Happy World Toy Camera Day

Celebrating toy cameras every year on the third Sunday of October

A few years ago I picked up the book “Toy Cameras, Creative Photos” by Kevin Meredith.

Château de Chillon, Switzerland, captured on the Robot3 camera, my all-time favourite toy camera.

It was on sale at a discount book stand for $5. I didn’t have any particular interest in toy cameras, but this was about to change. A casual flick through the pages of this book infiltrated my subconcious.

My boy taken on the ‘Blackbird, fly’ camera circa 2018. This faux TLR camera lets you expose the 35mm film sprockets.

A couple of years later I picked the book up again and was surprised to discover I’d bought quite a few of the cameras I’d seen in those very pages.

Victoria Point shopping trolley. Kermit Cam gives Frog-tastic results.

In this post I’ve featured images from some of my favourites. If you’d like to see the cameras themselves, you’ll have to watch the video at the end of this post.

I love the soft painterly look of the Fanta Can pictures. This camera was a gift from my friend Matthew Joseph.

If you’ve never shot with a toy camera before, I highly recommend it. These cameras often have a single shutter speed, single aperture, and no speed film selector.

Graham’s Tyres, one of my photographic muses, shot on the Lomography SuperSampler.

It’s all about letting go of your control as a photographer, yet still aiming to make compelling images.

Marshall, Fujifilm Rensha Cardia BYU-N 16. This camera takes 16 photos across 2 frames of 35mm film. Pictured here is just one 35mm frame of Marshall.

One thing I realised when putting the video together is that I haven’t shot a roll through some of these cameras for years. Seeing how young my kids are in these pics was an obvious reminder. So many cameras, so little time.

Superheadz Hello Kitty Golden Half is a super cute half frame camera. I love this perfect diptych of my kids in the park.

Check out my favourite toy cameras on YouTube

If you’re keen to see the cameras behind these images, check out my latest video.

New Japan Pics Substack

I have so many photos of Japan I decided to publish a dedicated Substack featuring 100% Japan travel photography adventures! I’d love it if you sign up below.