Diana (camera)
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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Maker | Great Wall Plastic Factory, Lomographische AG |
| Type | Box camera |
| Lens | |
| F-numbers | f/11, f/13, f/19 |
| Sensor/Medium | |
| Image sensor type | Film |
| Image sensor size | originally 40 mm × 40 mm |
| Recording medium | 120 film, 35mm |
The Diana camera is a plastic-bodied box camera using 120 rollfilm and 35 mm film. The camera has a simple plastic meniscus lens. Originally marketed as an inexpensive novelty gift item, the Diana has been used to specifically take soft focus, impressionistic photographs somewhat reminiscent of the Pictorialist Period of artistic photography, branded in contemporary times as lomography.
The Diana frequently suffers from light leaks, film advance issues, and other problems. However, its low-quality plastic lens has been celebrated for its artistic effects in photographs, normally resulting in a slightly blurred composition that can provide a 'dreamlike' quality to the print.
The Diana first appeared during the early 1960s as an inexpensive box camera sold by the Great Wall Plastic Factory of Kowloon, Hong Kong. Most were exported to the United States and the United Kingdom. In the United States, the Diana was imported by the Power Sales Company of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. During the 1960s, Power Sales Company wholesaled the Diana by the case – 144 cameras – at about 50 cents U.S. per unit to a variety of retailers and promotional merchandisers.
Most Diana cameras were given away or sold for nominal sums as novelties or prizes at fairs, carnivals, product promotions, raffles, or other events. For a time, the camera was also regularly advertised for sale in various periodicals through mail order vendors. However, with the development of inexpensive, higher quality consumer cameras such as the Kodak Instamatic, together with the declining popularity of rollfilm, demand for the Diana – even as a novelty gift – gradually disappeared. Production of the Diana, its clones, close copies, and variants is believed to have stopped in the 1970s, though similar 35 mm box cameras were produced for many years thereafter by various companies in Hong Kong and Taiwan for use as promotional items.
It is currently marketed as the “Diana+” in the original 120 format as well as 35mm and 110 by Lomographische AG. The current iteration of the medium-format Diana F+ is actually a system camera, with interchangeable lenses, flashes, and film backs. Lomographische AG also makes Diana lens adapters for several major DSLR systems, including Canon EOS, Nikon F-mount, and Micro Four Thirds.
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