Imagine capturing dreamy, light‑leaked photos on a camera that fits in your pocket… welcome to my latest obsession: Lomography.
I’ve wanted a vintage film camera for ages, but I never really thought about investing money in it, so I stuck with Instagram filters and Lightroom presets.
However, I’m going to Disneyland Paris soon with my Media Studies A-Level class and I don’t want to take my DSLR camera with me in case I lose it or break it. Plus, it’s very big and might be a bit risky to take on the rides…
Introducing the Diana Mini Toy Camera!
I decided that a camera by the popular ‘Diana’ brand would be perfect, and Urban Outfitters conveniently had a sale on their retro cameras right around the time I was looking for one.
I picked up the Diana Mini camera for £35 (reduced from £55). It’s so tiny, which is perfect for taking on trips.
The Diana Mini Lomography camera takes regular 35mm film, which is easy to buy pretty much anywhere. It shoots square Instagram-like pictures, as well as half-frame shots.
I also purchased Lomography colour negative 100 ISO film, which I’ve heard works great in bright sunlight, so it’s ideal for my outside Disneyland pics!
It’ll be fun to experiment with different films. I’ve heard that a lot of people try expired film with their Lomography cameras.
Diana toy cameras come in various designs, and I went for the ‘Superstar’ because it’s glittery!
I didn’t have any experience with film/analogue cameras previously, but I found it very easy to use. The Diana Mini has very few settings to change, I’ll share more info about that later on in this post.
What is Lomography?
Lomography is a type of photography that uses inexpensive and often toy cameras to produce unexpected or unconventional images.
Lomography is a style of experimental, analogue photography inspired by the 1990s Lomo LC‑A camera from Russia. It embraces unpredictability—light leaks, overlapping exposures, vivid colors—and celebrates fun over perfection.
I haven’t actually finished a roll of film yet, so I don’t have any developed photos to show you yet, but hopefully, I’ll be able to share those soon.
In the meantime, feel free to browse my other photography blog posts or check out my Instagram.
Features of the Diana Mini
- Easily shoot double exposures for a cool look.
- Switch between square and half-frame shots. Half-frame means you can get 72 small shots instead of 36 from one roll of film.
- You can partially wind the film for overlapping photos, creating a story-like effect.
- Only has a few settings, making it easy for beginners. Shutter speed, focal distance and aperture are the only settings you can change. The Bulb mode function enables you to take long exposures and create awesome light leaks.
- Has a natural vignetting effect, making dreamy, nostalgic and blurry photographs.
Diana Mini Specs
- Lens: 24mm plastic
- Focus: 4 zone focus
- Field of view: 70 degrees on full frame, 62 degrees on half frame
- Aperture: f/11 (sunny) f/8 (cloudy)
- Shutter speed: 1/60sec (N), Bulb (B)
- Tripod mount point
- Cable Release threaded
If you want more info about the Diani Mini toy camera, check out the Lomography website.
Have a browse of the Diana Mini Flickr group to see some awesome shots people have taken!
Have you ever tried out lomography?
All the best,
