Horizon Kompakt is Magic!

5

When I discovered Lomography, I immediately felt in love with the Horizon Kompakt camera. Wow, what stunning pics this camera could produce, I couldn’t stop thinking and dreaming about it! But I couldn’t afford this camera at the time and hoped to save enough money to buy one in the future.

The surprise came at my 33rd birthday party: I had a little card signed by all my friends and I was told to go to the Lomographic embassy of Nice where Mr Ambassador (our well known Jazzgohan) will have something to give me….. and it was a Horizon Kompakt!!! Oh what a beautiful present they made all together, I couldn’t believe it! A Horizon!!! I was really so happy and I really say a big thank you to all who participated to this great present.

So I had it in my hands: a big heavy camera, making a strange noise and able to take amazing pictures. I knew it would be a great love story between me and y Horizon, and it’s still one of my overall favorite cameras (but don’t tell my other cameras, they might be jealous… and I love all my other cameras too of course….;)) and I take it everywhere I go.

The Kompakt is not as elaborated as the Perfekt, only one fixed aperture (f:8) and only 2 speed settings (quick at 1/60 s and slow at 1/2 s) but it’s really more than enough to shoot at almost every light conditions. A 100 asa film for sunny daylight and some 800 or 1600 asa for night shots, you can really shoot as quickly as you want without thinking at the settings of your camera. And the results are always amazing, 120° of magic and always a lot of stories to tell in one picture!

And another feature of the Kompakt I love, is that the shutter and film aren’t coupled, so you can easily make doubles or triples or more! I specially like the up-side down symmetric technique: take the same shot twice without advancing the film but just turn the camera upside down for the 2nd shot. You can create some magical & mysterious shots.

Another tip is to shoot by holding your Horizon on the ground and shoot upwards or to hold it over your head and shoot downwards: you will have impressing curves of distortion in the picture, adding something more to the magical Horizon touch!

And finally, what I like when I’m shooting with my Horizon Kompakt is that it is always an attraction for the people, they look at this strange thing, asking what it is and wondering what kind of pictures this camera can take. More than a camera, it’s a fantastic medium to talk to people and take pictures of them, to talk about Lomography and the magic of analogue photography and to show how easy and fun it can be!

Really, the Horizon Kompakt is a magical camera and much more!

Check out the Horizon Kompakt microsite here

written by vicuna on 2008-10-24 #gear #review #panoramic #horizon-kompakt

5 Comments

  1. fab
    fab ·

    Horizon Kompact is out of stock....

    Are You gonna replenish it?

  2. anarchy
    anarchy ·

    Hey Vicuna! Awesome story/review and amazing gallery!! =)

    Could you be a doll and check my WebLog (second newest entry) at:
    www.lomography.com/homesDeLuxe/diary.php?cid=920426

    I have some disturbing issues with my Horizon Kompakt... Maybe you can help me out?

    Cheers!
    /Andreas

  3. dogma
    dogma ·

    hmmm love this cam!

  4. azurblue
    azurblue ·

    C'est toujours aussi bon, Stephane !

  5. saidseni
    saidseni ·

    Hi! Can you help me? What are the two colored rounded little things that come with it, are they filters?! Where should I put them? Nobody mentions it, even in the shop and I feel like I'm missing something...

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