The Vivitar IC 101 has become one of my favorite cameras. Before using it, I had never experimented with the panoramic frame before (other than with an iPhone, obviously). I'm honestly not even sure where this camera came from. One day it magically appeared in one of my drawers and it took me years to even get around to trying it out. You can get them off eBay for anywhere from $8-40. It's extremely lightweight and doesn't feel super sturdy, but it's really fun and easy to take photos with. I especially had fun taking vertical shots with it, which you can see at the very end of the post.
I just used this camera for the first time last April, when Chris and I went to Hawaii to get married. We spent 7 days on Maui with our immediate families and then 3 days on Lanai for our honeymoon. The entire time I was using this camera, I wasn't even sure if it was taking photos. It seemed too easy to just press the shutter release and wind to the next frame over and over again. At some point I even accidentally took a few double exposures. The shutter button got stuck a few times so I would rewind the film a little bit and try again, which resulted in the overlapping images.
At the end of the roll when it's time to rewind, you simply press the film release button on the bottom of the camera and slowly and gently wind the film until it's finished. It's actually pretty difficult to rewind the film with this camera and I've heard stories of people splitting their film, but I just made sure to take it slow and not force it. So far I have not split a roll, so yay!
I've included a few sample photos and double exposures below. As you will notice, the images are not very sharp. The camera definitely doesn't have the greatest lens on it, but I really enjoy the vintage vibe that the images produce. The panoramic frame is also really beautiful to look at and I'm so happy that I ended up taking this camera with me on such a special trip. I'll definitely be treasuring these photos forever.
Let me know what you think of this camera below and be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, Cameras & Cats, to learn more about all of my favorite cameras and to see live video footage using this camera!
CAMERA: Purchase a Vivitar IC101 on eBay!
FILM RECOMMENDATIONS:
Lomography 100 35mm film
Kodak Portra 160 35mm
Fuji Superia X-tra 35mm
Kodak UltraMax 400 35mm
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Have a magical day!
