Move Over, Holga; a New Hobby is Born

Lavec LT-002 35mm Plastic “Toy” Camera

During Sunday’s outing in Cold Spring Harbor, I purchased this little gem for five dollars. There it was, sitting on a shelf with more sophisticated but forgotten cameras, digital and film alike. None of them appealed to me, not even the historically significant Kodak Disc camera, the “Edsel” of Instamatics. None of them except this one.

It features four aperture settings, a frame counter, a hot shoe and came in a zippered vinyl case. The back opens just like the typical 35mm camera, by pulling up on the rewind crank. Internally it sports a curved film plane and pressure plate. The construction is quite robust, and yet retains that wonderful, creaky plasticky feel of a holga.

What hooked me were the four color-coded aperture settings denoted by both icons and f designations, and the positive feel of the click stops of the rotating lens barrel used to set them.
The variable aperture is achieved using by “waterhouse stops”, in this case a tapered opening which slides from side to side when the lens barrel is rotated. This should make for a very interesting bokeh, which will be in the shape of a lopsided trapezoid.

So, with the acquisition of this camera, I realize that “camera collecting” is now an official hobby for me. It gives me something to look for when my wife and I go antiquing. Over the years, I’ve acquired some interesting cameras, mostly by accident. But for the first time, I actually see myself seeking out specific, collectible camera models, like this one:

The Timeless Rolleiflex 3.5 M-X Synch TLR

This is actually a camera that I sought out for many years, but not as a collectible camera, as a working camera. I was fortunate to find an example in very good, working condition. I have shot with this camera, and it takes wonderful pictures. But even if it didn’t, it would be valuable as a collectible.