Happy Birthday to me, my new Diana MINI. Holy crap is this thing cool.
So, I had my 30th birthday recently. December 14th to be exact. Sort of a depressing time honestly. Everyone says life doesn’t really begin until your 30’s…I’ll take their word for it.
The silver lining however was this gift. A new Diana Mini!
And, oh man is this thing cool!
Shoots half frame or square. I am a HUGE fan of the half-frame format. Since I shoot 99.9% vertical images, the half-frame format works out quite nicely…oh and you get 72 exposures on a standard 35mm roll of film (if you select the square format, with a little switch on the back of the camera, you get 36 exposures).
I have yet to process my first roll, but I can say it’s VERY well built. Much better than I would expect from any plastic “toy” camera.
I’ll post up a more in-depth review once I have some images (taken by the camera) to show.
Until then, I recommend you buy one anyway.
Look how tiny it is next to a “real” Diana (I say “real” because the Diana next to it is the full-size model, and it’s a REAL Diana…meaning an original, not one of the reproductions sold now). At 6’4” tall, I look like a total goof taking photos with this camera, I can fit it in the palm of my hand…it’s tiny.
If you want to check out some photos from the full-size Diana, CLICK HERE. (and feel free to “like” my business page on Facebook while you’re at it!) Notice the excessive light leaks…true trademark of a “real” vintage Diana (and, yes, I even taped it up haha).
This photo was shot with a Nikon F100, 50mm f/1.4 lens, on Tri-X (rated at 1600 and processed in Rodinal).
