My latest acquisition in the plastic camera stable is a Blackbird Fly TLR camera! I was very excited when it arrived, and even though it’s been a while, the excitement hasn’t worn off yet. Picture taking has become a healthy obsession for me, and it’s gadgets like these that keep it going.
I’ll tell you all about my experiences with this new friend. It’s an experience unlike no other, and this camera shares almost nothing with other 35mm cameras I’ve ever seen before. A TLR is not a camera you want for snapshots, but rather for deliberate and thought out picture composition. It really makes you think about what you’re doing.
I’ve had this little plastic gem for a couple of months now, having shot 5 rolls with it, and now it’s time for my honest opinion about this camera. At the time of writing (November 2009) it’ll set you back just under $130 (plus shipping from Holga Magic, Hong Kong) or £99 from the Photographer’s Gallery in Central London.
Features
The Blackbird Fly TLR is a 35mm plastic “pseudo-TLR” camera made by Japanese manufacturer Superheadz. They’ve also brought us the Golden Half camera not too long ago. Depending on the film gate you use, it can produce
- standard 24×36mm pictures
- square 24×24mm pictures, or
- expose 36×36mm across the film sprockets (with no gate at all)
Neat!It’s available in a variety of colours (see above). Mine is blue, but I was considering the pink version, which comes with a Masked Rider action figure (and is therefore more expensive so I didn’t get one).
Like all TLR cameras, it sports a “flip-up and look down” viewfinder to frame up using the upper of two lenses, or you can use the “sports finder” to frame up at eye-height. The latter is just a cut out hole in the back flap so it’s far from accurate, but the “look down” one seems to make more than up for it: it’s bright and sharp, covering a full circle and shows your more than your film can record. There are some handy markings on the glass to frame up for any of your three picture options.
Here’s a handy list of the Blackbird’s essentials:
- Authentic TLR feel: frame up by looking down!
- 2 interchangeable film gates (3 options, including leaving the gate out entirely)
- Shutter Speed: 1/125th (Leaf Shutter)
- BULB setting for long exposures
- Tripod mount
- Flash hot shoe
- Multiple exposures (film transport and shutter aren’t coupled)
- Two apertures: “cloudy” (f7) and “sunny” (f11)
- 33mm wide angle lens
- Adjustable focussing from 0.8m – indefinite, using a near 360 degree accurate focussing ring
What’s a TLR again?
TLR stands for Twin Lens Reflex (as opposed to SLR = Single Lens Reflex). It means you’ll frame up through one lens, and take the actual picture through another. All TLR’s share one common problem though: what you see in the viewfinder IS NOT what your film sees.
They have advantages too: you’ll be able to take candid shots more easily, because you’ve not got a camera in front of your face. Also, a TLR viewfinder does not black out while you take the picture (that’s great for long exposures).
TLRs were popular before SLRs were invented, probably because it’s easier to build them than SLR’s. TLR cameras are usually Medium Format, like the Seagull, Rolleiflex and Mamiya, making the Blackbird Fly pretty unique.
All TLR cameras share the “look down” viewfinders, which gives you a very different feel to the picture taking process, mainly because you’re framing much lower than with conventional cameras. However, the image you see in the viewfinder is flipped vertically, so it’ll take some time getting used to this: move the camera right and your picture moves left – and vice versa. It’s weird and wonderful alike!
Check Wikipedia’s page about TLR Cameras for more information.
What’s in the Box
The camera arrives in a neat box, which contains a display case similar to a birdcage! It’s screwed onto the bottom plate, with an oval top above it. Even if you’re not taking your Blackbird out for a ride every day, it’ll look smashing in your display case.
Here’s what else we got for our £99 ($127) plus postage:
- 1x Blackbird Fly TLR camera (available with a front plate in various colours like black, blue, orange, pink, yellow)
- 1x display case
- 1x User Manual in Japanese and English
- 1x lens cap, covering both lenses
- 1x strap to attach that lens cap to the body (it’s tough to find this information, so it’s a good thing I told you about it)
- 1x neck strap (it’s rubbish though – only use in emergencies)
What’s under The Hood?
The Blackbird Fly is a clunky piece of plastic, measuring 2.5” x 2.5” x 5” (7×7x14cm) – almost the size of two Rubik’s Cubes put together. There’s a small switch at the bottom which opens it up lengthwise, with a separate film compartment on the inside. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a plastic camera!
Overall it has a very sturdy feel to it. I never got the impression it would break, it’s certainly build to last.
Before we put a film in, let’s talk about the manual film counter… it doesn’t know when you put a new roll in, like other 35mm cameras. You have to align the white line with the black one before you start a new roll. Let’s do that first, shall we? In case you forget, you can’t do it afterwards… you have been warned!
Next comes the fiddly bit: getting a new roll ready for action. 
It takes a few times to get this right, so don’t lose your patience here. The film is wound out of its own compartment, over the length of the camera, then over a sprocket onto the take-up spool. It’ll take about 4 full frames to do this. It’s all very well explained in the manual.
Once the film is in, pop in the gate of your choice, close the camera and get ready to take some pictures.
The Outside
The shutter button is located next to the bottom lens, a small metal lever that makes a gratifying “clunk-ping” noise when you press it. You can adjust the focus on either lens (they’re interlocked by sprockets), and you can see your current focus value on the top lens.
Blackbird, Fly! shot on Ilford HP5 at 3200 ASA
Like other cameras of this calibre, you have to guestimate the distance of your subjects. It works pretty well though, but takes getting used to because you can turn the lenses almost an entire 360 degrees (from 0.8m to infinity).
In the package you get a neck strap, which considering the weight of the Blackbird Fly (210g without a film) feels a bit thin to me. I recommend using one though, but see if you can find a wider one. I buy mine from Geoff’s Camera’s on eBay at unbeatable value for money.
On the right hand side, you’ve got your film advance knob, underneath which you can see the film counter. Hard to believe that you’ve just seen this in a different place, isn’t it? On the left hand side, you’ve got the flash hot shoe and the rewind crank (handily stashed away in a little hole, even though you may have to convince it at times to stay there).
While we’re on the subject, there’s also a button you have to hold down to rewind the film on this side. I recommend doing this with the help of something you can press the button with: a leaf helped me out last time, but a screwdriver or pen will do fine too. Doing this with your thumb only (which I believe was the inventor’s idea) leaves a sharp pain and a red ring.
I’ve already mentioned the pop-up viewfinder, and I bet you’ll get as much pleasure out of opening it as I do. It’s made up of four spring loaded flaps that make a great noise when they spring into position. Take some time to familiarise yourself with framing up a picture – it’s an experience!
Let’s see some pictures
I’ve shot a variety of pictures in the following galleries, a mixture of all three formats.
I find that it’s not as easy to create good results with this thing as it is with other point and shoot cameras. Framing is weird, the camera is bulky, and focussing really needs to be correct.
However, once you’ve mastered that, the Blackbird Fly TLR ’ll be a very create picture taking tool. For me it’s all about the experience and the excitement of how to get different shots – and my new friend here delivers that and more.
Here are a few links to Blackbird Fly enthusiasts:
- Nic Nichols collection of experiences and tutorials about the BBF at Four Corners Dark
- BBF Groups on Flickr here and here
- Buy the BBF from Holga Magic (Hong Kong), The Photographer’s Gallery Shop (London) or the Japan Trend Store
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