Blackbird Fly camera, image copyright http://www.japantrends.com
My Blackbird, Fly 35mm toy camera is orange. And you all know I’m a sucker for orange. I received it as a gift a few months ago and haven’t yet blogged about how much I love it!
The twin reflex Blackbird, Fly allows me to shoot at waist level, maintaining eye contact with my subject or pretending to be fiddling with that orange contraption in my hands while firing away. The camera’s use of 35mm film makes it easy to find photo processing services that ring in at less than $20 per roll, and the turnaround time for 35mm photo processing is typically less than twenty-four hours. I can have my CD of Blackbird, Fly camera output back and blogged all impatient-like.
The camera is reasonably well-constructed; I have no doubt that if I drop this bad boy, it will stay together. There’s no need for batteries — another bonus — and rewinding film is easy-peasy. Loading the film is a bit of a beast, as it’s unlike the standard 35mm camera construction, so you’ll need your instruction manual.
The Blackbird, Fly retails for $119.99 USD. Its use of 35mm film will quickly offset the expensive-for-a-toy-camera cost, and you WILL be stopped by strangers to ask about its unusual qualities and color.
These images were shot on the Blackbird, Fly inside Terrain at Styer’s. If you haven’t yet visited this gorgeous local nursery, go! Go now!
1/125 shutter speed, 400 ISO Kodak film. Soft greenhouse light from above.
The final images were shot on a visit to the Bamboo photography studio in Mt. Airy, Pennsylvania.
1/125 shutter speed, 400 ISO Kodak film. Outdoors with cloud cover.
The Blackbird is akin to a jaunt around town in a vintage convertible: fun, memorable, and retro all in one. It’s worth it if you intend to shoot vertical 35mm images and want to indulge in the look of film without the heavy vignetting or unpredictable focus of other toy models like Diana or Holga.
Sydney and I played games, sang songs, and had a tickle battle. She shyly admitted to being proposed to last week, but the poor guy got turned down. Such is the life of a popular Kindergartner…
I’ll end with a darling little series of father-daughter portraits. Dads are often shy about being included in our portrait shoot, but with some good old teasing, heckling, and piggyback-riding, all works out for the best.
