Jankuary? Junkuary more like. Out with a slightly tatty digicam from 2006, 12 January 2024

Jankuary? Junkuary more like. Out with a slightly tatty digicam from 2006, 12 January 2024

I picked up this cheap 5MP digicam for peanuts because I wanted something to make up the horrendous delivery charge that was being foisted upon me and sometimes adding a cheap and cheerful digicam or some accessory I was after makes me feel better. This Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 from 2006 was in quite battered condition and was advertised as having a broken battery chamber lid, although it closes quite nicely as it happens. 

What was not mentioned, that I recall, was that the LCD screen is wonderfully flickery. You turn it on and after a few minutes it turns blank, then starts flickering off and on. I'm not really too bothered by this, a sharp tap on the top plate will turn it back on, and if I have to guess the framing from time to time, well that's part of the fun. Besides, one of the main reasons for getting the TZ1 is to turn it into a crappy little full-spectrum camera. My Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ8 was a breeze to convert to full-spectrum (by removing the IR cut filter over the sensor) so I was wondering how easy it might be to convert one of the earlier models in the series.

First, though, I want to make sure that it worked at least. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 is a fairly basic point and shoot camera, though it does have a load of preset scene modes, that I'm hardly ever going to want to use. What it does lack is a manual mode, which is a shame. It has a decent range of shutter speeds, a half decent optical zoom (and a digital zoom though why anyone would want to use that is anyone's guess) and a number of colour modes including black and white, which will be useful for testing its infrared response, whenever the sun decides to come out.

As I was heading into Aveiro to pop some films into the lab anyway, I thought that I would take the junky little TZ1 with me and document some of the myriad examples of street art that dot around the city. Street art in Aveiro ranges from commissioned works to political stencils to 'tags' that appear on many walls and structures. Often these tags are not cleaned for a long time, and some of them have been around for decades. It's really nice to see some of the work, though sometimes it's a little sad when a piece of work is covered up or the site demolished. 

This time I stuck with some established work as I didn't have a lot of time to wander around before catching the train home. One of my favourite spots is an alley that on one side is covered with graffiti and tags. I know that one of these days the whole area will be redeveloped, but in the meantime I can enjoy this public display of art.

I'll take the TZ1 out again soon to check out its infrared sensitivity, but of course that all depends on the weather. I'm going to convert it to full spectrum sometime, hopefully in Jankuary 

#ShittyDigital, #Panasonic, #Lumix, #Digicam, #Urban, #DigitalCamera, #Retro, #Vintage, #Graffiti, #StreetArt, #UrbanArt, #Mural, #ShittyInfrared,