The Family: CHLOE (Lomo'Instant)

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 Introducing: Chloe

hello! i figured, in the interest to getting to know each other, you and i should become better acquainted. to that end, i thought i'd make a series of posts showcasing all of my cameras. yes, i do give all my stuff human names. what's life without whimsy?

speaking of whimsy...

a photograph of a large, boxy white instant camera.

let me get it out the way: i have never, ever used an instant camera. not even once. but i played life is strange, and i wanted finally to give instant photography a go. i'd come straight from digital and was dipping my toes into film, and this felt like the perfect bridge - all the quirks and joys and mindfulness of shooting analogue, with the (relatively) instant gratification of digital.

this camera, however, is not your old vintage polaroid.

the fine folks at lomography are nothing if not innovative. and sure, this is a budget model from their instant range - it's an all plastic machine including the lens, with a compartment for 4 AAA batteries which powers the flash. the lens isn't as sharp as it would be if it'd been made of glass, but honestly despite its construction, the camera feels solid in your hands. 

an instant photo of the entrance to manchester affleck's palace, a redbrick building with a neon sign.an instant photo of my sister's boyfriends funko pop collection, bathed in purple light.an instant photo of a shop front with shutter down. colourful graffiti covers the shutters.an instant photo of a golden retriever, bathed in yellow light.

there are a lot of features that long time lomographers will now take for granted: zone focusing, coloured flash gels, a multiple exposure button, and a bulb mode. and sure, those are old hat on lomo's entire range, but consider how unusual and groundbreaking it is to have those features on an instant camera. 

and lomography know their audience too - you can change the focus from standard infinity to a close up of 0.4 metres, and to help you grab that perfect instant selfie, there's a little mirror on the front of the camera for you to check your hair and composition.

a double exposed selfie taken with coloured flash - my left portrait is blue, and the right one is yellow.a selfie double exposed with some trees.a double exposed selfie taken with coloured flash - my left portrait is yellow, and the right one is purple.a selfie taken on instax mini monochrome. i'm smiling at the camera and holding a thumb up.

i will say it's not the easiest camera to use; a lot of my photos have come out massively over or massively under exposed. i can't count the number of photos which are just solid black, as if i'd left the lens cap on, and others brilliant white. tbere's an exposure dial on the front which runs from -2 to +2, and what that dial does is change the aperture to allow more or less light in. more experimentation is needed, but when film costs as much as instax mini, it's hard to justify just playing around - it costs around £1 per photo. that's a lot of money when you add it all up! 

to sum up:

Pros:

  • so many features!
  • can take multiple exposures
  • instant gratification

Cons:

  • film is super expensive
  • proper exposure takes some learning
  • it's a tad massive
You can pick up the Lomo'Instant and look at the whole lomography range of instant cameras here, or you can do what i did and find it for really cheap on ebay. knock yourself out!

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