Digital in Disguise (Don’t Tell the Film Guys)
Fuji X-T4 + PolarPro LightLeak Lens 28mm
There’s something about the imperfect that feels… perfect.
Yesterday started a bit off. I wasn’t really in the zone, mentally scattered, a little drained. I wrapped up what I needed to do and shifted to working from home, hoping a change of scenery would help. And that shift worked. I got my work stuff done, and then I was basically doing nothing… until Kim called.
“Wanna go shoot around 7? The light looks amazing.”
I could’ve said no. I almost did. But instead, I grabbed my camera and said yes. Better than sitting at home and spiraling into the bubble.
And that’s the thing. Some days, your creativity is just gone. Your head’s heavy. But photography has this strange way of pulling you out of yourself. Eleven kilometers of walking later, I felt like a new person.
A few days ago, I went full throwback, shooting with a disposable Fujifilm QuickSnap. 27 frames, ISO 400, point and pray. But tonight, I wanted to see if I could fake that feeling with a digital camera pretending to be analog. ( you can read the post here )
So I grabbed the Fuji X-T4 and slapped on the PolarPro LightLeak 28mm lens. It’s unpredictable by design: soft corners, dreamy flares, and the kind of image falloff that would give a lens engineer a nervous twitch.
To make it more honest, I did something I haven’t done in ages. I switched the camera to JPG only. No RAW safety net, no post-processing gymnastics. I also left exposure completely on Auto, with ISO bouncing between 160 and 800 and shutter speeds ranging from 1/125 to 1/600. It felt weird. And kind of… freeing?
Kim was there too, keeping it real with his Yashica T4 (and silently judging my digital rebellion). But as the sky dimmed and Oslo lit up, the PolarPro lens started working its magic. Every frame looked like a memory. Slightly off, full of character, and totally addictive.
And here’s the honest truth.
Nothing in the digital world will ever replace the true analog feel.
But shooting with a digital camera with an “analog” lens that gives unpredictable results - no autofocus, no manual focus, just a fixed f/8 and a ton of character - was a fun reminder that imperfection still has a place in the digital age.
Below are some of the shots from the evening. All JPG, straight out of the camera, with a lens that thinks it's from the 90s.
