The “Black Slim Devil” is  a fun camera I found out about via photojojo…my favorite internet/facebook photography page. This is strictly a no-frills point and shoot. Literally. Just put film in, point it at something and pull the trigger. The camera has a really cool wide angle of 22mm! This camera goes in the Holga category of toy film cameras. The darling of the art student set.  You get some interesting lens flares, but other than that it’s pretty straightforward. For this first roll of film (only took me 4 months to process!) I used the 800 ASA Kodacolor print film that came with the camera. 400 or 800 is recommended, but most of these shots are of the “Sunny 16″ variety. The sunny 16 negatives looked pretty good density-wise. I wouldn’t go any lower than 800 ASA/ISO for film.

For this test I had the film processed into prints, scanned basically automatically without much tweeking on my Epson 4490  Photo and no photoshop finagling to speak of…no color balance, exposure, etc.

I did notice a little bit of either camera or processing scratching, but will give the film rollers a clean before the next roll. Ah, the romance of film!

Click any of these photos for a closer look.

Here’s my beauty shot, below, of the Cobb Energy Performance Centre. A striking new addition to conservative little Cobb County.

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Beauty shot

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, specular highlights

The shot above showing some fun specular highlights. Nice prismatic effects too!

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

And for something different, a nice sunset for you. You’ll notice the heavy grain structure. This negative is very thin but the results aren’t too bad. This would not be so noticeable if using some noise reduction software. I use Imagenomic Noise reduction software for just about everything I shoot and it does a great job (also smooths skin for portraits!). This is kinda the sweetheart software choice for pros.

A lovely sunset

And in keeping with total disclosure (you’re not likely to see it again here!) here’s the film index. Pretty even results. Except for those three of my cat. Pretty thin! Super dark, no detail in the shadows.

Black Slim Devil, Print index, roll number 1

In closing I think 800ASA Kodacolor is pretty good for outside sunny day stuff. I will try Fujicolor, my favorite color print film, next time. I’d use a higher ASA/ISO for cloudy or less light conditions.  This camera is fun! Small enough to fit in your pocket. Perhaps I’ll have to dust off my old F1 (Canon F1s rule!) . I do have a really sweet 17mm non-fisheye Tokina wideangle lens for it.

Additional info

photojojo.com : They put the “fun” in “funtography”! Hey, I should copyright that. Go to their store page for info about the Black Slim Devil. They also have a “White Slim Angel” model for less devious artists. The camera came packaged with a couple of toy dinosaurs. photojojo is the best!

holga :   The most fun art student toy camera. Uses 120 film. Available either with or without flash. Infamous light leaks and unexpected shots. If this doesn’t bring out your spontaneous nature, nothing will. You don’t have to be an angle-headed hipster art student clad in black, but it doesn’t hurt! Beret not included. More on holgas if I post any holga-pix.

imagenomic : Noise reduction plug-in for photoshop. Also standalone package available. There are free evaluation copies available. Worth the hundred bucks or so.

sunny 16 : The rule that if it’s sunny outside, when your f stop is set at 16, the shutter speed is determined by the asa of your film speed.  So if shooting 400 asa/iso film on a sunny day, set the f stop at 16 and the shutter will be 1/400th sec. Pretty neat! Also the name of an EP by Ben Folds.