Topic: Photographic Mysteries

[Rogerrr]

this thread is for whatever mysteries of photography mystify, baffle, befuddle, or amuse you

Today's mystery for me is WHY WHY WHY does the aperture adjustment on a Holga do NOTHING??

If the engineers that designed it can make a working camera...how can they not notice this after SO long? Why waste money on useless parts? Is it too expensive to change the molds & tooling?

If anyone remembers Verichrome B&W film..I did learn why a B&W film ends in "chrome"...first it was named many years ago AND it was supposed to be...not just PANchromatic...but "VERY chromatic"


( P.S. IIRC "befuddle" is related to the word "fuddle" which used to mean an intoxicating drink )

[outofcontxt]

Today's mystery for me is WHY WHY WHY does the aperture adjustment on a Holga do NOTHING??

If the engineers that designed it can make a working camera...how can they not notice this after SO long? Why waste money on useless parts? Is it too expensive to change the molds & tooling?

Personally, I think Mr. Lee, the inventor of the Holga, did it as his way of playing a practical joke on all of us, Roger.  Thankfully, we can either modify them ourselves or, do as I do -- get a modified one from Randy at holgamods.com. I've got three of them and love them all. If I have any complaint, it's that the lenses from the Holga factory have gotten too sharp. I'm in the process of experimenting with some extra lenses I bought from Randy to figure out various ways of unsharpening them.

[Rogerrr]

how about making your own lens?

I did it once by hand with a rod of acrylic plastic, sandpaper, and my hand...never used it in a camera ( yet ) but it does make an image...and I'm sure it's worse than a Holga lens...much worse...or is that better?

[Skorj]

Today's mystery for me is WHY WHY WHY does the aperture adjustment on a Holga do NOTHING??

Along with refusing that date Brooke Shields asked me for at high school, failing to ask Mr. Lee this question will always haunt me. For the answers to the questions I did remember to ask him, you can check this out:

http://www.toycamera.com/lightleaks/issues.html

[FrankB]

Why does the fact that an item is to be used for photographic purposes mean that the price at least doubles?

e.g. A digital stopwatch and countdown timer

Sports stopwatch from Argos = £5.99
Photographic timer from Jessops = £12.99

The sports stopwatch is smaller, neater, has more functions, a better design and a neck lanyard. 

So are we mugs, or what?!

[Rogerrr]

yup...anything labelled for a specific use is "special"......but also it might be price/quantity...if they sell a zillion more of the general purpose gadget...etc


my current timer was something I found lying around the house...it works great...easier than the old alarm clock I used to use

but analog clocks are easy to read from a distance, or without glasses, if all you need to know is "is it time to agitate yet?"

[FrankB]

Um.... No, sorry but I don't buy it (literally!).

If Jessops were going to be honest about it and manufacturing costs were an issue, they'd rebadge the sports stopwatch and sell it at the same price. And there are too many other examples. Measuring cylinders vs measuring jugs, reflectors vs. polystyrene tiles... Okay, I know there's a difference in form but not in function.

Kodak grey cards are £12.99

£12.99!

[/b]

It's a card that is grey! For that money I want a brick that is gold!

If it's so expensive to produce a card of a specific shade how can Dulux give away so many swatches?! Lamination surely can't account for it.

No, sorry, but we're being had!

[Ed Sukach]

If anyone remembers Verichrome B&W film..I did learn why a B&W film ends in "chrome"...first it was named many years ago AND it was supposed to be...not just PANchromatic...but "VERY chromatic"

If I remember correctly, there were two (2) very different "Verichrome" films, both black and white negative .... the first, "plain" Verichrome was not a panchromatic film ... it had very little sensitivity to red light.  One could easily develop the stuff under a *bright* red safelight. Interesting stuff .. anything red appeared black on the print.  I can remember a lot of images of people with "black" lips.

The second was "Verichrome Pan" ... with more or less "normal" spectral response.

Kodak also produced a "Veri.." named color film: VeriCOLOR... color negative.

[Zoe]

Um.... No, sorry but I don't buy it (literally!).

If Jessops were going to be honest about it and manufacturing costs were an issue, they'd rebadge the sports stopwatch and sell it at the same price. And there are too many other examples. Measuring cylinders vs measuring jugs, reflectors vs. polystyrene tiles... Okay, I know there's a difference in form but not in function.

Kodak grey cards are £12.99

£12.99!

[/b]

It's a card that is grey! For that money I want a brick that is gold!

If it's so expensive to produce a card of a specific shade how can Dulux give away so many swatches?! Lamination surely can't account for it.

No, sorry, but we're being had!

Kodak is not your friend.

[FrankB]

Kodak is not your friend.

My bank manager isn't my biggest fan either at the moment! 

[LT]

why is it that when I've walked miles to get to a pre-planned photographic spot, the light is perfect, I line up the shot, it all looks amazing - soft side light, cloud details and blue skies.  I get my light meter out, spot the shadows and check the highlights - it's the perfect 4-5 stop SBR, I set the shutter speed, trip the mirror pre-release, then the sun goes in.  grey shadowless light.  So, that's not so bad in itself.  I can wait.  So I do, an hour passes, it starts to rain.  I get wet but still wait, it's probably only a shower.  I give in, pack up my gear and treck back to the car.  I open the door, put the camera & tripod in, AND THE SUN COMES OUT IN ALL IT'S GLORY - IN FACT, IT'S EVEN BETTER LIGHT  - THE MOLTEN GOLD LIGHT THAT ONLY COMES ONCE PER LIFETIME. 

I'm off to Cornwall on thursday.  I expect this to happen all week - it usually does     

[Rogerrr]

well..KODAK might not be Zoe's friend...but KODAK is my friend

I have had SO much fun calling KODAK's tech support people with wacky questions...the only time they didn't have much of an answer was when I asked about using Clairol hair coloring on film..( "Heather" at Clairol didn't know much either )

then there was the time I asked why TMAX p3200 only came in 35mm....he explained why....but when I said "oh..too bad...but I'll get over it"...then the KODAK guy said "Well I won't get over it!!!!!!!!   I think we should both go down in front of the marketing building and start protesting right NOW !!!"

[FrankB]

Leon - This is not a phenomenon restricted to photographers; just be grateful you don't ride a motorcycle too!

Then it's - Sunny day, set off, cloud over, a few spots of rain, more persistent rain, pull in under bridge, unpack waterproofs, struggle into waterproofs, set off again, rain stops, sun breaks through, sit in waterproofs all day sweating profusely 'cos I'm too pig headed to stop and struggle back out of 'em again when I just know it's just waiting to rain on me again...!

If I've got my camera with me, then that situation is generally followed by yours and then mine again!

Fox Talbot's middle name was 'Murphy'...

[LT]

Fox Talbot's middle name was 'Murphy'...

I heard it was 'Sods'