Yellow Fever at 7-11

I recently found a Lomo Supersampler in my closet and have no idea how it got there.  Cathy is on a business trip at the moment so I have no way of ascertaining how this plastic camera came into our possession.  The Supersampler is a 35mm camera with four lenses which shoot in a sequence [4 pictures in 2 seconds or .2 seconds].  I’ve seen Lomo cameras on sale at bookstores in Taiwan as well as plenty hanging around the necks of hip college students.  I’ve never been tempted to purchase one because I could never justify spending over $2,000NT on a camera with a build quality only slightly better than a disposable.

Rolling past the Lu-mei Bridge [綠美橋]

I decided to give the camera a try so I loaded it with a roll of Fujicolor Superia 200 I had lying around and took it with me for a quick trip up and down Baguashan [八卦山].

Pineapples

I haven’t been taking a camera with me lately for a couple of reasons – The first is that most of the routes I’ve been riding lately have been close to home on roads I’ve been on dozens of times.  The second is that the cameras I own aren’t really good as ride along cameras:

• Nikon D90 – Takes fantastic photographs.  Was fine when I was sitting upright on my old MTB but awkward to carry in its shoulder bag while riding my road bike and obviously requires two hands to operate.
• Panasonic LX3 – Also takes great pictures and shoots RAW.  However, due to its lens cap requires two hands to operate.  Doesn’t fit well in my jersey pocket and barely fits in my saddlebag.  It’s also technically my sister-in-law’s and she would probably get mad if I broke it.
• Nikon FM2 – Indestructible film camera.  Also requires two hands to operate.

Tea

The Supersampler may be filling a void here – It’s lightweight, fits in my jersey pocket, and can be operated using one hand [if I pull the ripcord to advance the film using my teeth].  What its images lack in quality they make up for in quirkiness.  This is fine for my familiar routes.  I’ll save taking the LX3 with me for climbing adventures deep into the mountains on routes I’ve never been on before.

Heading home on the 14丁

I learned a lot from the first roll.  The ripcord is very finicky and the rewind lever jammed when I tried to remove the film after I got home.  Some shots turned out fine and others not so fine.  Regardless, I’m looking forward to taking it along with me next time.

Looking Down