Is Shooting Paper Anything Like Shooting Film?
If you're tired of hearing people (and by "people" I mean "me") complaining about lethargy during lockdown, you'll be glad to learn that I have something different to talk about – a new camera. The intentionally low-tech Papershoot camera arrived in the mail this week, two months after I ordered it. The purpose/marketing is two-fold. (1) A simple camera that emulates vintage film shooting without all of that technology's hassles. (2) A camera made out of paper.
This is a basic electronic camera board wrapped in a paper cover. Since the wrapping is paper (cardboard, really) it can be ordered in a plenitude of designs. My nostalgic-damaged eyes were attracted by the cassette-tape wrapping, shown in the colour photo above, sitting on my keyboard to give an indication of size. Yep, it's also about the size of a cassette.
There are only four settings, each (purportedly) emulating a vintage film look. There's no viewfinder (just a hole to look through) and, of course, no display screen so, like the old days, the only time you find out what you've captured is when you download (develop) and process (print) your work. With my camera I also received two tiny accessory lenses for wide-angle and macro (close up) shooting. However, in my test drive I shot only in black and white, using only the basic lens.
It's all a bit gimmicky, perhaps a bit pricey for what it delivers, but nonetheless fun – satisfying that part of me that wants to shoot something other than "good" pictures. Here's what I saw during my test drive, when I shot only in black and white, using only the basic lens. Processed lightly in Photoshop.
