LOMO LC-A

The first camera I want to talk about is the LOMO LC-A. This camera was manufactured in Saint Petersburg, Russia in the late 80's. The Russians created a camera that would give the prolitariat all the power of the new Japanese automatics. The camera came to the attention of the west when it was discovered in a pawn shop in Vienna by some art students who were delighted to discover that this portable little wonder could produce fantastic images from when shot "from the hip".




The result was an international movement called lomography. All over the world people use these little wonders to capture the world around them. I got mine this fall and fell in love with it at once.

The major thing that separates the LC-A from the average automatic is how it deals with light. The priority for most automatic cameras is to provide you with a clear picture. That means in a low light situation your pictures will be dim and grainy. The LC-A prefers bright colors, so in a low light situation the shutter will stay open for a blurry colorful picture. The results can be absolutely gorgeous.

From a shooting perspective the camera has two distinctive features. The first is the wide angle lens, which is surprising from a camera so small. In fact I was able to take a picture of a three building form about seventy yards away. The second is the vignetting, which blurs and sometimes darkness the corners and highlights centrally composed features.

Basically, if you want one camera to slip into your bag, then this is the one. It may not be as cool looking as your fancy pants digital, and you may have to wait a few days to see your pictures, but you will be rewarded with fantastic and sometimes unpredictable results.

The Collection

It started innocently enough. I got myself an old camera off of eBay. I bought myself a Yashika-Mat 124G twin lens medium format camera. It was more money than I planned on spending, but it was going to be my only non standard camera. I had myself a nice old 35mm manual, and the Yashika was just for fun.

But I found myself picking up other cameras here and there. Most were pretty cheap, no more than five dollars, but some were more. I swear that eBay is the devil, can convince an otherwise intelligent man to throw money at a camera he has no time to use. Shameful really.

This blog will talk about my collection, weird old cameras, and my own experiences with extremely amateur photography.