Play Around With A Toy Camera

5 Mar 2008 Category: Features, Japan, Photography

Play Around With A Toy Camera

An image done with the “Book Camera,” a compact and cute little toy camera that looks like - a book: play around and see how the little flowers in your back garden look special!

Be it a Lomo or a Holga - thanks to their unique tint and special aesthetics, photos by a plastic toy camera are as fashionable as ever. And with the AGFA camera fair coming soon to Shibuya, PingMag wanted to see what sweet toy cameras we have in Japan - and visited camera maker Hideki Omori of POWERSHOVEL for a chat.

Written by Ayana
Translated by Natsumi Yamane

First, how did you start making toy cameras at Powershovel? You must have been interested in photography before…

I always liked to look at photos. When I first saw a toy camera photo, I thought it had a kind of atmosphere as if it were shot using a sloppy camera and that caught my interest initially.


Cute one! BABYLON 4, the first original camera by Powershovel, is a quad camera with some special functions.

I started POWERSHOVEL at around 1995. At the time, I wanted something more underground, so I started making cameras as a visual tool. I was doing music but wanted to try doing something that was more widely accepted, or accessible to more people; although widely accepted and something underground might be a bit of a contradiction, I suppose. (Laughs)

Four views - a photo shot using the “BABYLON4.”

Initially, I used to customise Russian toy cameras to fit the Japanese market and sold them over the Internet. Back then, internet had only just become accessible in Japan and it might have worked out because many of the users were the kind of people who actively gathered information and moreover, paid money for something that they weren’t quite sure of. After that, both Russia and China stopped producing toy cameras so we decided to make our own original ones.

Its own aesthetics - another shot using “BABYLON4.”

And, how did it work out in Japan?


The Book Camera: a cute and compact book-shaped camera! Ideal for spies…

Originally, I had no intention to do a serious business with the sales of cameras. I didn’t give much of an explanation of the details: specs and such. I simply appealed to its image of being “a secret box that adds an extra touch of affection to all things.” I appealed to its difference, “a camera only for the kind of people who are willing to believe in optimistic little lies.” Interestingly, people began using it as a tool to try to find out more about themselves, or their own identities. By taking pictures with toy cameras, it gave birth to a sense of nostalgia for what happened yesterday, and the feeling of reminiscing your own daily lives.

And you were pretending to read in the countryside - a photo shot using the “Book Camera.”

We hope people carry toy cameras with them everyday and do like some of the pictures they’ve taken. We are really pleased to see the cameras being used this way. It really makes us happy when we come across some nice photos that were shot using our cameras!

We bet you would like to see more people using toy cameras…


This retro looking model is called Golden Half, a half camera that can take twice the number of photos with an ordinary film. Also, its standard format is vertical - another interesting feature!

Yes. Photography is often considered a serious art form that can only be studied at professional schools or under established photographers. But take music for example: no one thinks that every person who is learning the guitar will become a professional. People simply purchase CDs they like and sample the tracks. I suppose there are people who start something new after being influenced by music, cinema or literature. It would be interesting if there would be people whose influence is toy cameras.


Vertical format! A shot with the “Golden Half.” Nice colours…

… and another one with the “Golden Half.” Cute little animals!

What’s your advice for first-time toy camera users?

First of all, it’s best to choose a camera by its appearance. Surely it is okay to choose one by the atmosphere of each camera’s photos. However, going for the appearance will make you want to carry it around with you everyday and it will encourage you to take more pictures. I’d say, get outside and simply take lots of pictures!


Done with the “Golden Half”…

… and also this, a beautiful sky.

More of the “Golden Half”…

… and another snap shot with it.

Finally, what makes a toy camera so appealing to you?

Its awkwardness, perhaps. (Laughs) It’s very limited in its abilities, so it would be totally useless at important events like your children’s sports day. But then, not being practical is the nice thing about it. I’d say that a toy camera is like a girl who’s quite pretty but digs deep into your pocket, and nothing really good comes out of going out with her – but you still can’t stop fancying her. (Laughs)

Ahem! We did not just hear that… Anyway, how about an outing with a toy camera? Hideki Omori, thank you very much!

Camera Fair Information:
AGFA will be holding a fair of their wonderful cameras from the 1950s and 60s. If you are a camera maniac, definitely stop by!

Agfes – AGFA Camera Collectors’ Fair
Date: March 28th until April 16th, 2008.
Venue: Logos Gallery (Inside Shibuya Parco Part 1)

25 Comments

  1. nice! i want the golden half…

    Posted by: may on March 5th, 2008 at 9:04 pm

  2. [...] time for enjoying the outdoors with a camera Posted by houseobsession under Product   In today’s Ping Mag, there’s an article called “Play around with a Toy Camera.” It’s an article [...]

    Posted by: Here comes spring…and time for enjoying the outdoors with a camera « House Obsession on March 5th, 2008 at 9:55 pm

  3. [...] PingMag - The Tokyo-based magazine about “Design and Making Things” » Archive » Play Around Wi… [...]

    Posted by: – Anpanpon :P blog not bread – » Blog Archive » Toy camera on March 6th, 2008 at 12:16 am

  4. kakoii! The counstryside photo with the Book Camera is really cool.

    Posted by: Adriana on March 6th, 2008 at 2:55 am

  5. thanks for your subject. it is very important for internet users.i will write your site .. please write me back. thank you

    Posted by: web design on March 6th, 2008 at 3:41 am

  6. just planning to buy a camera.

    Posted by: diablo 2 cd key on March 6th, 2008 at 3:38 pm

  7. I love you PingMag!

    Posted by: Jason on March 7th, 2008 at 10:50 am

  8. I have been using Holgas for years. I love the retro look and feel of the camera. Looking with toy cameras liberates you from the stuffiness of today’s technology advanced cameras! Buy one and have fun!

    Posted by: ron on March 8th, 2008 at 2:24 am

  9. Cool looking cameras and now the obvious question.. how do I order one from outside Japan?

    Posted by: Neil on March 11th, 2008 at 2:55 am

  10. Film is always a film.

    Posted by: yuu on March 14th, 2008 at 11:53 am

  11. By the way, the shots in Babylon archive are from Finland, the country of my origin.. Great photos! Some nostalgy..

    Posted by: yuu on March 14th, 2008 at 11:57 am

  12. MORE PHOTOS

    Posted by: Anonymous on March 31st, 2008 at 8:28 am

  13. [...] found this really good article on toy cameras by Ayana for pingmag that I’d like to share. I had initially wanted to get the [...]

    Posted by: Toy cameras at zakka zakka on September 20th, 2008 at 8:37 pm

  14. Great read! Thanks.

    Posted by: ndroo on November 1st, 2008 at 11:34 pm

  15. [...] analog Blackbird fly is a strange bird—one that took almost 15 years to hatch. Back in 1995, Hideki Ohmori launched a kind of alt-Amazon .com in Japan. He cool-hunted dozens of products and exhaustively [...]

    Posted by: Open Systems Journal » Blog Archive » Why a Plastic Camera Pioneer Reinvented Lo-Fi Film Shooters on May 28th, 2009 at 2:21 pm

  16. [...] analog Blackbird fly is a strange bird—one that took almost 15 years to hatch. Back in 1995, Hideki Ohmori launched a kind of alt-Amazon .com in Japan. He cool-hunted dozens of products and exhaustively [...]

    Posted by: Why a Plastic Camera Pioneer Reinvented Lo-Fi Film Shooters | India Forums on May 28th, 2009 at 2:24 pm

  17. [...] analog Blackbird fly is a strange bird—one that took almost 15 years to hatch. Back in 1995, Hideki Ohmori launched a kind of alt-Amazon .com in Japan. He cool-hunted dozens of products and exhaustively [...]

    Posted by: Why a Plastic Camera Pioneer Reinvented Lo-Fi Film Shooters | on May 28th, 2009 at 2:37 pm

  18. [...] analog Blackbird fly is a strange bird—one that took almost 15 years to hatch. Back in 1995, Hideki Ohmori launched a kind of alt-Amazon .com in Japan. He cool-hunted dozens of products and exhaustively [...]

    Posted by: Why a Plastic Camera Pioneer Reinvented Lo-Fi Film Shooters | JustAnotherincome on May 28th, 2009 at 3:13 pm

  19. [...] analog Blackbird fly is a strange bird—one that took almost 15 years to hatch. Back in 1995, Hideki Ohmori launched a kind of alt-Amazon .com in Japan. He cool-hunted dozens of products and exhaustively [...]

    Posted by: Why a Plastic Camera Pioneer Reinvented Lo-Fi Film Shooters : Appendum.com on May 28th, 2009 at 10:23 pm

  20. [...] analog Blackbird fly is a strange bird—one that took almost 15 years to hatch. Back in 1995, Hideki Ohmori launched a kind of alt-Amazon .com in Japan. He cool-hunted dozens of products and exhaustively [...]

    Posted by: The Far Edge » Blog Archive » Why a Plastic Camera Pioneer Reinvented Lo-Fi Film Shooters on May 30th, 2009 at 8:39 am

  21. [...] analog Blackbird fly is a strange bird—one that took almost 15 years to hatch. Back in 1995, Hideki Ohmori launched a kind of alt-Amazon .com in Japan. He cool-hunted dozens of products and exhaustively [...]

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  23. I always liked to look at photos. When I first saw a toy camera photo, I thought it had a kind of atmosphere as if it were shot using a sloppy camera and that caught my interest initially.

    Posted by: Wrought Iron Furniture on July 31st, 2009 at 11:45 pm

  24. klima servisi olarak çalışırken öncelikle servisin klima konusuna ne kadar hakim olduğu bilinmelidir.

    Posted by: klima servisi on August 21st, 2009 at 10:30 pm

  25. nice photos ..

    Posted by: betsson on November 7th, 2009 at 5:50 am

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