The White Stripes Meg Camera!

So I was a sucker and bought the Meg camera from the White Stripes/lomography! The funny thing was I didn’t buy it because I am a huge White Stripes fan!I bought it because it was red! (well actually it is orange which is even better for I Heart Orange I hate the Diana+ camera’s awful greenish teal thing that it has going on.0

I have been really intrigued with this camera since I first read about it but I was slow in getting it because of its awful colour. That might sound petty or something but what can I say? I am shallow I guess :)The photos that the Meg/Diana takes are awesome. I think that every type of plastic/toy camera has its own unique look and the Meg/Diana is absolutely no exception. I have only run one roll though it as of yet but I am happy with the results. There is a bit of conflicting info out there about the specs of the camera. I read in one place that the shutter is 1/60^th and others that it is 1/125^th The aperture is even more conflicting! I read that it is everything from f9 to f22. Having developed my first roll and using a light meter I think I may have a good idea of what it is. I would say that the shutter is 1/60^thish and the apertures run around f9, f11 & f16 the pin hole I was estimating it about f128 but upon inspection of the film I would say it is quite a bit more than that. (i am going to try 161 because that is the highest that my light meter will go!) I didn’t get a lot of great shots out of this first roll but that is to be somewhat expected The second roll is about half done and if I quit blogging and get some of my work done I may get a chance to finish it off today :)

The other unique thing about the Meg/Diana is the photo size! You can take 12 square shots on a roll of 120 just like the Holga or Seagull! Or you can add the film mask and take 16 square shots (it is the same as shooting 6×4.5 only square.) You don’t use a lot of the film with the 16 shot mask and the photos tend to overlap a lot.

I think that I am going to try shooting the smaller 16 shot format but wind it for 12 shots. If my idea is correct I should be able to center them in the 6×6 negative carrier with my enlarger and make prints with a nice sloppy black box around them. The classic vignetting that happens with most plastic cameras is more apparent on the full frame 12 shot mode so i am told so its a tough call as to what I wanna shoot.

Now while plastic cameras are supposed to be known for light leaks I can say that it has never been a problem for me. Never, that is until now! I did have about 3 or 4 photos on this roll that were ruined due to light leaks :( the camera was banged around a lot on the trip so they could be an isolated incident but I may need to bust out the electrical tape. All said and done the first roll was good not great but good, but then again the same was true with the Seagull, and it truly kicks ass now! It’s all about experimenting anyway right!?