Small. Great colours in the right situations with the right film.

Very unrealiable. The build quality is poor. The constant threat of the camera quitting brings the value rating down.

Where to begin with the Lomo LC-A? There is so much hype, so many love-it-or-hate-it opinions that it’s hard to know what to say about this little Russian snap-shooter. But, in the interest of enlightening you, gentle reader, I shall persevere . . . In my humble opinion, if you’re lucky enough to get a good LC-A at a reasonable price, it’s a great addition to your camera collection. It’s a fun camera and you will get the occasional great photograph. Sure, the LC-A isn’t for everyone. If you’re interested in razor-sharp images and lots of control over what’s going on with your camera, you should definitely pass on the LC-A. Don’t even think about buying one. However, if you like the occasional surprise when you get your prints back, it may be time to start looking around for one at a reasonable price. Say, under $100 in good working condition. If you’ve got $$$ to burn and like the look of that ugly little graphic on the new models, by all means pick one up from lomography.com. There’s a lot of hub-bub about the long exposures that you can get with an LC-A in low light situations. Which is fine. But blurry shots of car taillights get old pretty quick. My favorite time to use my LC-A is on a sunny day. Load some Agfa Ultra 100 into it and have some fun. The colours will be fantastic (provided that some clod at the photofinishing place doesn’t “correct” the colours when printing – be sure to request no colour correction). When used creatively, the camera can produce fun long-exposure photos as well. Buy a mini-tripod and snap some pictures at the table at a bar or from a bookshelf at a party. In summary, the LC-A doesn’t make much sense as a primary camera. However, certain people (myself included) will get a lot of fun out of the LC-A.

Customer Service

None.

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I've not used it, but people say that the Olympus XA and it's brethren can produce Lomo-like results.

- compact - great colors - with a little luck fairly cheap - robust - here in Europe free repairs at the "Lomographische Gesellschaft"

- in most cases it's still pretty expensive (that stupid "hype" again!) - it takes practice to get it right (focus, lighting)

Too bad - I can imagine the hype scaring off some camera aficionados. If you treat the LCA as a "normal" P+S you'll be in for a big disappointment. But if you use a little common (camera)sense the LCA won't let you down. The colors are extraordinary, the camera itself is robust and, with a little practice, easy to use. O.k., snapshots in low lighting situations tend to be a bit blurry and you definitely need a steady hand but, as I said, practice makes perfect and the results are - usually - very good.

Customer Service

see above - last year my LCA fell out of my pocket (at 50 km/h) while I was riding my scooter: I sent it to the "Lomografische Gesellschaft" in Vienna and six weeks later I got it back: repaired for free!

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none

When you get the focus right and the light works out, you get some beautiful images. Some of the most colourful, attractive image I have ever taken.

Silly pricing when you buy it through the established Western channels. Heavy shutter contributes to blur.

I'd heard the hype, I feared the prices, but I found one cheaply a few hundred kilometres from where they are made. When I put a new set of batteries in the camera and brushed away the crumbling light seal debris I had no idea whether or not the camera would work. The results were a real surprise. If you get the focusing right the lense is sharper than some would have you believe. The automatic exposure seems uncannily good. Some Lomo users rave about blurry shots. And there is much talk about spontaniety. But a steady hand or tripod and careful focus makes a real difference. The way the lense handles colours is a real delight. Make sure your developer doesn't correct the colours. It's unpredictable, perhaps, but not a mere toy. Sit back and enjoy the (occasional) great picture when you get your film back. It's rekindled my interest in film. Better a great shot from this than a hatful pictures from my SLR that scares away subjects and lacks the warmth of this quirky camera.

Customer Service

Small Philips screwdriver. £1.75. Romany's hardware shop. London W1.

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various P&S compacts. Olympus XA

feel freedom to take photo, not resemble another brand

expensive (a little)

It's the wonderful point & shoot, it intentionally the vignette, vivid and blur ! blur ! blur ! if you want sharpness, less distortion Please evade .....

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not simillar

Okay, the pictures that DID turn out had a lovely feel about them. Those shots were the ones I had been dreaming about when I agonized for a month over whether or not I would pay the hefty price for such a primitive little piece of junk. When I flip through my photo album with someone, the good Lomo shots are the ones that get the most compliments! But, now I have become more aggressive with my Canon and bought a warming soft filter for the lens and I'm getting the same results!!! Tape some light orange plastic over the lens of your point and shoot and take it out one evening with friends and you'll get the same results, while being able to tell what you took a picture of!! The camera does have a nice feel in your hands. It's extremely easy to use. There were no light leaks in the one I got but, I have heard of some with serious problems.

You can't use film over 400ISO. This means you can't try to compensate for the blur with a super fast film. I think I've said enough bad things about this camera already!

So, I got sucked into the hype. I began this experimental adventure by purchasing a Nickelodeon Photoblaster for $20 on eBay & soon became obsessed with novelty cameras. Then, I stumbled upon the Lomography web-site and it really suited my photographic personality. The pictures on the web-site were gorgeous and the people seemed to love this camera SO much! So, I got brave and chucked out a huge sum of money for a tiny camera that didn't compare to my Canon EOS RebelG (which I'm scared to take out on a Friday night). I snapped my first roll of film and immediately got it developed. I almost cried when I saw the results! TERRIBLE! That "rich color saturation" they talk about is pretty much just an orange glow on every low-light picture. So, here's the deal: If you're taking pictures indoors in low-light conditions... you MUST have a flash! If you or your subject moves a millimeter while you're waiting for that second click of the shutter, your images will be fuzzy. You & your subject have to be perfectly still for a few seconds!! That's ridiculous since this camera is described as being the perfect candid camera to take with you everywhere. You simply cannot snap away like they encourage you to. Each shot is a gamble that must be deliberately executed. I tried to learn from my mistakes on that first roll and it didn't make a darn bit of difference. I don't think of my results as "art". I think the many rolls of film I've shot since that first one have all been a waste of $10 for each roll of film plus developing. The Lomo web-site encourages you to keep 10 rolls of film on you at all times for this camera. They say this because you might get 4 good shots out of every 24exp roll of film!

Small, metal body, some manual control, cheap when I bought mine ten years ago.

Shutter prone to stop working. Poor lens with noticable light fall off at edges. VERY overpriced now!

Very overpriced these days. I bought mine about 10 years ago when they were much cheaper and at that time it was reasonable value for money. Unless you want to take "LOMOGRAPHS" don't waste your money, buy almost anything else for the same price and it will take batter pictures. Some manual control and ability to use separate flash are its only saving graces and the reason I bought it. I might still use it if the shutter hadn't given up after 2 years and was told it wasn't economic to repair it and even if I did get it repaired it would fail again. At that point I regarded it as s decent disposable camera and threw it away!

Customer Service

Non existent when I had mine, the cost of any repair would have been much more than the camera was worth!

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Olympus 35 RC Olympus Mju II (Stylus Epic) Ricoh FF9

- small and light - good for expermental and 'what is that' kind of shots.

- EXPENSIVE!! This camera should cost about $50 US at the most. - You need to know all about manual cams and be able to totally shoot JEDI. - Shots are usually blury unless you ae strick about the settings.

LOMO has the most interesting hype ever. you want a LOMO cam just to get into the LOMO world. Unfortunatly these cameras are really cheaply made and shoot exceptable photos. The unit has an ok metal feel but the parts are substandar and would break easily if your not gentle. Compared to my Canonet 28 (late model), well there is no comparison. the $30+ dollar canonet kills it. hands down. but in order to get into the ultra cool LOMO world you have to shoot with LOMO cams.

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- Canonet 28 - Pentax K1000 - Yashica GSN Electro 35 - Various Cheap Olympus range finders

32mm Lens produces vivid colors (esp. for longer exposure time) Longer exposure times using auto aperature settings Compact, discrete, looks cheap so nobody will steal it Fast lens (F/2.8!) 32 vs normal 35mm useful for landscape photography

Vignetting at wide Cannot set long exposure time when using manual aperature settings Difficult to focus (only settings are 0.8, 1.5, 3 Meters, and Infinity)

The Lomo LCA is not a camera you''d use to take crisp photos. Vignetting is difficult to control when the aperature is wide open, and distance focus is a guess work at best since the camera only has settings for 0.8, 1.5, 3 meters and infinity. Despite these shortcomings, the camera has many other benefits in that it is a VERY quiet and small camera that can go places where your SLR and other point and shoot may not venture. The ability to set manual aperatures and ability to have long exposure times (only under auto aperature) allows more artistic freedom in this relatively inexpensive p&s. The Minitar lens can produce beautiful tones and saturations.

Customer Service

Have not tried.

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Yashica T4 35mm 3.5 Canon Elan 7/e EF50mm 1.8 Canon Elan 7/e EF28-135 3.5-5.6 IS

the "keeps the shutter open" feature is incredible, placed on a steady surface the lomo will amaze you. it''s size. the lens is super crisp and delivers great colours.

don''t listen to their own hype, just get one and discover for yourself. it''s a go-everywhere camera, but don''t treat it badly... some people experience breakage. it is not, however, fragile.

lomo is the old friend you''ll always come back to. it''ll allow you to forget all the technical stuff for a few minutes and capture a moment of your life... even if what you get isn''t what you remember taking, but isn''t that always the way?

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None

Well built, relative sturdy camera, by Russian standards (I have gone through a few Zenits). Mystery of what will be rendered under certain conditions.

Mystery of what will be rendered under certain conditions :). Rather stiff shutter release as mentioned above, that may contribute to slight camera shake.

I certainly wouldn''t drop $150 on this camera, not with all the auctions out there. This camera is very easy to use and makes it easy to take pictures from unusual angles, because of its small size. It is fun to try this one at night, because of the light gathering ability of the camera in the automatic mode. Unfortunately, the shutter release is not the feather type that can be found on the Ricoh ff-1 or the Minox 35 MB cameras that I own, that approximate it in size. If I wanted to make sure I got a shot, I''d use one of them first, before the Lomo.

Customer Service

Buy another one on ebay :), if yours breaks.

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Ricoh ff-1, Minox 35 MB, Olympus Trip 35