It’s a new year and there’s much excitement in the world of plastic fantastic cameras carrying over from last year, hopefully there’ll be even more to come in 2010. If you’re like me and live under a rock you might not have seen the Gakkenflex, yet. It’s a Twin Lens Reflex 35mm camera that you can actually focus in the viewfinder. If that’s not cool enough, you get to build it! It’s part of a kit that comes with a Magazine published in Japan. For those of us living in the US our good friends over at www.fourcornerstore.com and http://www.lightleaks.org/ both have them available for $75.00. You may be able to get one somewhere else for less, but light leaks and four corners dark are both dedicated to the toy camera cause so if you do decide to buy from them you know you’re supporting good people. It also comes with a magazine that has some great images and possibly interesting articles if you are able to read it. The model on the cover is drop dead gorgeous, too 
The instructions are in Japanese, but if you’ve built Ikea furniture you could probably figure it out from the drawings. It’s been discovered that the springs were actually mislabbeled, I beleive a correction has been made in the new kits and it’s been noted online as well. I originally planned on translated the directions into English while building the camera but I don’t think it’s necasary since the hard parts have been addressed on the net already.
Here are some of the best links for building the Gakkenflex
http://www.ndroo.com/blog/?p=2396 Fuzzy Eyeballs break down of the touch part
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KHKra1HmSk The ever entertaining Mijonju’s video of his Gakkenflex Build
Some flare is possible
It only took me about 1.5 hours to build mine using the included screwdriver in the kit. That includes the time I spent on my hands and knees with a high power flashlight looking for a tiny black screw on a black floor at work. I did eventual find the screw but it was on my black chair, I guess I should have checked my chair first and worked my way down to the floor… I did have to refer to the above Fuzzy Eyeball link to make sure I was doing a couple of things right. I probably could have figured it out on my own eventually as all of the information is in the drawings, it just takes very careful study to catch some of the tiny details that aren’t as obvious. There’s a lot of Kanji in the manual, so the fact that I was able to pull it off without it made me feel a little bit like a champ.
Semi-Close up of a plant
In practice this camera is a joy to use. The resulting image is unwavering toy like, it’s obvious this is not a camera designed for optical excellence! The fact that you can actually focus in the viewfinder is probably it’s best feature. The lens distortion is very pleasing and the parallax is so minor it’s not even worth noting, it’s damn near WYSIWYG. With the ability to focus at up to 18 inches close up’s come out really nicely. The shutter speed is about 125 and the aperature is f/11. It’s fixed, so you can’t adjust for lighting situations. I used expired Kodak plux-x 125 on a sunny winter day and I thought they exposed nicely for the most part, but some of the direct sunlight stuff came out a little overexposed, like the semi-close up of the plant, however I tried to use that to my advantage for a nice contrasty picutre, I wanted it to look like a fireworks display and I think I was able to do that.
There are a few drawbacks that may prevent this from being the perfect toy camera for everyone. Sprocket holes are out, your negatives will be clean standard size exposures. There’s no shoe or a synch for a flash. It may have too much lens distortion for your taste. There’s no ability to count your exposures in the camera since there’s a dial with a dash mark you advance film for 1 half revolution per frame. Also there’s no real way to tell when you’re done with your film other then the film just won’t advance anymore. For me those issues are minor, but they may be more important for you.
There’s already a small cult following on flickr, check out more of the Gakkenflex in the pool over at http://www.flickr.com/groups/gakkenflex/ Hopefully this camera will be available for a while so that everyone that wants one will be able to get one.
Comments
thanks for the review! saw you left a message on the flickr group… am looking forward for the english version before i assemble mine =) thanks in adv
Glad you like the review, I’ll try to get the english directions up soon.
Great review – and great images. Especially the plant. I have taken an oath not to buy any more cameras but am seriously tempted with this one.
ditto what charles said. those oaths should always have a backdoor too!
Those oaths and new years resolutions should always have provisions for potentially limited editions cameras; it’s not like buying another camera from LSI!
Am I the only french one who bought it (less expansive here, only 49,10 euros)? Impossible to find any explination in french…it will take me ages to assemble…but sure it worth for it
Anne, try using google translate to translate Fuzzy Eyeballs into French. http://www.ndroo.com/blog/?p=2396
I love my Gakkenflex! I, too, had decided not to buy any more cameras but . . . you won’t regret this! It’s like a Blackbird Fly that you can actually focus. Here’s a link to some of my first pictures I just put up on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/angrystoat/sets/72157623130899817/
Is it durable enough? Are the parts not easy to break?
I would say the parts are delicate because they’re small, but they’re pretty high quality so I don’t think they’d be easy to break unless you’re trying to get them to fit in a way they weren’t designed to. I’ve been known to be a little ham-handed and I didn’t break anything!
Hey I found the absolute cheapest Gakkenflex purchase to be shipped to the US- got it for a total of $40.00 on ebay- seller Handmadefun.
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260556516918
Thought people should know.
hi!
i’ve run through 3 rolls of film already and love the shots and look that the gakkenflex produces. however, i totally estimate the focus!!!! i can’t tell the difference in the image that the viewfinder (mirror) produces even when i’m moving the focusing knob about. the image in my viewfinder always looks clear to me. thus lots of my far off images turn out blurry (but still nice), but my close up ones are fine, as i just turn the focus knob full out.
how do you work your focus?
there’s no difference in mine!
thanks
Sorry for the really long delay in response, I’m out of the country and have limited internet access!
The viewing lens should be geared to the taking lens. When you rotate one the other should move in the oppisite direction (if I can recall, I don’t have the camera here with me). It’s really hard to see the subtle difference in such a small dim viewfinder. I block out as much light as possible with my hand and get my eye as close to the screen as possible.
You may also want to verify that you put the lens in the correct way. I think the concave side goes towards the film.
[...] Love this shot posted in our flickr group by zionseven+’s Shot on a gakkenflex [...]
Hey, I love your black and white shots! I recently started a b&w roll, and I have no idea what to expect when i get it developed….
Also, I noticed that you ditched your original plan for doing an english manual. For those who are still after a full english version, I’ve scanned in my manual, translated the parts, and put together a guide fully in english. It’s not a full 1:1 translation, but I think it comes through well enough.
For those interested:
http://blindlight.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/gakkenflex-english-instruction-manual-otona-no-kagaku-magazine-volume-25/
Those prices are such a sick rip off. I live in Japan and just picked one up at the local book store for 2500 yen ($31 at the current exchange rate.)
@David: I hope your B&W’s came out! I can’t wait to get back and run some more film through mine.
@ William: I wish we could get them here for that price! I thought it was the cost of shipping that drove the price through the roof. I still don’t regret it, it’s a cool camera project.
[...] Gakkenflex 135mm [...]
I am trying to assemble my own kit an I’m having an issue I cannot find addressed anywhere. This issue is a malfunctioning shutter! Can you help or point me in the direction of someone who can help?