Topic: vignetting help??

[Coveman]

Hello all,
I have a friend who after seeing all the android and ios apps wants to see where the original film effects come from. however not wanting to be a sell out i want to get a real vintage camera, not a new lomography one. she particularily likes the vignetting effect so i was wondering if anyone has any suggestions of cameras that produce a vignetting effect?

Thanks!

[SLVR]

Anything pinhole, holgas, LC-A's. Olympus XA series cameras can vignette a little.

Ive even got vignetting from throwing a 0.7x wide angle converter on a 35mm slr that's been stepped out a bunch. Not to the point where the vignette is the edge of the lens, but it does add a little variation in the way the light comes through the lens.

[moominsean]

there aren't many vintage cameras that actually have a vignette, unless they are super cheap. blurring is more common. to get vignette, you need a lens that doesn't cover the entire frame, so you are actually seeing the edges of the lens. most camera companies don't do this on purpose. the holga is really your best bet for a decent amount of vignette. dianas have the blur, not vignette. i think some of the agfa cameras have some vignette.

[Nigel]

A Holga with the small aperture mod guarantees vignette. In fact I understand you don't have to do the mod anymore they come with two apertures but you'd have to check that. 

[Late Developer]

It's also a printing technique - partly to draw the eye towards the focal point of the photograph and sometimes to reduce obvious lens deficiencies like distortion and blur.

You can also get Cokin (and other manufacturers') filters that will provide the effect on any lens you like - but you will need to shoot wide open to avoid the vignette being too "obvious".

Better quality modern (post second world war) lenses have this aberration designed out (for the most part), so if you want a lens that vignettes, an old, wide angle lens with a wide maximum aperture is likely to be your best bet.

[sapata]

I second Nigel with the Holga camera as well and I'd suggest to get rid of the mask.

[Francois]

Holga is definitely the easiest way to go. There's also the Coronet Commander (not sure about the model but Ed has one) that, when the mask is cut to a larger size, will give plenty of vignette. The Vivitar UW&S does it a bit too. Pinholes guarantee a nice vignette if the focal length is really short.

[jojonas~]

I actually like the shots that a friend has taken with the holga 135mm bc (the model with extra vignetting). but vivitar uws/black slim devil/other clones and holgas without masks vignette good. I like the holga with the fisheye lens.

edit: ohyeah, came to think of the gakkenflex/recesky camera! fun that you build it yourself, nice vignetting and you get a waist level viewfinder

here's a shot I've taken with mine

and here is a test I did with having the aperture plate in front ot behind the lens -or taking it out all together

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonasfx/5646158772/#

[Coveman]

Thanks for all the brilliant replies,
 
@tintin i did suggest the lc-a to her but it seemed to be a bit too expensive
@jojonas i got one of those recesky cameras for christmas but still not got round to building it yet!

she has ended up buying a holga as that seemed like the consensus from everyone!
thanks!

[jojonas~]

@jojonas i got one of those recesky cameras for christmas but still not got round to building it yet!

get to it then! took me about an hour to put it together

[SLVR]

Best of luck with the holga! In defence of the LC-A it really shouldn't cost that much but because of the hype the camera's value just goes up. If your friend gets serious and either doesnt like medium format, or the quirks of the holga and wants to upgrade suggest the LC-A again. They can be had on ebay for sometimes around 70-100USD.

[gregor]

As per Sean's comment vignetting is from a lens that does not provide full coverage (read skorj's interview with Mr. Lee, inventor of the Holga, who did not like the 'black corners' on the 6x6 frame that the Holga produced) - and it also be done in the darkroom.  if you use a analogue/digital work flow (scanned negs to photo shop) you can use photoshop's burning tool to vignette...

Skorj's interview/article: http://www.filmwasters.com/forum/index.php?topic=1602.0

[moominsean]

if you use a analogue/digital work flow (scanned negs to photo shop) you can use photoshop's burning tool to vignette...

i'll pretend i didn't hear that! 

[gregor]

i'll pretend i didn't hear that!  

really, what's the difference btwn in-camera diffusion and a hybrid workflow that uses a scanner and photoshop for Giclée printing or web display output, which many 'analogue' photographers use anyway? is there a difference between adjusting levels, burning & dodging for 'effects such as vignetting or making a sharp negative more pictorialist?

I don't think so. I don't use a hybrid flow and scan only for web display or publication. However when I do scan negs using PS's levels, curves, and even alpha channels all come in quite handy. After all, the original photoshop tools - before it became a more than a photo manipulation application - were metaphors for darkroom techniques.  the line between analogue and digital is very thin.

[moominsean]

it's an endless argument...but if you are just going to manipulate a photo to look like film, why bother to shoot it with film in the first place? just shoot digital and add the vignette and grain or filters or whatnot. but everyone has his or her own way, and i acknowledge that there are many ways to reach an end result. i personally use PS to adjust many things that you might do in the darkroom, like color balance and contrast (though my polas are 99.9 percent presented "as is"), as well as cleaning up dust and such, but i don't manipulate to the extent that it isn't generally what the camera produced. but there are plenty of pretty pictures that are the result of such manipulation (and i admit that i used to be a PS junkie when I worked in publishing, playing with all the toys). to each his or her own! i personally have more fun with the cameras than i do on the computer. i want my workflow to be done as soon as it starts once my image is scanned.

[Francois]

"What! You're burning your what vignettes?" 

Just being pointless to bring a smile back to this discussion