There is a sucker born every minute and the Japanese seem to think so with a new M mount lens that fits the Leica.

The Tsubasa Swallow 35mm f/2 lens is touted to be big on imaging and price, costing a whopping US$1800 a piece, they think you'd swallow it up once it is released sometime in 2017.

And for samples, there are only B/W images, and here is one below.

So you going to ante up on this lens base on one b/w image? Oh come on people.

Cosina makes Voightlander lenses with a 35mm focal length that cost under one grand, and sure, the Leica made 35mm cost about US$3,300. For roughly half the price, would you pay for a lens that only shoots good b/w images?

I don't know about the sucker remark but any fool with that much money to spend should by now consider the alternatives, which to me would be the Zeiss Bigon 35mm f/2 that sells for US$1,200.

The Hawk Factory in Japan would think that Japanese buyers would ante up to this since their website is wholly Japanese and offers no English version of what they wish to sell.

That to me, would a red alert for would be buyers of lenses.If you can't stand with the best in the world market, Japan alone isn't going to save you.

Photographers from the digital age may want to experiment with film cameras but buying an old film camera has its own unique challenges. For one, it might not work out of the box, the second is that it has to be serviced as the lenses and viewfinder are totally fucked up. Buying a new analogue camera sounds like a good idea but who makes new analogue cameras besides Leica and Voigtlander? 

If you want a camera to play with, just double down on a pinhole camera. There is one that you can buy online from the Popup Pinhole Company. They were responsible for the Videre, a cardboard copy of a TLR camera. Now the TLR looks great. But the viewfinder is not functional. Infact, no viewfinder on Pinhole cameras ever worked so much of it relies on guessing how much distance is between you and the subject. The rule of thumb is always 50mm angle of view.

So with this in mind, expect the Viddy to be the same. A Pinhole camera is the most basic principle of a camera and would come in real handy in a nuclear devastation scenario where all the batteries and electrical stuff will fail to work.

You need film for the viddy, thankfully only readily available 35mm. Throw in some glue, crocodile clips and finger dexterity and you're ready to assemble it.

The whole idea behind exposure is that you pull a cardboard piece to expose the film and the pinhole is your lens. How long should you expose it for is up to you. It's a 'may the force be with you' sort of feeling where you think that it is properly exposed. And because it is a pinhole...meaning a very small aperture opening...you can afford to expose it a second or more based on the low ASA film. Never ever use fast ASA film with a pinhole camera as it is a waste of money.

Now Viddy isn't cheap. Costing a ballpark of US$35, it could well be the most expensive analogue camera you could buy as it isn't built to last. Exposed to high humidity environments, the cardbox paper will warp. Left on its own, it will be a termite magnet.

In hindsight, it probably will be the greatest introduction to analogue film photography you would ever get for that price.

LomoChrome Turquoise XR 100-400 is an infra-red film released by Lomo for use in quirky captures beyond the ordinary. The film does not render turquoise colors, hence the name so it's one of those weird effects you'd be getting if you shot on water...everything will be rendered blue, whereas warming colors will turn emerald. Get the drift?

The film itself being infra-red, means you can cross process it in normal C-41 negative solution to have it both 120 and 36mm formats. The stock is limited to 5000 rolls so it's on preorder now before it is available.

Rated at 400 ASA, it is probably is quite safe to shoot both indoors and outdoors though I have to pass on judgment when it comes to low light and high contrast situations.

The exposure latitude is something you gotta learn to deal with, and you can't do that with just one roll. That's one of the caveats with shooting on film. You virtually waste a roll as a sample. Having a working light meter will be indispensable so remember to download an app on your iPhone or Android device before going out with that film camera of yours.

Now the film bundle isn't cheap, be prepared to spend US$60 for a pack of 5 films.