Project Title: Analog Photography in The Digital Age
Product Name: vue, prevue (app)
Topic/Problem:
Analog photography is back! From amateurs to professionals, photographers are dusting their analog cameras off to capture some bangers on film. Digital natives have gotten tired of their automatic phone cameras and have been craving a more tactile experience. So much so that companies like Kodak and Lomography have had trouble keeping up with the demand of the people. This leads to prices on all sorts of gear having becoming inflated. With a limited amount of shots per roll, people tend to use their film cameras sparingly. For a beginner, learning how your film camera works can be confusing and daunting, which could also lead to not using the camera.
Solution:
The vue aims to ease the learning curve. The vue gives you a real-time preview of what your exposure might look like on film, and how changing one setting could affect the entire picture. The vue has two control knobs that mirror the function of most cameras, giving the photographer a tactile and recognizable way to adjust the preview. The knobs can also be used to mirror the way you’re shooting on your camera. If you’re shooting in aperture priority or shutter priority modes, you can lock either control wheel, letting the vue know how to adjust the preview. With a waist-level viewfinder, you can see the preview and your camera’s control knobs at the same time. Most importantly, it sits comfortably in your camera’s shoe mount so that you can keep your focus on one device, your camera. If you feel comfortable with how your camera and film works, the OLED screen on the back gives you a quick light reading so you can nail those quick shots.
Every camera, lens, and film stock are different, so how can you get an accurate preview? The vue is connected to an app where photographers can load their exact setup to the vue device. Vue has a large catalog of cameras and film stocks with their unique characteristics. The app also features a section for photographers to learn more about film photography and techniques that they can experiment and implement immediately with the help of the vue.
