Shitty Camera Challenge

 Papa Shitty Cams issued a challenge to all photographers who enjoy using crappy cameras to come together from July 1st to August 31st 2024 and use a Shitty Camera for some photography shenanigans. Some folks explored the recent trend for early compact digital cameras to pursue some low resolution digital whilst others, myself included, found a P.O.S.* and shot some film. 

Of course I had to dig out my Praktica Sport Royale, which is still looking really awful with cheesy go faster stripes. I loaded it with my last roll of Wonderpan B&W film and I went for a wander on a late summer afternoon in September. Yes I was late to the party, but I had committed to it before I struggled with my health in the summer and better late than never comes to mind.

I enjoy the #ShittyCameraChallenge as it gives some often overlooked cameras a little love and can be a catalyst for the spark of creativity to pay us a visit. This year it definitely found me eventually. I took a couple of photos at the start of my walk and then concentrated on shooting my roll of Kentmere 400 for the Frugal Film Project. Once that was done I got stuck into my roll of Wonderpan for the #ShittyCameraChallenge.

I walked along the footpath across the wheat field, which had been lined with windrows of straw the last time I walked that pathway. The farmer had been busy getting it all raked up, baled and put away over the preceding days. I noticed the birds were enjoying feasting upon the kernels of wheat that had fallen to the ground during harvesting as they took full advantage of the last food supply before winter comes along and the farmer ploughs the chaff into the ground.

I was expecting the footpath to be closed as there is drainage works scheduled, but it remained open on this day and I got to say hello to the horses in the top field. I thought I might not have been able to see them again, so I made the most of our encounter and took plenty of photos.

My last stop was my favourite tree on The Wash. I wanted to see if its leaves had started to change colour to mark the arrival of Autumn and it is just on the edge of that change, as are many of the trees on there. I will have to come back with some colour film or my DSLR to document the final display of colour for 2024, but for now, having finished my roll of Wonderpan shot with my Praktica Sport Royale 35mm P.O.S, I headed home.

I developed my roll of Wonderpan in 510 pyro 1+100 for 17 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. Once dry I digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.

My Praktica may be a P.O.S, but fitted with fresh batteries and film, it works. Most people wouldn't give it a second glance and you can find them on ebay for not a lot of cash. They are just so easy to use. The lens cap slides to one side and doubles as the lock for the shutter release. It has a built in flash which you can switch on when you need it or set it to automatically fire if the light is too dim for a regular photo. 

The DX code reader chooses your iso, if your film is not DX Coded it automatically sets itself to 100 iso, so I have to be careful with that. The film advance is a motor wind and a switch on the bottom of the camera puts the motor in reverse to rewind your film back into the cassette. Simples!

Here's a few favourites from my roll of Wonderpan shot with my Praktica Sport Royale for this year's #ShittyCameraChallenge and I rather like the results. I know they are crap and I'm not putting them on Flickr, but the whole point of the Shitty Camera Challenge is to give shitty cameras some love. It's supposed to be fun and I had a lot of fun doing it, which is all that matters. I would normally hope you enjoy them, but as they are crap I hope you bask in all their shitty glory!

P.O.S. = Pile Of Shit.