Here, Fishy Fishy!!!

21 Jul Here, Fishy Fishy!!!

So, I got the Lomo Fisheye Dos a few weeks ago (Lomographic Fisheye Two, $70 – although I got a sweet deal on it for $50) and it’s been no less than a wonder. I purchased the regular Lomo Fisheye a few years ago, and as much as the built in fisheye lens was amazing, its novelty wore off pretty quickly. Cranking the plastic wheel to rewind the film worked about 50% of the time (and eventually almost broke off). There weren’t any exposure settings, so controlling light intake was always a crapshoot. And with no real viewfinder, you must abide by Lomo’s rules of “You don’t have to know beforehand what you’ve captured on film,” and “You don’t have to know afterwards, either.” Basically, you get what you get. Needless to say, it was fun to play around with, but because the photos were either really, really, really (ridiculously) good-looking or horrendous, it didn’t have great staying power.

Photos: Lex’skimo. National Zoo, 2005.

Photos: The Thinker. National Zoo, 2005.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when I noticed the Lomo Fisheye 2. With an actual true-to-print viewfinder and a multiple exposure setting, this camera has the funkiness of a Lomo with a lot more control. I’ve been enamored with the prospect of photomerges in the camera (no shock there), and get a laugh every time I have the film developed, and the technicians ask what the hell I did to my camera. Here are the results of the first few rolls.

Photos: Bethesda Angels. Central Park, 2007.