Pixiq

This has to be about as simple as film-making gets. It’s Lomography’s inspiredly-named LomoKino – a movie camera that works on 35mm film. There’s no sound, no post-production, and no special effects: just somewhere around 40 seconds of footage shot at 3-4 frames per second on a camera that uses a hand crank.

The LomoKino has a 25mm lens with a maximum aperture of f/5.6. Focusing is between one metre and infinity normally, but at the click of a button it can do 60 centimetre close-ups.

If you’re wondering how on earth you can watch your cinematic masterpieces of baby’s first steps in over-saturated cross-processed wonder, Lomo’s already got that covered. In addition to the LomoKino, you can pick up the LomoKinoScope, which’ll let you watch your homemade movie, turned by a hand crank, too. Get them digitised and you can share them on the Lomography website, naturally.

The LomoKino takes any 35mm film, whether that’s slide, colour negative, or black and white. You just have to remember to ask the lab not to cut them when you have it developed.

Normally I look at toy cameras in despair. There’s something about paying money for nasty plastic and even nastier glass that makes me shudder. This, however, this made me smile. I’m not likely to go out and buy myself one anytime soon, but I’d be unlikely to look at someone with thinly veiled horror if it were given to me for my birthday. (But don’t, please, anyone, get any ideas.) It’s £65 (US $79) for the LomoKino by itself, or £89 (US $99) for the LomoKino and LomoKinoScope package.

You can take a closer look over on the Lomography website.