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Lomography Diana+ Medium Format Camera
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| List Price: | $50.00 |
| Price: | $49.95 |
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from and sold by M Z Photo
Lomography.com recently introduced an updated version, the Diana +. This Chinese-manufactured plastic device improves on the original by offering a removable lens that unscrews to reveal a pinhole, allowing pinhole photography without modification. They were even considerate enough to make the top of the camera a ghastly vintage shade of blue. The Diana + also lets you play with a panorama mode that allows you to stitch together a panoramic scene on the negative with multiple exposures.
Product Description
Dating back to the early 1960's, the all-plastic Diana camera is a cult legend - famous for its its dreamy, radiant, and lo-fi images. The brand new Diana+ is a faithful reproduction and a loving homage to the classic Diana - with a few new features tossed in. Its plastic lens, 2 shutter settings (daylight & "B"), 3 aperture settings, and manual focus are all hallmarks of the original Diana. But on top of that, the Diana+ offers a removable lens and super-small aperture for pinhole images, two image formats (12 or 16 square shots on a standard 120 roll), an endless panorama feature that allows for unlimited and nearly seamless panoramic shots, and both a standard tripod thread & shutter lock for easy shake-free long exposures. Each package includes the beautiful "Diana Vignettes" book - packed with over 200 pages of Diana history, Diana+ images, and truly off-the-wall short stories. Uses all varieties of medium format 120 film.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #5485 in Camera & Photo
- Color: Black, Seafoam Green
- Brand: Lomography
- Model: Diana+
- Dimensions: 5.00" h x 3.25" w x 3.50" l, 1.50 pounds
Features
- Plastic lens, two shutter settings, three aperture settings, and manual focus are a faithful reproduction of the classic Diana
- Removable lens and super-small aperture for pinhole images
- Two image formats: 12 or 16 square shots on a standard 120 roll
- Standard tripod thread and a small shutter lock
- Includes a "Diana Vignettes" photo and story book; 2-year warranty
Editorial Reviews
Manufacturer Description
Dating back to the early 1960's, the all-plastic Diana camera is a cult legend--famous for its its dreamy, radiant, and lo-fi images. Our brand new Diana+ is a faithful reproduction and a loving homage to the classic Diana--with a few new features tossed in. Its plastic lens, two shutter settings (daylight and "B"), three aperture settings, and manual focus are all hallmarks of the original Diana. But on top of that, the Diana+ offers a removable lens and super-small aperture for pinhole images, two image formats (12 or 16 square shots on a standard 120 roll), an endless panorama feature that allows for unlimited and nearly seamless panoramic shots, and both a standard tripod thread and shutter lock for easy shake-free long exposures. Each package includes the beautiful "Diana Vignettes" book--packed with over 200 pages of Diana history, Diana+ images, and truly off-the-wall short stories. Uses all varieties of medium format 120 film.
A Loving Recreation and Homage to the Original
Starting from scratch with an original 1960's Diana camera, we pulled apart every tiny nook, cranny, gear, and wheel to rebuild it from the ground up. Every quirk and "imperfection" was duly noted and reconstructed--yielding a lightweight beauty that handles and feels just like the original.
The Plastic Fantastic Diana Lens
The Diana's original all-plastic lens has been duplicated with utmost love and care to ensure the same dreamy, gorgeous, color-drenched, sometimes-blurry, and often mind-blowing results that Diana users have always treasured.
Two Shutter Speeds
Choose between "N" for normal daytime snapshots or "B" for unlimited indoor and nighttime exposures.
Two Image Sizes
For your pleasure, you can choose between the 12 full-frame shots (5.2 x 5.2 centimeters), or 16 smaller square images--in the classic Diana format (4.2 x 4.2 centimeters)!
Multiple and Partial Exposures
Like the Holga, you can advance the Diana+ as much or as little as you like after each shot--making multiple exposures, half-exposed frames, and stretched out crazy-long shots a snap.
Pinhole Function
With a little twist of the lens, it smoothly rotates off your Diana+, leaving a bare and tiny window straight into the heart of your film. With this feature, the Diana+'s creative potential is shot right through the roof! Here's why:
- Pinhole shots have a super wide-angle perspective while maintaining totally straight vertical lines (no lens equals no fisheye distortion!).
- The images are very soft-focus, completely dreamlike, and absolutely mind-blowing.
- The pinhole has nearly unlimited depth of field, with reasonably close objects registering at the same sharpness as far away objects.
- Exposures are long--from two seconds in bright sunlight to several hours in subdued nighttime lighting--meaning any kind of moving object--unless it's insanely slow--cannot be properly captured by a pinhole. Therefore, you have to see moving things not as true objects, but as potential streaks and ethereal blurs on your resulting image.
Endless Panorama
When you use this special setting for the Diana+, it places sequential frames right next to each other (well, very close, at least--nothing is too precise with the Diana+). You can shoot a long, concurrent, and unlimited panoramic image, simply by twisting your body and firing every now and then. As you're using the smaller 4.2 x 4.2-centimeter format, you've got up to 16 individual shots on a given 120 roll. That can make for a seriously long panoramic shot! Original Diana and Holga photographers have been doing this for years--but it's always tough to judge exactly how far you need to advance. No longer, my friends.
Shutter Lock and Tripod Thread
Sharp and solid long exposures (especially pinhole images) require a steady camera. To help you out, we've included a standard tripod thread on the bottom of your Diana+ and a small shutter lock that allows you to keep the shutter indefinitely without holding it down.
Two Year International Warranty
The Diana+ is covered against any manufacturer defects for a full two years from the date of purchase. This warranty is valid throughout the world. We got your back!
What's in the Box:
Diana+ Camera (with lens cap and shutter lock), "Diana Vignettes" photo and story book, instruction manual.
Customer Reviews
It is what it is.
I don't know that I like my Diana as much as I like my Holga (I'm not keen on the Diana's design where the film spools are concerned; it has a nasty habit of tearing the film instead of advancing it), but as cheap medium-format cameras go, it's pretty good. The Diana, like most fixed-focus cameras, tends to prefer portrait work. Its primary advantage, other than price, is its appearance: It's a cute, silly little thing that breaks down people's inhibitions and makes even the most camera-shy subjects laugh, which makes it perfect for taking lively, spontaneous environmental portraits. I can think of three or four people I've been dying to photograph who will probably give up and let me shoot a frame or two if I break out my funny little toy camera at the right moment.
Those who are not familiar with the Diana should be aware that this camera should not be used as your "daily driver." It's notorious for vignetting, soft focus, light leaks, and a thousand other flaws that occasionally conspire to make gorgeous, artsy images but usually just waste film and frustrate you. I wouldn't use my Diana to shoot a wedding or a graduation ... but I keep it in the car for those rare moments when a soft, moody, slightly-out-of-focus shot might be appropriate.
One thing Lomography really needs to do to improve this product is to ditch the enclosed book. Nice idea, but the execution leaves something to be desired, and it has the added disadvantage of being printed on glossy paper ... in vibrant process color ... with a hard cover ... which drives up the printing costs (and thus the retail price of the package). Offer the book and the camera separately. That way, if I want to buy two or three more Dianas, I don't have to waste money -- and resources -- on additional copies of a book I'm just going to throw away.
Bottom line: If you're interested in the kitsch factor, buy the Diana. If you just want a cheap medium-format camera to experiment with, buy a Holga and pocket the other $25.
fun camera, but expensive habit
with all the unpredictability of this plastic camera, it makes some of the most interesting photos. if you like those shots that have light leakages and an overall vignette effect, this camera is for you. i don't have a say with this in comparison to the holga, and i've heard that these newer imitations aren't as great as the true vintage dianas, but for $50 it does the job. buying film and processing it at a professional photography lab is expensive (about $14 to purchase and develop one roll of film), but once you get the hang of the camera, your photos are priceless.
i'd recommend getting the diana+ with flash instead, it's much more handy during the night, unless you like holding down a shot for 5 or more minutes.Lomography Diana F+ Medium Format Camera
don't think, just shoot
this is a cute fun little camera. i'm still getting used to it. i've been using 35mm film for it, and i had a few bad pictures, but every now end then this camera will take an amazing picture. Lightleaks do happen, so i had to go buy some black electric tape to cover up the red window in the back. it does take some getting used to, but its very easy to use. the only thing is, it's made out of plastic so leaving it in a heated area is a big No-no. and you have to be careful not to drop it.
