optical corp.

optical corp. visual investigations committee: it's more than a photoblog, it's a blog with photos on it!

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canon AF35M, fuji 200, january 2023

(horizon adjustment on fourth image)

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canon AF35M, fuji C200 (maybe slightly expired?), december 2022

got this Canon for a dollar at a photo swap meet pre-COVID, but never put a roll through it proper until now. i really like it, even if it does sound like an industrial shredder every time it advances or rewinds!

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pentax k1000, expired kodak gold, may 2021

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In my experience a very nice synth and can plug in nicely to a number of vintage guitars. Have very fun memorizes of playing this instrument and looking all so fashionable as it matches quote a few of my vintage dresses nicely.

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optical corp. visual investigations committee presents autumn medium ver.1.1 october 2022

photos: aiptek megacam (mini pencam 1.3) made in: arcsoft videoimpression 2 via win98 virtualbox audio: gigi d'agostino - l'amour & durutti column - collette greetz 2 digicam.love crew

[opticalcorp]

olympus brio D-150, january 2022

long time no see, sorry! i’ve been meaning to post again for eons but i was taking more photos than i could possibly keep up with honestly. photography is always fun and enlightening—choosing, organizing and posting and sometimes writing a bit on said photos on the other hand... but i’m definitely not bereft of shots. making posts can feel a bit too structured as well, perhaps; all this time i’ve been sharing stuff i’ve taken with family, friends and acquaintances on discord—it’s a lot nicer and looser that way. i don’t want to get too stuck in a loop of “ok i’ll start [x] more this time” and then very much not... though having some structure is also good... also would be cool not to spend too much time on these posts like they’re all masterworks or something LOL.

anyway here’s a few things from recently. been focusing on digicams again since probably september-october of last year. been getting acquainted with smartmedia for this one!

actually that reminds me, i recently got access back to my old flickr account and threw down some dollars for Pro in order to have another backup for all my stuff. it’s mostly a backup, but i’ll make more and more things i like public over time. it’s not a replacement for this tumblr or vice versa, they’ll complement each other i think. we’ll see!

but yeah here’s the flickr

also i need to work on this tumblr’s about page since it hasn’t been updated in eons lul. lots to catch up on in general! thanks!

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lynx PPL 500XL, kodak ultramax 400, may 2021

lightspeed

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lynx PPL 500XL, kodak ultramax 400, may 2021

finally threw some color into the lynx a few weeks back while in downtown dallas. the booming yet slightly cool color of the ultramax plus the aberration of the lynx almost has a slide film kind of energy to it.

a couple days ago in an early morning daze i confused the lynx for my pentax and tried to use the rewind knob to open the back... which meant basically beheading the thing. oops. just ordered another one of these New Taiwan/Yunon cameras (this time branded the Capital MX-II) as a replacement—they’re truly a dime a dozen with variations on variations out the wazoo. the Capital i got looks to have a curved film plane as opposed to my Lynx’s flat one (and in contrast to other Capitals i’ve seen), we’ll see how it differs in execution!

but obviously the most important thing is the dog driving the car. maybe they’re also driving the bus?

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lynx PPL 500XL, holga 400, may 2021

the lynx and the holga 400 film are an amazing combination—i’m obsessed with the pincushion distortion and the glistening crystal-snow of the trees in that first shot, combined with the overlapping exposures tying everything together. really happy with how this roll came out!

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lynx PPL 500XL, holga 400, may 2021

wow okay yeah i love this camera! the softness, distortion and... indecisive focus combined with the ease of use (and ease of double exposure!)

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lynx PPL 500XL, film washi Z 400, may 2021

and now for something vaguely resembling “legible photographs”! the Lynx (which shares genes with the classic Time Magazine Camera) is my first proper toy(ish) camera, i’ve had all-auto point-and-shoots in the form of my Ricoh and Nikon (plus a louder-than-sin Canon AF35M i’ve never actually used), but this is my first true film trashcam, all manual everything and no brand recognition... and i love it already! excited to see where i can take it from here. the softness of it definitely works well with the washi film i inaugurated it with. not thinking too much but still a lot to think about (that sounds mad deep), it’s a nice chill spot to be in.

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lynx PPL 500XL, 90s expired kodak gold, shot (1) and edited (2) may 2021

of course the first thing you’re going to shoot with a camera you’ve never used before is some kodak gold that expired in the first half of the 90s and not even God knows where it was stored in all that in-between time, and of course the result you’re going to get is something like that tartan ribbon from 1861 or the exasperated ghost of a roll of Kodachrome found under a couch cushion. film remains one of the most fascinating things on Earth.

music: the other people place - sunrays

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pentax k1000, early 2013, developed september 2019

another ride on the grain train

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pentax k1000, early 2013, developed september 2019

biiiiiiiig grain! i’m pretty sure this was ilford 3200; letting it sit for six years only added to that grain. and god knows having these scans on my computer for a year and a half made it even grainer!

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pentax k1000, probably film washi Z 400, probably january 2021 (1-2) may 2021 (3)

been returning to film as of late, as i’ve become comfortable going to my local camera spots again to get things developed as well to scope out whatever random curiosities are kicking around. film really is just such a comfortable medium. got a whole lot of stuff from 2019 (and 2010-2013) i need to get up here some time but just flipping through it all really stirs up memories, you know? it’s comforting, sometimes painful, and always something to get lost in. recently got an nearly-all-plastic toycam, a Lynx PPL 500XL (aka the Yunon YN 500, amongst a zillion other names) and I’m looking forward to what comes of it; should be getting scans from it soon.

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mini digital keychain camera, april (1-2) and may (3-4) 2021

the drugstore classic, the 100k pixel powerhouse, the great grey wonder... the cam of a thousand brands*! i finally got one of those omnipresent little silver plastic cameras that for a while took up permanent residence in every pharmacy, screaming “wow! only $10″, seemingly everywhere and nowhere. i specifically got it because it uses the same cable as my aipteks, a cable which i’d been searching for forever and which turned out to be far cheaper to get bundled with this trashcam to end all trashcams. high-def size is 352x288** and small size is 176x144, with both sizes having high and low compression modes. mostly been using it in the default large size low-compression mode, but i definitely want to mess with the other modes. it’s got a similar character to the QVGA mode of the VQ300, but perhaps less pixelated and more... smudgey? something like shots from a still video camera; in some conditions there’ll be a streakiness to it like a inkjet running low or a scanner malfunctioning. it’s super interesting and it’ll be fun to mess with it more!

there’s a ton of interesting shots people have done with this device the past two decades, but i’m especially digging these, everything from low-bit Cocteau Twins to wild glitching that really makes it seem like a still video cam.

*or in my case, none at all! // **i think my shots from this month were interpolated to 640x480 in the software?

p.s. omfg

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vistaquest VQ5015, april 2021

CMOS stretching and bending