15:52 Ondu first film

I’m definitely moving more towards pinhole photography ever since my first pinhole camera, the Harman Titan, which I love. I use it a lot but the 5×4 darkslides can be cumbersome so I was very interested in getting a smaller, more portable pinhole camera so I have bought the Ondu 6×6 based on comments and photos posted here on 52rolls and what a lovely little camera it is. It’s so simple and very nicely made, I love it already.

I loaded it with Delta 100 and took it outside and for a walk around the little London village I live in.

The first thing I wanted to do though was to compare it to my Harman Titan, so decided to replicate the first ever shots on both cameras to compare.

Harman Titan first shot (January 2012)

Ondu 6×6 first shot (April 2014)

They’re not exactly the same but I think it shows the Ondu is capable of extremely good results already.

Now, into the garden:

Firstly, from the Harman Titan on 5×4 Delta 100 back in January 2012

Harman Titan (Jan 2012)

Then from the Ondu, again Delta 100

Ondu

Again, very happy with the Ondu.

Now to take advantage of the smaller size of the Ondu, getting it into places the Harman can’t so easily go:

Sitting on the table

Then I put it in my pocket and took it for a walk around the village.

This is Charlton House, built around 1608 for the tutor to Prince Henry, eldest son of King James I of England. If he had lived to survive his father then Charles I wouldn’t have been king and British history would have been very different. The house is now a community centre and library, with some lovely grounds.

Charlton House

.

In the grounds is this lovely Orangery (optimistically attributed to Inigo Jones say Wikipedia) and the oldest Mulberry tree in the country – planted on the orders of James I as part of the knowledge theft from the Chinese of silk production and now protected by a fence as an historic living monument. It is still alive and in autumn you can come and help yourself to the mulberries, lovely in a crumble, and not bad for a 400 year old tree.

Orangery and Mulberry

I just had my gorrillapod with me to mount the camera on, which is why this is close to the ground. I’m not sure it’s that good for pinholes as it does seem to wobble. I have a rigid table top tripod and a full-size tripod I shall  use in the future.

(nb I’ve just got back from Riyadh and Karachi and didn’t manage to take a whole film the time I was there. I’ll finish up one over the Easter weekend in the UK before returning for a final stint in Saudi taking me upto the end of the month but am planning a weekend in Doha in Qatar where I should be able to take many photos, which I’m looking forward to.)