Follow-up to my previous entry about photography and lo-fi tools — here are some pics shot with this cheap, unbranded, unnamed camera I got from a certain Chinese reseller for dirt cheap.
It looks way better than a similarly-priced Kodak Charmera, and it's more fun to use: no display, 5 ugly filters, 8 megapixels — probably less — and a cool total-blackout stealth look. Also no way to switch off the flash, so I added some gaffer tape, since I love shooting at night, as you can see. I renamed the camera after the name that shows up when you connect it to a PC — even though I'm pretty sure that's not its actual name — so please meet HXR-K1S. K1S for friends and family.
I love how using a camera like this solves two, if not three, issues at once:
- I don't have to worry too much about losing it, having it stolen, or dropping and breaking it — it's cheap enough that it's almost refreshing. I'd still be pissed if something happened to it, but because I like it, not because my wallet would hurt.
- The images are going to be bad — you know that going in, and you shoot anyway. Most of the time you get a nice surprise. I honestly wasn't sure I'd get anything at all shooting at night with no flash.
- There's no screen, no way to review and get distracted — and that matters more than I expected.
EDIT — Jumping down the EXIF/metadata rabbit hole, I found out the camera actually reports:
- Camera Maker: HONGXR
- Camera Model: K1-S
Technically 5 megapixels, but I suspect it might really be less, interpolated up. I'm now planning to open it up, figure out what chip is inside, and maybe try reflashing it.
