The Best Camera iPhone app has failed me for the last time. For the past year or so this photo-sharing app has been failing to upload and post my images on a regular basis. Sometimes it takes 3-4 attempts to successfully post a single image and each attempt takes at least a minute or more to complete. I always have a solid data connection with full bars.....it sucks!

The Best Camera app was the first photo-centric social networking app that allowed users to apply cool filters and share them instantly across other social networks. It seems as if the Best Camera servers are slow to respond to request from the mobile app resulting in a failed upload. There are other photo sharing apps on the market right now that work well - I just don't want to deal with a janky app any more and the Best Camera app has become just that.

I'll keep my account in hopes that the app gets a major overhaul but for now my usage ends.

Dred242
Best Camera user: #395

Mine's has always been set to "Off". But come on facebook, do you really need to scrape all of the contact info from iPhone users contact/address book via the official facebook iPhone app....really?

I've been looking at older Lubitel 2 cameras on eBay but have yet to buy one because I like the slick features of the newest 166+. Everyone complains about the waist level view finder distorting the view while looking through the taking lens.

I would love to own the Lubitel 166+ the newest version of the classic Lubitel, but at $350 it's a bit steep. I could buy the Spinner ($145), a Diana F+ w/flash ($90), and the Fisheye No. 2 ($70) and still have money left over for film.

Currently I own two medium format cameras with waist level viewfinders - the Bronica ETRSi and the Yashica Mat EM. I really enjoy using these type's of cameras and can't wait to buy a few more. The Lubitel may join my short list of "want's" along with the elusive Rolleiflex 3.5 E2 Model K4C2.

Three weeks ago I ordered the Sprocket Rocket a lomography style panorama camera. The camera normally sells for about $90 but with discounts and coupon codes I got it for just under $40 at UrbanOutfitters.com. It arrived via UPS last week and sat unopened until today.

The Sprocket Rocket is a 35mm film camera styled after the vintage Falcon Miniature built in the 1940's. The all-plastic Sprocket Rocket is designed to shoot panoramic photos both with or without the sprocket holes being exposed.

The Sprocket Rocket is a zone focus camera with a focus range from 2-3ft or 3ft to infinity. The camera has a 30mm wide angle lens that shoots at f/10.8 (cloudy) or f/16 (sunny) - I'm not sure if the lens is plastic or glass. The shutter speed is rated at 1/100sec when set to normal but can also be set to bulb for longer exposures. The camera also has a hot shoe mount as well as a tripod socket.

The Sprocket Rocket also comes equipped with a frame (mask) that when left in place will prevent the films sprocket holes from being exposed. A few months ago I hacked my Holga 120GN to shoot 35mm film with sprockets - the results were fantastic! But the Holga 120GN falls short on wide angle shots even when using the Holga wide angle lens attachment compared to the 30mm lens on the Sprocket Rocket.

I will continue to shoot sprockets with my Holga but for true wide angle and panoramic shots it's all about the Sprocket Rocket. I'm looking forward to shooting with this camera - I've already set aside several rolls of color film (ISO 100 - 36exp). Now all I need is a bright sunny day.

Wow, just got an email from The Impossible Project talking about their new battery return program. Now you can send back your spent film cassettes FREE of charge to be recycled or re-used. Check out the program details: http://bit.ly/fwiL18

Of all the SuperBowl Ad's this year, these were my two favorites.

Kia Hamsters and Volkswagen: The Force

I'm in the hunt for some inexpensive 120mm color film. The shipping cost at Amazon, Lomography, FourCorners, and others are just too high for only a few rolls of film. Next week I'll make a point to find some locally and start shooting right away.

All last week I shot B&W both 35mm and 120mm and processed it myself. The results were awesome minus a few issues with rolling the film onto the reels. There were sections of film that were ruined due to reverse contact. After taking a close look at both my stainless steel reels and the cheap black label film I've been using, I've discovered that neither are perfectly straight. The film is cut kinda crooked and my reels are kinda bent - they were used reels bought at a local PhotoFair (swap meet).

I'm most likely gonna but the plastic self threading dual Reel & Tank kit. I know most darkroom pro's might laugh at me for going with plastic but it's all about not wasting film or loosing a great shot due to darkroom errors.

I use to process B&W film (and make prints) all the time back in the mid 70's to mid 80's - it was so easy and fun. There's a lot of great things that can be said about being 100% digital - speed, convenience, in-camera editing....all wonderful things. But the satisfaction I get from actually holding the developed negatives in my hand, fresh and still wet out of the tank is unmatched when put up against looking a the LCD on the back of my DSLR. It's all about creating content on real physical media - the stuff you can hold, touch, feel, and smell. This is why people still love Polaroid and other forms of instant photography - its stuff you can hold and walk away with. Pushing pixels on a hard drive is cool but a print in your hand is pure joy. I have 1000's of images posted online and 1000's more on various hard drives but none of them have ever been printed.....how sad 'eh? I hopeful to turn this train around later this year by continuing to process more film and start actually printing and framing photo.

....now, which printer should I buy?

I finally got around to setting up a profile and page over at Lomography.com. I'm gonna post select pic's from my Holga 120GN, Diana Mini Petite Noire, and soon the Sprocket Rocket. The Lomography site also alows you to create a blog as well. If I blog over there, it's gonna be short lomo spicific post - perhaps details (camera settings, and conditions) about the photos I posted. Not much to show yet, but go check it out when you get the chance.

LINK: http://www.lomography.com/homes/dred242