$7 Camera

Today's episode is sponsored by Squarespace. Well, you guessed it, because it's the title of this video and theoretically you're not illiterate. I got this piece of for $7 to find out if it's truly the gear or the talent that makes the photographer. That's right, it's time for another video from the guy who shoots the most expensive film stock in some of film photography's most expensive cameras. Just to tell you that all you need is a crisp $7 bill and a dream. This Pentax Zoom 60X pictured here next to a literal pile of cash. It was $7 because the seller didn't know if it still worked. And I'm assuming because it's old, ugly, and no one on YouTube, Reddit, or Feet Finder has hyped it up yet. But I think that there's still use in beauty in old things. Says me in old, ugly, unusable thing. The reason that I pulled the trigger on this is because I wanted to get out there with it and see if I can produce a similar caliber of work with something that only costs, I guess, a fraction of what I normally use. And of course, to see if I'm still half the man that I pretend to be on YouTube with all my fancy gear. Anyway, I received the accursed machine in the mail and threw in some CR123A batteries that I was saving in case I got hungry and the camera booted right up like normal. No hour-long firmware updates. Because I'd be shooting a film stock that's worth more than the camera itself, I figured I might as well, at the very least, try and do it the right way with a filter. Kodak Ektachrome and an 81C filter go together like some homemade borscht and vodka. Anyway, like a thermite sticky bomb to a wall, I slapped an adhesive filter adapter to the front of the lens element and I was off to the desert. Well, I've returned to wherever the hell this is to shoot a review of a $7 camera. Let's get it loaded. Oh yeah, frame one. There we go. Just having trouble locking on focus, but a quick restart seems to do it. Cool. The photos, not bad at all. This could actually work. I definitely think this camera leans a little bit towards overexposure, probably because Pentax assumed you'd be using color negative film instead of monkeying around with slide film. The rule of thumb for color negative film is to overexpose a little bit if you're in doubt, whereas when you do that on color positive film, it kind of nerfs the colors. Not that, you know, there's a ton of color to derive from this location anyway, except bleach and desert waste. So this camera is a bit larger in hand than the usual 35 millimeter point shoot you'd expect. I think the selling point of this particular camera was simply the lens. It's a 38 to 60 millimeter zoom lens with a zoom rocker up here on the body. I actually like this photo. Simple shapes and good lighting. It's hot as **** out here. We're out, like, kind of near Bakersfield. All right, so what have I learned so far from this janky-ass camera? At full zoom, it seems to have trouble autofocusing. I don't know what that's about. Yeah, so photos taken at the 60 millimeter end of the focal length were not great. Just a little soft and smeary. There were other similar models to this camera that had an extended zoom range, which was not uncommon for 1991, a bad year for my mom, but I think this one was more or less the budget version of the fleet. Free of all that, you know, titanium and exposure compensation crap that only losers shoot with, am I right? Anyway, 21 shots deep, like a Friday night in college. I was about to take the banger of the century when something snapped internally. So yeah, I got the H2 error code up top, which isn't good. A quick search on AI told me that it could mean literally anything. Thanks, AI. Most forum posts on this topic say it's probably just cheaper to scrap the body and buy another one, but why would I do that? They'll probably also ---- the bucket. I tried rewinding it, smacking it on things, and of course crying, but nothing seemed to work. Perhaps that's why this camera was $7. It's over 30 years old, you know? The internal circuit boards or hamster wheels probably are on their final days. Mine didn't even last one roll. Anyway, after cursing whatever divine entity made the universe, the earth, and this camera, only to break down on me after what I thought was the deal of the century, we were back at this abandoned hole in the middle of nowhere, which still featured some of the most heinous graffiti I've ever seen. It's not that gross. All right, what's good? Nothing's good with me. Obviously my point shoot has been erroring out. At least I have Pan F and 4x5, right? Because that just came out and is new. Oh, there's bird ---- on this. Yeah, so luckily the old tried and true method came in clutch. Never just bring one film camera. I had also packed my 4x5 with me and some Ilford Pan F sheets, yet to be released at the time. These were test sheets. So I decided to make use of the good light and shoot up like many people here before us. And the photos, they were pretty good, I think. Though apparently not good enough for Ilford to use in the launch. So that's it. I'm quitting photography. But at least there was some eventual positive news. Guess what camera decided to un-**** itself. Really? Well, I guess it works again now. I hate this thing. I took the batteries out, took a shot, and it was able to advance. It didn't give me the error. I don't know. It's also back on like frame one. What the ****, man? So with some light still left, I grabbed the camera that was quickly becoming my own mortal enemy on this earth and shot the rest of the roll. Take a good hard look, buddy. That's all you. In a weird way, I kind of feel like, you know, every shot that this thing lets me take is like a small victory. I don't know if the next shot's gonna get fucked. I don't know if that H2 error's gonna show itself again. All I know is that kids go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. The rest of the photos, not bad, actually. The light was quite good and the compositions more or less presented themselves handsomely. This shot is insanely vibrant and the doorway photo here is a personal favorite as well. Well, you hear that? That's a good sign. I thought I was potentially double exposing, but I just finished the roll. Got a full 36 exposures, I think. I'm really curious to see what those shots look like. I guess this is why I don't buy cheap cameras off eBay. You get what you pay for sometimes. But don't get caught paying for a second rate website. Your work deserves the best through today's sponsor, Squarespace. 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So yeah, I think it probably was a $7 well-spent and I learned a valuable lesson from it. That lesson being Ilford thinks I suck. That lesson actually being, maybe it's a good idea to spend a little more on something of proven quality rather than literally the cheapest hunk of plastic you can find on eBay. Sure, a good deal is a good deal, but I think after all this, it stands to reason that useful work can be made with something from the bottom of the barrel and that, you know, fancy gear isn't always the answer, but it sure is nice. Anyway, now this camera is hyped up. I'm gonna go sell it on eBay for a ton of cash and buy another M6.