A New Toy – GakkenFlex 35mm TLR !

The journey of purchasing a new toy – GakkenFlex 35mm Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) began when I saw the BlackBird,Fly on a website and I was immediately swayed by its toy TLR camera features. Researching more into BlackBird,Fly, I was thinking whether to buy it, fellow blogger Xinyun, told me about the price and where I could buy it, she also suggested the GakkenFlex 35mm TLR. That caught my attention when I was given a link showing the comparison between BlackBird Fly and GakkenFlex TLR.

Before making the purchase, I decided to research more into GakkenFlex TLR and these are the useful links that I found on

~ In Review – The GakkenFlex 135mm TLR by Holgablog

~ GakkenFlex : Fun ! by FUZZYEYEBALLS

~ GakkenFlex TLR on lomography by Lomography

~ new toy – GakkenFlex 35mm twin lens reflex camera by Chillicraps

~ Lusting for a GakkenFlex ? by Travelomo.com

~ GakkenFlex – Read, Assemble, Customize, Shoot ! by Patrick Ng

~ All about the GakkenFlex by Miketsu Blog

~ GakkenFlex : All built by Hoefler Imaging

Basic Specifications of GakkenFlex 35mm TLR

~ Fixed Aperture (f-stop) @ f/11

~ Fixed (single) shutter speed @ 1/125s

~ Dimensions : 80mm x 115mm x 70mm

~ Weight : 130g

Advantages

~ Affordable price

~ Customizable with your own paint / stickers on the camera

~ TRUE viewfinder (What you see is what you get)

~ The fun & joy of shooting/playing with a toy TLR camera

Disadvantages

~ No Flash hot-shoe

~ No frame counter

~ No bulb mode

~ No aperture and shutter changes

Once the research, analysis and comparisons completed, my mind was made up to go for GakkenFlex 35mm TLR ! I was on the move one of the afternoon and since I had a bit of time during lunch time, I decided to swing up to Kinokuniya Singapore, at their main store at Takashimaya Shopping Centre, searched for the GakkenFlex 35mm TLR and paid for it ! The excitement and joy inside me was just a like little boy that just got his new toy car ! This feeling was awesome and it felt really good to pamper myself once in a while and I am somebody who doesn’t splurge on myself often.

The GakkenFlex 35mm TLR comes along with the Otona no kagaku magazine Vol. 25 , 大人の科学マガジン付録二眼レフ and it was a worthy and affordable investment. Costing SGD $53.50 at my date & time of purchase, consisting of a toy camera and magazine, it’s worth your investment !

It’s not just a toy camera, there’s also the fun of DIY ! Build your own camera ! Keep a lookout in my next post whereby I would share my journey, photographs and steps to construct and transform the GakkenFlex 35mm TLR ! Looking forward to purchasing film and go out shooting with my GakkenFlex 35mm TLR !