In the 1980’s, the Holga appeared. There were many similarities between the Diana and the Holga. Both were made in Hong Kong, both were constructed of plastic, both used 120 format film, had light leaks, vignetting, blur, and miscellaneous other imperfections. The Holga is considered the successor to the Diana, though it wasn’t intended as a toy. T.M. Lee created the Holga with working-class China in mind. He hoped its mass-production and low cost would bring photography to the average person. Mainly he wanted the masses to be able to create photographic archives of family members and important events. The Holga was later distributed in many parts of the world. Many photographers started using them in more artistic ways, often using them to capture everyday life on the streets.

Now, 29 years later, we have a successor to the Holga — with some important differences. The Blackbird, Fly, created by Superheadz in Japan, is a Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) camera. This means is that there are two objective lenses. One is for taking the photograph, while the other is for the waist-level viewfinder. Behind the viewfinder lens is a mirror at a 45-degree angle (hence the term “reflex”), which reflects light upwards through a matte focusing screen surrounded by a hood/enclosure used to block some light to reduce reflection on the screen. This creates an image on the screen identical to what will be captured on film through the photographic lens. The Blackbird, Fly also takes 35mm film instead of 120 format film. That makes things a bit easier and more convenient. 120 film can be harder to find these days, and finding a place to have it developed can be even harder, and the development time can take longer. You can’t drop 120 film off at the nearest 1-hour photo like you can with 35mm.

The Blackbird, Fly can shoot in three formats (using provided masks); normal 35mm (24mm x 36mm), square format (24mm x 24mm), and large square format (36mm x 36mm).