Bournville / Selly Oak, November 06
I got my first film taken with the Vivtar Ultra Wide & Slim back last week. These shitty little cameras are quite popular at the moment, especially in the West Midlands thanks to lo-fi king Harri B scoring a box load and distributing them for a quid each. I understand they’re quite hard to get hold of generally, especially in the States, so cheers Harri!
The camera itself is nothing special to look at – a standard plastic compact that takes 35mm film. What’s cool about it is the very wide lens (22mm) and the appalling quality of said lens. Not only do you get a great warp but the lens flare can be quite fantastic. It also requires a hell of a lot of light. The above photo was take on a fairly sunny day, albeit in the shadows. You need bright direct sunlight for this baby.
I haven’t quite got it to work yet, probably because I put slightly expired Ilford PAN 400 film in which is a bit too grainy and contrasty to really get the benefits (though I really like the feel of the PAN and will certainly try it again in the Nikon). A roll of 10 year expired colour is at the labs so we’ll see how that worked out next week.
Naturally there’s a Viv group on Flickr which is one of my favourites. Actually, as Flickr gets busier and more prone to the madness of crowds these lo-fi / mod groups are quite the oasis.