I really hummed and hawed over what camera to be my FIRST BIG ENTRY in this new website. I knew I couldn’t go chronological because it’s been so long since I started collecting cameras that I had no idea what I got after my first camera (Pentax K1000). I know roughly a couple of my first camera scores were my Holga, Brownie Cresta, Smena Symbol, and my Windsor.
Out of all of them, I’ve probably used my Windsor the most, and that was the deciding factor. I love my Windsor. There’s a reason why I’ve gotten the most use out of it, and it’s because I love it. I can’t remember if I got this one or my Holga first, but for all the love the Holga gets, my crappy Diana clone is more satisfying.
The Diana group of cameras, of which my Windsor is a clone, were manufactured by the Great Wall Plastic Factory out of Hong Kong from the 1960s to 1970s. Great Wall gave them different names for different markets, but they were all the same camera. Some had fake selenium light metres, others have a bulb setting or even a flash attachment (fancy!).
It’s worth noting that there is a currently produced “Diana” available from Lomography, but these are imitations of the originals produced 50-60+ years ago. They started manufacturing them in 2007 and have a few models available now. To me, producing a purposefully crappy camera is kinda like going into moviemaking saying I’m purposefully going to make it crappy. I’m purposefully going to make Plan 9 or The Room. Everybody loved Birdemic, I don’t think anybody saw Birdemic 2. While I’m sure Lomography’s Dianas sell great, there is something that lacks a certain… I dunno… sincerity. I may end up writing a whole post on the term “lomography”, the company, and what I think, but that’s for another day.
Getting back on track…
This was one of the cameras I sourced from eBay back in the day. I have no idea what I spent, but I was a poor student living in a supremely crappy basement suite in the lower mainland of BC, so you can rest assured, it wasn’t much, and I do remember scouring listings until I found the cheapest one I could get. The great thing about the Windsor (or any Diana clone) is that the size of the image on the negative is a smaller, 4 cm x 4cm image, giving you 16 shots on your 120 roll. It was a selling point at the time (and you can see it reflected on their boxes), and its definitely a selling point now with the price of film and developing.
Diana cameras (and their clones) already had a cache with the toy camera crowd at that time. The plastic, single element lens gives a heavy vignetting effect, with soft focus. Sometimes there are light leaks, or sometimes not. My Windsor kinda of randomly gives me light leaks, and other times not at all. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to it. That’s pretty much the reason right there why I love my Windsor; there is very little rhyme or reason, very little planning. You take it out, you kinda focus and kinda set the aperture (the f stop numbers are better thought of a general guide than a hard and fast rule), and cross your fingers while you’re pressing the shutter. There’s a spontaneity to the Windsor/Diana clone family that isn’t something you can plan to produce in a camera.
What you get for going out on a limb with this camera is sometimes disappointing, sometimes brilliant, sometimes nothing special, but always a wild ride. You can never quite predict what this camera will spit back out at you, which gives even the biggest planners and technical photographers a sense of excitement at seeing just what you got when you get those negatives back.
| Manufacturer | Great Wall Plastic Factory (Hong Kong) | Produced | 1960s-1970s |
| Film Type | 120 mm | Image Size | 4 x 4 cm |
| Number of Images | 16 | Construction | Plastic |
| Lens | Single element plastic | Aperature | f/16, f/6.3, f4.5 |
| Focal Length | 75 mm * | Focus | Variable; 4-6 feet, 6-12 feet, and 12 feet to infinity |
| Shutter | 1/30 sec | Camera Weight | 135 g |
| Number Made | ? | Original Price | $1-$3 USD |
* this seems to be a best estimate, I can’t find any actual information on the original camera’s focal length
Links of interest for this camera:
Camerapedia entry
Manual for the Hi-Flash (another Diana Clone)
Additional information sourced from The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Photography