Legendary “Diana” camera returns – upgraded
July 15, 2009 by Robin Parrish
Filed under Electronics
Lomography has taken an original “Diana” camera from the 60s — the popular model that created charming, color-drenched, “dreamy” photos — dissected it, and rebuilt it for the 21st Century. The result is a faithful reproduction that includes some welcome modern embellishments.
The new “Diana+” as it’s called is sized and weighted to feel exactly like the original, with all of the buttons and controls in the same places fans remember. The Diana was known for its unique lens made entirely of plastic, and this has been reproduced as well, according to manufacturer Lomography (from whom you can order the camera), to ensure that the resultant photos have the same “gorgeous, sometimes-blurry, often-mindblowing” qualities as the original.
Even the classic square photo print size has been duplicated — 4.2cm x 4.2cm — though there’s an added option now to take 5.2cm x 5.2cm shots. Like the original, you can advance the frame however much you like, easily creating multiple exposures, half exposures, or long exposures. Wide angle shots, like the original Diana, are taken through the “pinhole” setting.
A nice upgrade is the inclusion of a tripod hole on the bottom, to make taking longer exposures easier. A shutter lock has also been added, so you don’t have to manually hold down the shutter in order to take long exposures.
Another model, the “Diana F+,” includes a flash bulb that looks just like the original. It even allows for the use of colored flash bulbs.
Even better, a clever accessory, the “Diana+ Instant Back,” develops your pictures immediately after you’ve taken them, and spits out old school polaroid-type prints. Just snap it onto the back of your Diana+, and it prints your image onto Fujifilm Instax Mini film paper.
The Diana F+ will run you $95 plus shipping. The Instant Back is an additional $95, or you can get a bundle of both the F+ and the Instant Back for $175.
Image: Lomography.
