In an ever increasing world where the technical aspects of our photographic capture and printing equipment requires a semester of study just to decide to buy the thing, I find the "Funkycam" refreshing.
Thanks, Michael

"I printed it that size on A3 matte paper, and placed it on my print viewing box. My wife, who rarely comments on my work unless asked (she was an Art History Major, and knows what's good for her), walked into my office, saw it, and exclaimed with no irony whatsoever in her voice– Wow, that's one of the best things you've done recently."

Any chance we'll be able to view that segment in one of the next Video Journals, Michael? I'd pay double.

Why not just use the lensbaby?

When you get bored with it as I was you can give it to a six year old as I did and let them experiment with photography.

I see it only comes with pc compatible software...does anyone know if it's possible to download these images to a mac?...i'd really like to play around with a funkycam...

thanks...m

The software is needed, as it's the only way to get the image files out of the camera. I have an old Windows laptop that I use for this and other distastful task.

You might try Virtual PC.

Lensbaby? Sure, why not. But you can't put it plus your regular camera and lens in the watch pocket of your jeans, now can you?

Michael

Michael, this latest piece from you had me laughing for quite a while. And the pictures are nice too, in a funky/funny way.

Excelent!

Michael - Glad to see you using the lo-tech approach. Photography becomes more about composition and vision. No thinking about f/stops, shutter speeds, etc. to get in the way of seeing. There is still a lively group of toy camera users out there ( I am one of them). You can check out some images, projects, etc. at http://www.toycamera.com/]Toycamera.com[/URL], and take a look at a new magazine atLightleaks Magazine..

I wonder if anyone here has actually tried plugging it into a Mac to see what happens? Seems just about anything I plug into my mac pops up on my desktop as a "Hard Drive", upon which I can double click to open and see a list of files.

FunkyCam may be too cheap even for the Mac's welcoming technology!

Michael - If you're on a "down and dirty" photographic kick, you just might want to see if you can make something like this to fit on your new P45...

http://www.marktucker.com/plungercam/

Reminds me of the best photo workshop I ever attended. The instructor locked our camera bags in a closet, handed us each a 12-shot disposable camera and told us to make it last for the two days. His point was that photographers and not cameras are the core of great photography. And as a matter of fact, the photos displayed at the end of the class were exceptional.

I was thinking the same thing.

And if it doesn't just show up on the desktop when it's plugged in, I find either Image Capture will be able to see it, or else it will show up in Disk Utility - which can then be used to mount the volume..

..Then again, it's not like Michael isn't the type to try some of that stuff before resorting to a crappy old Windows laptop, so the answer may indeed be "no". Guess it really depends on what kind of filesystem they're using on that thing..

Hey, I want one! And I've got a PC, too (oops! I'm out of the closet now).

But I want the very best, so I'm holding out for a Funkycam that comes in a plastic bubblepack with "As reviewed by Michael Reichman on Luminous-Landscape.com" on the label. I'd be willing to pay $21 for that. Even U.S. dollars.

Eric

I think our wives are all the same. Mine seems to have no appreciation whatsoever for the fine nuances of megapixels and clean high-iso ratings. I usually get the dreaded "that's nice, dear--will you take the garbage out, please?" when showing her my latest, greatest print.

Michael, would you please write an essay on how to get your wife to sign off on the purchase of a piece of photo gear that costs more than a brand new Cadillac?

I would never say that my wife doesn't appreciate my work. She's artistically literate, but not a photographer. Her responses to my work remind me that equipment and technique are only important to the extent that they contribute to the emotional reponse evoked by the finished image.

I find this particularly useful when it comes to abstracts, still life or macros, which I find very demanding, technically. If she reacts positively, I just might have gotten the technique right enough to have hit the right emotional note with subject matter that's not all that accessible to begin with. Of course, the garbage still isn't going to take itself out .


--
Daniel Bell

I loved the article and the approach. Kudos Michael!

Found these at Walmart today in San Diego under the phillips brand for $14.76 can't wait to try it out. For a bit I used a broken 1.2mp olympus that would only focus half the time but it got too cumbersome to use it after awhile. Got some interesting images out of it though.