features

_64295641_cat_dowling304.jpg

  • Vignettes - the Lomo's shots show a characteristic vignette at the edges, like tunnel vision
  • Bold colours - a Lomo hallmark, especially with cross-processed slide film
  • Long shutter speed - the Lomo LC-A's shutter stays open for as long as it needs to expose a photo, which can lead to interesting light trails
  • Expired film - the LC-A's lens suits the warped coloured shifts found on cheap, expired film
  • Small size - the best camera is the one you have with you, and the LC-A fits in a jacket pocket

The little camera was the Lomo LC-A - Lomo Kompact Automat, built in Soviet-era Leningrad by Leningrad Optics and Mechanics Association (Lomo) - and very soon a craze was born. It was an analogue Instagram in the days before digital photography.

This Lomo craze may have ended up helping save film photography from an untimely end.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20434270

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Grand Master

Titoist

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Wait wait wait WHOA.

Instagram wasn't the first when it comes to the whole retro photo look?

Retro cameras did it first?

/s

I think the article is trying to mention the "style" of the photo and look which now most Instagram photos have, such as dark corners and the "tunnel-like vignetting effect". Though technically back then any photographer can do it with tricks in the darkroom, the Lomo did it automatically. Even today most photographers I know absolutely "hate" that style, but younger photographers like the "style" and ive heard it being called anything from "Hipster", to "Grunge", to "Retro". Though, what most people consider "Retro" today was achieved by point and shoot disposable consumer cameras from the 70's and earlier. My old Minolta, Nokia, and even FED can produce pictures of much higher quality if one took the time in the darkroom.

  • 2 weeks later...
Grand Master

threetonesun

Posted
Posted

Isn't one of the filters called "lomo"? I thought this was well known.

They're not all "retro" per se, a lot are just effects you commonly get with cheap cameras / lenses that allow for weird exposures, light leaking in, weird tints, etc, all of which died with digital photography. So...I suppose they're retro because they were all done on film cameras, but if you still have a place to process film you could create these effects easily.

Well, could, hipsters have jacked the prices up on those old crap cameras. :laugh:

Grand Master

HawkMan

Posted
Posted

My problem with instagram is that people use their cell phones to capture photos of their kids and lives, and use instagram to make them look like their old 70's and 80's photos.

this is going to suck when they get old and want to loko at photoso pf when they where young and had kids and such, and all their pictures are crap. Ask any 40+ person today, if they would rather their old pics look like they do, or if they'd rather they look nice and crisp with real colors...

Grand Master

Draconian Guppy

Posted
Posted

My problem with instagram is that people use their cell phones to capture photos of their kids and lives, and use instagram to make them look like their old 70's and 80's photos.

this is going to suck when they get old and want to loko at photoso pf when they where young and had kids and such, and all their pictures are crap. Ask any 40+ person today, if they would rather their old pics look like they do, or if they'd rather they look nice and crisp with real colors...

Totally agree, Nothing beats have tack sharp detail and vibrant real colors. Instagram filters smear everything :/ it's amazing how millions of people think their purposefully blurred detail-less instagram ruined photo is something worthwhile keeping. I think people are just lazy, they could easily better post-process in lightroom or any other softer and get better results.

That said, this is a rather interesting subject for a whole different topic.

Proficient

Phantom Spaceman

Posted
Posted

I work in a photo department. I can't stand instagram because of the square photos. People are dumb as hell, "What do you mean my square photo gets cut off when I order a 4x6?". I spoke with a Fuji tech today, he agreed, square photos are something that should have died years ago and never been brought back. It's a non standard!

Grand Master

Draconian Guppy

Posted
Posted

One of the main reasons instagram is popular is that it blurs out details such as skin blemishes, giving the appearance of being more attractive.

I don't have any beef with removing skin blemishes, it's adding over the top effects that hands down ruin the photos! Heck i've even seen local newspapers use that "instagram blur". Even webpages with photoshop actions :/

I work in a photo department. I can't stand instagram because of the square photos. People are dumb as hell, "What do you mean my square photo gets cut off when I order a 4x6?". I spoke with a Fuji tech today, he agreed, square photos are something that should have died years ago and never been brought back. It's a non standard!

IIRC, wasn't there square film as well?

Proficient

Phantom Spaceman

Posted
Posted

I don't have any beef with removing skin blemishes, it's adding over the top effects that hands down ruin the photos! Heck i've even seen local newspapers use that "instagram blur". Even webpages with photoshop actions :/

IIRC, wasn't there square film as well?

Yup there's square film, and today I did some square slides. They're pretty much dead and gone though until this instagram thing started it back up.

  • 2 weeks later...
Veteran

moloko

Posted
Posted

I work in a photo department. I can't stand instagram because of the square photos. People are dumb as hell, "What do you mean my square photo gets cut off when I order a 4x6?". I spoke with a Fuji tech today, he agreed, square photos are something that should have died years ago and never been brought back. It's a non standard!

I like square photos myself. Non standard? I can get them printed at home or at the lab I use.

Parents love it when I put in a frame.

I thought wet plates are square too. Those are still around.

  • 3 weeks later...
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