Introducing a loaner #believeinfilm #panorama camera for the 2026 #pinhole Challenge
Pinhole image made with a three-pinhole Pinhole Blender 120 camera.
This image is a real mind bender. The RH elements (door and railing) are oriented correctly … but should be on the left of the frame. The LH element’s likewise, car is facing correct way but that chunk belongs on the right … mind blendered!
Perhaps I should explain.
If you heard my appearance on a recent Lensless & Lo-Fi podcast episode you’d have heard Andrew offer me the loan of his Blender 120 Pinhole camera.
I’ve put two test rolls through to ensure I know how to use it and understand some of its idiosyncrasies before using it during the first quarter of 2026 as part of the BoF 2026 Pinhole Challenge.
Being a brief interlude with a Polaroid i-2 #believeinfilm
Recently Andy and I did a camera-swap (temporary of course) with him borrowing my Polaroid Flip and leaving his Polaroid i-2 in my care. There is a huge price difference between the two with the £500+ i-2 being considered Polaroids flagship offering whilst the Flip, at around £150, is a distant “second-best”. This post then is a first impressions of the i-2 from my early experiences.
My views on the films themselves have been covered before both here and on the Lensless & Lo-Fi podcast so I won’t repeat them again. For an account of Andy’s experiences with the medium head to his blog for a series of interesting reads. He has plenty to say about the consistency of Polaroid film. The following extract though gives a taste of his thoughts:
Let me also tell you that the ISO of polaroid film is a moveable feast, depending on temperature, prevailing winds and the shipping forecast for Dogger. It’s written on the film packaging. “ASA 640. Film speed may vary, allow for (plus or minus) 1/3 stops”
Let me start by saying that I love the concept; a fully featured camera with full user control of exposure, fast and accurate auto-focus and, according to Polaroid, the sharpest lens ever made for a Polaroid camera. It is definitely the most advanced instant camera that Polaroid has ever made, offering much that other instant cameras don’t and on paper, despite the high price, should be a compelling purchase. Yet, despite a hefty discount during the Black Friday event recently I wasn’t tempted to add one to my kit bag. And that was before I’d had a chance to play with Andy’s camera.
I started with the camera set to full Auto mode, with the firmware up to date, and loaded with a pack of the native i-type film. As per my preferences this was the mono version of the film but as the camera was made to use i-type film as its default, and as I was planning on leaving it on Auto, I felt confident. Single exposures, no multi-exposure or manual shenanigans, and let the camera (Polaroid’s best ever) take the strain. What could go wrong?
Halfway (ie 4 images) through this first pack and I was feeling Andy’s frustration. Two outdoors with flash turned off. Two indoors with flash turned on. Camera set to Auto.
Out of the eight images in that first pack of mono i-type film I had seven over exposed of which only one was what I would deem acceptable. A single indoor image made with the flash turned off was the only one of eight I was happy with. All on Auto, no user intervention, just Polaroid’s best ever camera.
To be fair, more than acceptable; I love how this one turned out. I enhanced the effect by converting it to true black & white in Snapseed.
The sole image in the pack that turned out to be close to “properly” exposed
Chatting to Andy, and re-reading his blog, it soon became clear that he had had equally disappointing results with the mono film. Pack two would be i-type colour then!
Not very inspiring images, I was more interested in seeing how they were exposed. Polaroid i-type colour.
As Andy had predicted there was an immediate improvement in terms of exposure. The first four are all acceptable, boring images admittedly, but acceptably exposed.
The final shot from that pack of i-type colour was a double exposure which it handled with aplomb. Why then does this flagship camera play nicely with the colour variant of its native film but not the mono? I’ve only tried Auto as yet but surely that should be where it shines, away from user error? As a primarily mono photographer this feels like a deal-breaker at this stage.
My third pack, having tried i-type mono and colour was a pack of Polaroid 600 film. Let me state upfront that I forgot to tell the camera that I’d switched from i-type film to 600 so if it’s made a difference that bit is on me. However, spoiler alert, I was happy with all eight from this pack of Polaroid 600. The first image out of the pack was correctly exposed (outdoors in dark with flash on) and the second (outdoors in twilight, no flash) brought a huge smile to my face. The third, made thirty minutes later at the same location was a salutary reminder of how limited the tonal range is with Polaroid film and how important it is to time your image making accordingly and/or adjust for the conditions.
7:30am
8:00am
Every image in this pack was correctly exposed. Compare that to the mono pack and you’re left with a distinct feeling of WTF? Incidentally, the final image was a multi-exposure featuring an arms length selfie. Andy has had some success with multiple exposures and the couple I’ve attempted have been satisfactory so perhaps that’s the next avenue to go down.
Polaroid 600 double exposure
These first three packs have been a very mixed bag and have certainly not convinced me that I need an i-2 in my life. I find it astounding that a premium camera with a premium price tag does not function as it should in Auto mode straight out of the box. If I’d been manually setting the exposures then it would have been on me. True the variability of the film, so ably demonstrated by Andy, plays a part but why such a variance between the mono and colour film?
I still have the i-2 and with the ritual swapping back not due to take place until I visit Andy in late January I will persevere with it and hopefully report back once the loan period is over. However, I’m pretty sure I will be sticking with my Polaroid Flip when it returns.
In the meantime I’ve loaded a pack of SX-70 Monochrome and have adjusted the film type on the camera accordingly. As that film is rated at ISO 160 I now need to await some light!
Conditions were far from ideal the morning I chose to debut the new camera in my kit bag – a 35mm Sprocket Rocket. I loaded a roll of Ilford HP5+, a reliable 400 speed film I use a lot, and took a light reading. However, with a fixed shutter speed of 1/100th sec and a widest aperture of f10.8 my meter was suggesting a film rated at 1600 to 3200 would be more appropriate. Eschewing a semi-stand development for once, I decided that when it came to developing the roll I would work on the basis that I’d pushed the film two stops to 1600. I have regularly pushed (and pulled) HP5+ so had no qualms about its use for this test.
But first, handling and the user “experience”. Really? To be honest, it’s a plastic camera with very limited controls so it wouldn’t really be fair to judge this like a new-to-me Nikon film SLR for example. It feels like a toy and handles like a toy being light and flimsy. A precision machine it is not; a fun little camera to play with though it certainly is.
Contre-jour
Distortion anyone? This could have done with an extra stop too!
Regular readers will probably recognise Elland town centre which was my location. Having to run errands at opposite ends of the small town centre I opted to combine shooting the roll with domestic chores. The camera is small enough to slip in my coat pocket when not being used and light enough to be unnoticed.
With a camera such as this it’s more about having fun than any form of “serious” photography. At least in my view! Like the Holga it’s not going to capture technically excellent results but it can definitely produce aesthetically pleasing and atmospheric images. I’m looking forward to getting out in more “favourable” conditions!
I think it’s fair to say that my Sprocket Rocket aversion has passed. I’ve just ordered half a brick of Kentmere 400 to lay that ghost to rest too.
Watch this space!
All images: Sprocket Rocket | Ilford HP5+ (pushed) | Euro HC(b)
A chance to listen to me waffle about Lo-Fi photography 😂 #believeinfilm
A few years back I was invited to appear on the Lensless podcast to talk primarily about pinhole photography, it was great fun and my first experience of taking part in a podcast. I’ve managed a few other appearances on other podcasts since then but I was surprised and flattered to get an invite to make a return appearance, this time to talk about my year of LoFi photography.
All images: Holga 120 GCFN | Kodak Tri-X
The 2025 BoF Holga Challenge has been mentioned several times on the blog recently and it was great to get a chance to talk more about it with two knowledgeable and well-respected hosts.
The podcast has just been published and I’ve yet to sit and listen to it but it will be interesting to see if it’s been edited down at all as we chatted for longer than expected. It was a very relaxed session and I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with Andrew and John, two gentlemen that I have been chatting to for several years now but never actually seen in real life. The wonders of the interweb-thingy!
My 2026 BoF Challenge is twelve themed months with a variety of pinhole cameras. Who knows, perhaps we can make it a hat-trick at the end of 2026 to catch up on a year of pinhole photography.
The podcast is available on various platforms including Spotify.
The 2025 BoF Holga Challenge is complete! #believeinfilm
A momentous day as I’ve just made twelve exposures on a roll of TriX with the Holga 120GCFN meaning the 2025 Holga Challenge is going to be successfully completed. In truth the weather is awful. Grey, cold, damp and raining. But I wanted to start December with the Challenge “in the bag”.
I’m sure that I haven’t taken my last Holga pic for 2025 but there’s a huge sense of achievement having completed the Challenge. I will share a few more from this roll in my next post which will coincide with the release of my return appearance on the Lensless and LoFi podcast. Watch this space!
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