One thing I really like about the film photography community is the ability to have fun at our own expense. I have been involved with the #ShittyCameraChallenge on Twitter for the last couple of years, I first joined in for the #CrappyCommieCameraParty hosted by Papa Shitty Cams. The idea of the CCCP was to buy a really awful Soviet era camera and see what photos we could get out of it. The whole premise was to have a bit of fun and give some cameras some love.
The latest iteration of the #ShittyCameraChallenge is upon us and is called the #1990sCameraChallenge. The challenge being to buy a camera that was introduced in the 1990's and have some fun. This has been seized upon by some of the people taking part to look back at probably the most intense decade of innovation and cringeworthy tech for the camera manufacturers by using early digital cameras.
I didn't want to go down the digital route, I wanted to stick with film. I have a couple of excellent 35mm film cameras introduced in the 1990's, but I wanted to buy a camera especially for the challenge, a 1990's point and shoot 35mm film camera. I didn't want to have to mess with things like autofocus, I have those already. I didn't want to be fiddling with automatic modes, or any automation at all if I could avoid it. I just wanted a camera that I could point at a scene and press the shutter button. I found one on the PPP Camera Repairs website that fitted the bill, a Praktica Sport Royale.
The Praktica Sport Royale has a couple of automated features to help make life easy for the casual photographer that are powered by 2 AA batteries. Loading film is made easier by an automated mechanism that takes the film onto the take up spool when the door is closed and the camera switched on. The camera reads the DX code on the film and sets the shutter based upon the film speed.
When the shutter button is pressed, the camera takes the shot and winds the film on ready for the next shot. Rewinding is easy too, you use the auto rewind button on the base of the camera. When it is done you can open the door take the film out. The other automated feature is the built in flash. You can either switch the flash on and have it fire for every shot or use the Auto Flash setting which uses a light sensor that only allows the flash to fire if the light is below a certain level.
That's it, simple to use, just point and shoot. I had to take it for a test drive before the #1990sCameraChallenge starts on December 1st 2022. I loaded a roll of Ilford HP5+ 400 into it, put it into my pocket and took a few shots here and there whilst out and about.
Batteries last enough time to shoot a roll of film or two on a sunny day, but using the flash will eat into that longevity. It's not a problem as AA batteries are available just about anywhere these days. I fitted a couple of rechargeable AA batteries and used the camera in a variety of settings with changeable lighting conditions.
The flash works just fine, but doesn't have enough reach to make it worthwhile. The important thing is the motor wind mechanism works, so I will try to use it on sunny days in future. It didn't cost me a lot of cash and the photos, when taken on a sunny day look ok. The lens is a 35mm f/4.5 fixed focus and aperture and I think it is a plastic one. The photos aren't sharp, but for what I paid for it I wasn't expecting masterpieces.
Here's a few photos I took with the Praktica Sport Royale point and shoot 35mm film camera. It's good enough for the purpose I am using it for and I will enjoy seeing what everyone else taking part in the #1990sCameraChallenge comes up with. The challenge begins on December 1st and runs through to January 31st 2023. I will post these photos and the rest of my submissions in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. There's also a link to PPP cameras where you will find a selection of film cameras and lenses for sale that have been checked and are ready to use.
Praktica Sport Royale #1990sCameraChallenge
PPP Cameras
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