The reason you have not seen any posted Diana Mini shots is this: I don't have any. Well, that's not entirely true. You see, I did shoot 2 whole rolls of film, I just have nothing to show for it.
Let's delve deeper.
We all remember my delirious enthusiasm when the Diana arrived. I took it right out my kitchen door and hiked up the ridge behind my house for some cool post-fall, pre-winter shots. I shot through tree trunks, I laid on my back in the leaves and shot through bare branches, I shot the back of my house, I shot the back of my neighbor's house, etc. I even shot my dog. Ha, sounds wrong. I was shooting in half-frame format so as to get maximum use out of my first roll of practice film.
Not long after my first shooting spree, I had a second. I took my Mini out and thought I was getting some great, artistic shots. I took pictures of our friend's baby, my friends, my friends playing pool, and I even tried the very intriguing (at least to me) double exposure. The concept was great, at least.
Eventually, I would take the film to the local CVS. And I must point out that I find it ridiculous that actual photolabs are going away. Not to get off track here, but the Wegman's photolab is gone, and so is Target's...wtf? Anyway, I went back to pick up my film and they informed me that they could not burn my pritns to cd, nor could they make prints. AND! they wanted me to know that some of my shots were double-exposed. I acted surprised by that last one. I came home and trashed the film.
Doing some online research revealed pretty quickly that the Mini does commonly suffer from film advance wheel issues, and I found a tutorial designed by a Mini owner that outlined a diy fix. Need I say more?
Hopefully, Amazon isn't reading this next part. With the help of my husband, we dismantled the camera, executed the tweak (which just consists of tightening a screw) to the advance wheel and put it back together. I then shot a roll of film in square format mode, with just a couple of wheel issues. I was pretty confident taking my film to CVS this second time, but, within 30 minutes of dropping it off, I got a call from the processor saying only about 3-5% of my pictures had turned out. I didn't even bother picking up the negatives.
That same night, I initiated a return with Amazon. I'm pretty sure the camera is defective, and instead of exchanging it for a new one, I've asked for a refund. Big let down. This will be my second time saying: Thanks for crapping on me.
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