For the month of February my Analog Project 2012 features the Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim. This all plastic point-n-shoot camera has built a small following within the lomography community behind it's ultra wide angle lens and it's ability to capture images in just about any lighting condition. The Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim features a 22mm fixed focus wide angle lens that captures with a fixed aperture of f/11 and a fixed shutter speed of 1/125sec.The results can be surprisingly sharp and clear when paying close attention to body mechanics (hold still) when shooting with this camera. It's all plastic design makes this one of the lowest weight cameras I own but that's not without sacrifices - the parts inside this camera are so cheap that it's likely to fail due to breakage if handled too roughly. The Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim is extremely easy to use, simply load the film, point.....and shoot. But remember to keep your fingers away from the lens or they'll end up in your shot due to the ultra wide angle lens being almost flush with the front surface of the camera. To see a short demo of my Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim jump over ot my YouTube Ch.

In response to a question:

Dear @patternfreak

I too have experienced being stuck on 'E". This seems to happen most when the film take-up spool fails to properly grab and hold on to the film leader after the rear cover has been re-attached. Simply remove the rear cover again and re-thread the film leader on to the take-up spool and making sure to wind the film advance dial a few times to make sure the take-up spool has accepted the film leader. There's enough film in the film canister to allow for extra winding of the film when loading a camera.

Also, take a close look at the top edge of the rear cover. There should be a little plastic stem on the left side of the cover - it sticks out about a quarter of an inch. That stem fits into a hole on the back of the camera. When the rear cover is removed (and the stem is out of the hole) the film counter resets itself to "E". Once the rear cover is re-attached to the camera and the stem is seated correctly in the hole, it enables the film counter to start counting when you wind the film advance knob on top of the camera. If the stem is missing the film will advance....but the counter will always remain on "E".

Good Luck

Randy (Dred242 and BokehImage)

The Sprocket Rocket

My Analog Project 2012 kicked off in the month of January with the Lomography Sprocket Rocket. The Sprocket Rocket is a 35mm film camera designed to shoot panoramic sprocket hole images. The camera is very slick looking with a throw-back retro design that looks like the Falcon Miniature from decades past. The Sprocket Rocket does great in bright sunlight with any color film - I can't wait to venture out at night with a roll of 800 speed film to see how it does. I haven't tried the double exposure feature which is done by winding the film backwards with the left-side top-mounted roll-back knob. I will admit that I've never been successful with double exposures.....but I'm willing to give it a try. The Sprocket Rocket is a wonderful and fun "not so toy" camera.

I'm kicking off 2012 with another analog project. I'm adding a few toy cameras into the mix as well as simple point-n-shoot plastic cameras because they are loads of fun when using fancy lomo films. Last year I split the project in to two parts each month - a video walk around of the camera used then a video sideshow posted over on flickr featuring images shot with the camera. This year I'm grouping several images in with the video walk around and discontinuing the sideshow.

For the month of January 2012 I'm featuring the Lomography Sprocket Rocket. A 35mm toy camera designed to shoot sprocket hole photography. The camera has an all plastic build with a classic retro design that resembles the Falcon Miniature from the late 1930's. Equipped with a 30mm super wide angle lens the Sprocket rocket can capture a 106º field of view making it a pretty decent panoramic camera. This camera also has the ability of rolling back the film to previous frames to create double exposures. The Sprocket Rocket sells for around $90 but you can find in cheaper if you shop around.

Adventures In Analog.

"Analog photography reconnects our inherent need to possess that which is real. Film and paper represents that which can be touched, held, and truly experienced - it's physical media in the purest sense. Adventures In Analog is my continuing examination of film photography through projects, discussion, and discovery."

I've carved out this spot on the web to host analog photos, video posts, and conversations about analog (film) photography. I'm not turning my back on digital - just simply giving analog photography it's rightful place amongst the things that I love. In addition to this new website, I'm kicking off 2012 with another Analog Project featuring film cameras from my collection. The videos will once again be hosted on my YouTube Channel (which got a bit of an update) and any additional photos will be posted here along with other content.