Although PetaPixel is the third-largest referrer to Duo's Kickstarter page, the comments section is a pit of derision (welcome to the internet). That said, this blurb of soaring praise raised a question that I couldn't help but ponder the answer to.
That is, how well does Duo work as an everyday camera, and as a corollary to that line of inquiry, how well does it fit in a camera bag? (Editorial note: Anyone, WALL-E eyes or not, should be able to tell that Duo is not a bag. For everyone's sake, please surrender your driver's license if this is not the case.)
Undoubtedly it's a large camera, and you probably won't want to have it slung over your shoulder all day (although it does this quite well). First off, will it fit in a shoulder bag, like a Think Tank Retrospective 7?
Yes, clearly it does. Even throw in a spare Polaroid back, roll film back, and a Minolta SRT201 (usually substituted by a Pentax K5). If you're of the Apple persuasion, toss in an iPad or 11" MBA, and you're golden. Could you take this out for a day on the town? Certainly.
Okay, suppose now you fancy a sling bag, like the Incase DSLR Sling Pack. Will it fit? I don't suppose you know the answer to that question. . .
Well, what do you know. Like peas in a pod.
Okay, okay. You've had your fun, but now it's time to take an overseas flight from Portland to Hawaii. You need to pack everything plus the kitchen sink, but Duo is so burdened by massive size and heft that you couldn't possibly fit it in the overhead compartment. Guess you'll just have to leave it behind.
Well would you look at that. You can fit Duo, a spare Polaroid back, roll film back, Cokin filters, spare film, an SLR and two lenses, with room for many more goodies if you really packed it to the rafters. (It's an Incase DSLR Pro Pack, for reference.) If that's too much analog goodness, one could of course weigh it down with a laptop, like the 15" Dell XPS shown here. Whew.
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| Totoro approves of Duo's ability to be packed into confined spaces. |
And that's that. You can't buy it for under $10, apparently it looks like a bag, and it's made for "Hipsters not photographers" (although last time I checked, your equipment didn't dictate whether or not you took decent photographs). But at least you can fit it in a bag, which makes it at least a little more useful than non-constructive criticism in the comments section of a blog.
Note: I am not in any way sponsored or affiliated with Incase or Think Tank. They just make some cool bags.
Your response made me laugh. It is frustrating to have anonymous know it alls, not the least bit interested in your product to begin with, yet still feel compelled to through unfounded non-constructive critisizm at you, at no personal risk, yet possibly detrimental to your efforts.
ReplyDeleteI suppose they don't understand that the camera covers 4.25x3.25", necessitating it being that much bigger than a traditional 2.25x2.25" TLR. When it comes to film there is no substitute for square inches! And a 10x10cm WLF will in itself make any serious photographer smile, long before the film is developed.
Big cameras are not for the faint of heart, nor the weak of shoulder. I regularly roll with a pair of Mamiya Universals or a Graflex SLR or Speed Graphic. I'll probably never own an actual Gowlandflex, but now I don't have to. This is WAY better for my needs. Thank you for basically being the most awesome camera builder ever. If you want to shoot large, you'll find a way. Anyone who doesn't know the joys of larger formats hasn't truly lived.
ReplyDeleteWho cares what Petapixel commenters say? I don't think the haters who say this is a hipster camera truly understand what you're building.
ReplyDeleteI shoot medium format with a Mamiya C39, RZ67 and a Hassy, I wish one of them had 100% coverage on Polaroid pack film. I wonder how many of those commenters actually shoot large format or would call someone like Paolo Roversi a hipster for shooting 8x10 Polaroids on a camera no more complex than what you're building. If anything you're helping to carry on a fine tradition of hand built cameras through modern technology.
Let the haters hate, they'll just miss out on a great project.
Yep, I tend to agree - not worth arguing with someone who doesn't know what they're looking at.
ReplyDeleteI, on the other hand, am almost done collecting the required photographic parts...just waiting for the stragglers to show up on my doorstep.