WELCOME TO LOMO LOVE
This blog is dedicated to all my adventures with my collection of lomo cameras. I have recently become aware of the underworld craze that is LOMO and have fallen in LOVE. These cameras take timeless photographs and capture some amazing images that enhance light, colour and subject. So come on this journey with me while I discover and experiment with these crazy cameras.
Live by this motto - JUST SHOOT!



lomo for dummies...

LESSON 1. The BASICS

For those of you who are new to the lomographic society here is a simple guide to some of the more familiar lomo cameras.


THE FiSHEYE


This collectible and popular Lomography camera has 170 degree view that compacts everything into a distorted circular image, making whatever you are shooting look extra awesome. Seriously, take a random picture of your bedroom wall with a fish eye lens and it instantly turns into an introspective piece of art. Uses 35mm film that can be processed anywhere. Built-in flash; glass lens. 1 AA battery required.

COMES IN A VARIETY OF COLOURS JUST FOR FUN!







The copper limited edition fisheye


The chrome limited edition fisheye

The white knight limited edition fisheye

The world's greatest compact Fisheye camera is back in white! Like it's brother the regular Fisheye No.2, the fete blanche of Fisheye photography comes with an incredible 180-degree wide-angle view, stunning fisheye barrel distortion, a bulb setting for long exposures and a switch for multiple exposures on the same frame. The White Fisheye has the ability to fire both a hotshoe flash and the built-in flash, as well as sporting a true fisheye viewfinder, and the "full metal jacket" body treatment. With this arsenal, the possibilities for your Fisheye lomography are endless! Uses normal 35mm film that can be developed anywhere.





Diana +

Now with an integrated hotshoe flash mount for the Flash+! So here's how the story goes: back in the '60s, a small firm in Hong Kong created an inexpensive camera called the Diana. Crafted entirely of plastic, each camera cost only a dollar at the time of its release! Although it was only produced for about 10 years, Diana became a favorite with avant-garde and lo-fi photographers. They loved its soft & dreamy images, super-saturated colors, unpredictable blurring, and random contrast. Diana shots were raw & gritty, with a character all their own. They couldn't be duplicated by any other camera on Earth! But after the camera was discontinued in the '70s, functional examples became difficult to find and increasingly expensive to purchase. Dianas were in high demand! And given the cameras exceptional images and retro good looks, the fine folks at Lomo decided that it was time for a comeback!
Not satisfied with a simple reissue, Lomo decided to add something to the original. That meant adding all-new functionality to the camera and dramatically expanding its creative potential. They called it Diana+. Its body was re-cast using a duplication of the original mold. The lens was balanced to obtain those "perfectly imperfect" dreamy, gorgeous, color-drenched, sometimes-blurry, and often-mindblowing images. And this Diana knows a few new tricks, too! Features include an integrated hotshoe flash mount for use with the Flash+; 2 shutter speeds: one for day and one for night; the ability to shoot multiple or partial (overlapping) exposures; two image sizes for 12 square shots or 16 square shots on a roll of film; new Pinhole function: remove the lens, set the aperture to a super-small pinhole and shoot a super-wide-angle, severely old-school image through a tiny hole; new endless panorama function: shoot a long, concurrent, and unlimited panoramic image, with almost no space between each individual frame.

Diana +Splitzer



With a Diana F+ in hand, it's nice to take a straight-off, one-shot image of your favorite person, animal, or thing. But what about going past that large, single full-frame? How about slicing & dicing it into halves and quarters? What about dictating exactly what appears on your photo - and exactly where it appears? Take that subject in front of your face and slice it straight down the middle. Slap it onto the right side of your image, and then take a breath. What do you want on the left? That's the beauty - the choice is yours! You no longer just take the shots; you "call" them too With the Splitzer, you'll never look at a Diana+ image as a single whole again. Instead, you'll truly see it as the "sum of its parts" - which are happily decided upon and placed by you. Two small plastic blades can be turned to cut your image into halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths. Image parts bleed seamlessly into on another. The Diana+ Splitzer easily slips on and off the Diana+ lens and works with all Lomography Diana+ and Diana F+ cameras.
Do the Splitzer!




Diana+ Dreamer Camera

Dream On. Dating back to the early 1960s, the all-plastic Diana camera is a cult legend - famous for its dreamy, radiant, and lo-fi images. The brand new Diana+ Dreamer, created exclusively for Urban Outfitters, is a faithful reproduction and a loving homage to the classic Diana - with a few new features tossed in. Its plastic lens, 2 shutter settings (daylight & "B"), 3 aperture settings, and manual focus are all hallmarks of the original Diana. And on top of that, the Diana+ Dreamer offers a removable lens, printed with our very dreamy Dreamer logo, and super-small aperture for pinhole images, two image formats (12 or 16 square shots on a standard 120 roll), an endless panorama feature that allows for unlimited and nearly seamless panoramic shots, both a standard tripod thread & shutter lock for easy shake-free long exposures, and a new built-in hotshoe flash mount (matching flash available soon!). Each package includes the new "Diana Vignettes" book - packed with over 200 pages of Diana history, Diana+ images, and truly off-the-wall fictional stories. Uses all varieties of medium format 120 film. Exclusive to Urban Outfitters. Imported. Wipe clean. 
* Includes: Diana+ Dreamer camera (with lens cap, strap and shutter lock); Diana Vignettes photo and story book and Instruction manual
* Requires: 120 film (not included) 
* 5"w, 3.75"h, 3"d
* Plastic
* 1 Year Warranty






HOLGA

The Holga, a lightweight super-simple plastic camera, complete with plastic lens, was developed in 1982 as a cheap, knock-a-round camera, and has since been adopted around the world as a cult favorite for its unpredictable effects, like blurred edges, other-worldly colors and light leaks. Perfect for random point-n-shoot action or intense experimentation; just get one and get shooting!
Includes photo book, 1 roll of 120 medium format film, 1 roll of opaque tape, batteries
* Plastic
*



lomo for dummies...

LESSON 2.

In this lesson I'm going to show you a few of the more advanced Lomo cameras which are SOO worth the investment.

Lomography Lubitel 166+ Twin Lens Camera



It¹s something about that plastic body. Something about peering down through that waist-level finder. Sizing up your subject with the top lens and capturing it through crispy glass lens with the bottom. It¹s simply irresistible to people who love and adore life. People who are open-minded, enthusiastic, free with their ideas, philanthropic, endlessly curious, always travelling, constantly documenting, and completely awestruck by the enduring power of analog photographs. In other words people like you! Shooting with the Lubitel+ is different than anything you have shot before. The combination of its glass lenses, the flexible 120 or 35mm format, fully manual everything, fully automatic nothing, peering into a waist-level finder, slowing things down with focusing and dialing in the correct exposure settings, and a myriad of other analog factors make it a full-bodied experience that activates all of your senses and brings you into a special and very intimate place. Lovingly recreated from a Russian design over 60 years old, the Lubitel 166+ is a twin lens reflex classic. Lubitel+ pictures have their very own look and special analog character. They¹re more ³professional² than any 35mm camera, but less professional than a Hasselblad. Of course they are sharp, crispy, artistic, painted with light, and grand. But they¹re also occasionally random, sometimes too vibrant, often vignetted at the edges, and totally flexible to your wishes and innovative tinkering. Rather than reflecting the objective reality in front of you, they reflect the subjective reality of the Lomographer behind the camera. They will make you look twice.
Requires: 120 or 35mm film (not included)
* 3"w, 5"h, 4"d
* Metal, plastic, glass


Lomo LCA+ Camera
Retails for $250.00


Emerging from the quasi-mythical Soviet Arms and Optical factory in 1982, the original LC-A (Lomo Compact Automat) was equal parts revelation and revolution. A compact, zone focused camera with on-point automatic exposure timing, the LC-A was sturdy and easy to use. But beyond that, far surpassing any and all expectations, the little camera produced unique and breathtaking images with rich color, long depth of field and natural vignetting at the corners. Because of this built-in artistry, the LC-A's popularity spread, and it became a favorite of discriminating photographers everywhere. But supplies ran short, and they became increasingly difficult to find. Thankfully, Lomo has answered the call, not only bringing back the LC-A, but also improving upon the original design and adding new features. The Lomo LC-A+ retains the zone focusing and automatic exposure timing that we all know and love. And like the original, it shares the same brilliant multicoated Minitar 1 32/2.8 lens, compact and robust metal body and flash hotshoe. On top of that, the LC-A+ now offers a Multiple Exposure switch, expanded film ISO setting to 1600, and a cable release thread. The New LC-A+ comes packaged in a wooden case with 2 rolls of 100 ISO film, a cable release, and booklets that are bursting with information. Don't think, just shoot!


Lomo Diana F+ Hong Meow Edition Camera


The Diana F+ just got a little bit cuter! To commemorate the Diana World Tour event in Hong Kong (the very first stop of the Diana World Tour, mind you), our good friends at LOMO have put together an exclusive limited edition clone of the Diana F+ camera, calling it the Hong Meow Edition. "Hong Meow" is the phonetic translation of "Panda" in Cantonese, Hong Kong's spoken language. As in neighboring mainland China, the Panda is one of Hong Kong's most beloved symbols. This limited edition was designed by the Lomography Asia team and features: Black and white color scheme and Bamboo Green wrist strap; "Hong Meow" name plate with Panda-themed distance icons and a customized outer box with bamboo graphics and images from LOMO's Hong Kong Panda photoshoot. And all of that special Panda goodness comes on top of the already-awesome Diana F+ platform! Dating back to the early 1960s, the all-plastic Diana camera is a cult legend - famous for its dreamy, radiant, and lo-fi images. This Hong Meow Edition is a faithful reproduction and a loving homage to the classic Flash Diana - with a few new features tossed in. First off, it includes a retro-styled electronic flash which fires a burst of white or colored light at your subject. Included adapters allow you to use the Diana Flash on standard hotshoe cameras (like the LC-A+ and Fisheye 2) or use a hotshoe flash on Diana F+ body. Its plastic lens, 2 shutter settings (daylight & "B"), 3 aperture settings, and manual focus are all hallmarks of the original Diana. And on top of that, the Diana F+ offers a removable lens and super-small aperture for pinhole images, two image formats (12 or 16 square shots on a standard 120 roll), an endless panorama feature that allows for unlimited and nearly seamless panoramic shots, and both a standard tripod thread & shutter lock for easy shake-free long exposures.
Uses all varieties of medium format 120 film.
Imported. Wipe clean.
 Required: 120 film (not included)
* 5"w, 3.75"h, 3"d
* Plastic
*



lomo for dummies...

LESSON 3.

ACCESSORIZE!! ACCESSORIZE!! ACCESSORIZE!!
There are some cool accessories for lomos to make your pictures pop. Checky out.

FLASH ACCESSORY


Descended from the original '60s design, this retro-style beauty perfectly compliments the Diana Dreamer and Diana F+ camera. The Diana-blue color scheme, silver faceplate, classic metal pin attachment, and glowing ready-light are all authentic hallmarks of the original. It's "Diana Plug" attaches directly to the camera and fully syncs the flash. An integrated color flash feature allows you to splash a burst of colored light at your subject - day or night - and a packet of plastic color gels come in the box. On top of that, a Diana Plug-to-Hotshoe adapter is included, which allows you to use the hi-powered and radiantly beautiful Diana Flash on any standard hotshoe camera - including the Fisheye 2 and many SLR's! Included: Flash for Diana+, hotshoe adapter, color gel filters




Lomography Color Splash Flash




Hold on to your seats with both hands. Lomography, and indeed the whole of photography, is about to flip head-over-heels. No longer content with merely reporting and enhancing natural colors, we will seek to bend photographic reality and explore the whole of hues and tones - introducing new colors, new emotions, and a new world of images. Mother nature dictates that grass must be green, dogs cannot be purple, and proper coffee is always brown. Nice ideas, but we'd much rather choose our own colors, thank you very much! And that's where the Colorsplash Flash comes in. Specially designed by the Lomographic Society as the fiercest accessory for your camera, this compact Flash will empower you to splash your world, night or day, in whichever vibrant colors that you desire. Its patented colorwheel system puts several colored flash filters at your fingertips for instant selection; with an additional 9 filters included to exchange. Throw a colored flash burst onto dreamy long exposures, shocking instant shots, or daytime images. Works with any standard hotshoe plug.
Required: Camera with hotshoe plug

2.5"w, 1.25"h, 2.5"d
* Plastic, electronics





Black & White film

Black & white film yields that classic, old-school appeal that only film can faithfully reproduce. And shooting medium format means that every huge negative is absolutely bursting with detail, contrast, and sexy subtle tones. Put a roll through your camera and experience the greyscale nirvana that has grabbed a firm hold of our heart. Imported.
* Includes: 3 rolls of Black and White 100 ISO 120 Film
* Box: 3.5"w, 4.5"h, 1.25"d
* Film, plastic

and lomo is born...

I found this Lomo documentary really interesting into the history of these cool crazy cameras...












A compliation of LOMO with a touch of LOVE

I think these are the best compilations on youtube with some great lessons to learn.
Checky out.