Lomo Kompakt Automat 35mm Camera

But the Lomo is more than just a cool camera--it's part of a worldwide community and a refreshingly new artistic movement, Lomography, that encourages even nonartists to be creative. The philosophy is to be quick, don't think, be open to your surroundings, absorb everything, and enjoy communicating. The Lomo craze started in the Viennese underground scene and rapidly expanded until all across the globe people became armed with Lomos, recording everything in bright colors and strange shapes. There are major Lomo exhibitions and events around the world. And famous folks such as David Byrne, The Verve, and Yassir Arafat own Lomos.

When we first heard of the Lomo, the hype and ueber-hipness made us quite skeptical. How could this little Soviet camera create such a stir? But we fell for the Lomo as soon as we got the package, which includes a little German hardbound book of Lomographs (plus the English translation) and two rolls of Lomo brand film--along with the "What the hell is Lomo?" instruction manual.

After we used the Lomo for a week or so, it became quite obvious why folks were raving about it--the Lomo allows for an unprecedented amount of creativity, and (most importantly) it makes photography inexpensive and easy.

The secret to the Lomo is its superb light meter and its exposure method--it exposes film for however long is necessary. This results in amazing night photographs, with glowing neon, streaking lights, ghostly people, and a real sense of motion. Daytime shots are equally interesting, filled with color and accentuated by the Lomo's slight distortion and tendency to darken photos towards the edges. The Lomo has no flash, so you won't get photos of people with red eyes and pasty skin tones or pictures with underexposed backgrounds. The Lomo lens has a coating that renders both day and night with incredible richness and brilliance. Our skies were a deep blue, our yellows scintillating, and our night scenes alive with the colors of city lights. (Click on the "More Pictures" link at the top of this page to see sample photos that were taken with the Lomo.)

Another major advantage to the camera is that the Lomo works best with cheap 100-speed 35mm film, which is readily available anywhere and is easy to process. ISO 100 film is actually best at capturing brilliant colors and enhances the Lomo's natural tendency for producing color-rich photos.

Most importantly, the Lomo is wonderfully simple to use--the only adjustments you have to make are to set the film speed and to set the focus lever (marked with four distances from 0.8 meters to infinity). All you do is point the Lomo, set the distance, press the button, and the camera decides how long to expose the picture.

The viewfinder and lens open at the same time with a single lever--a good design that makes it impossible to mistakenly leave the lens cover on. You can easily slip the Lomo into your pocket without worrying about a case. Film loading, advance, and rewind are all manual--after using these features once, you'll get the hang of loading film quickly. The distance lever is also self-explanatory, and the distance markings show up inside the viewfinder as well.

If you want a modern point-and-shoot with autofocus, auto film winding, a zoom lens, and a flash, the Lomo is not for you. You won't get perfect, always-sharp photos with the Lomo, and many of your pictures will be blurred, streaked, and bizarre looking. But that's the whole point--with the Lomo, you'll get striking, unique, artistic results. You probably can achieve these results with a normal SLR camera, but it would require much more work and money.

Overall, we felt the Lomo lived up to its global reputation. With its simplicity, inexpensiveness, and striking results, it's an easy-to-use tool for creative fun photography. --Holly Blumenthal

SPECIAL CAVEAT: The Lomo Kompakt Automat is for the steady-handed and the artistically fearless. It is not the same thing as using a typical, modern point-and-shoot camera. Even though you may be buying it brand-spanking new, you might think of the Lomo as a clever camera you discovered in the back room of a dusty old second-hand shop during your travels through Eastern Europe. Handle it with care until you get the hang of its quirks. For example, loading the film is slightly tricky. Make sure it is properly winding around the spool before closing the back of the camera. If you have trouble getting the shutter to click, check to see if the lever that opens the lens cover has been pushed all the way to the right side. Even if the lens cover remains just slightly ajar, the shutter button won't respond when you press on it. Also, when you finish a roll of film, make certain you push in the rewind button on the bottom of the camera before you manually rewind the film. Otherwise, you will damage your film. If any of this sounds daunting, it really isn't. It's all just part of the fun of going Lomo.

Pros:

• Yields brilliant supersaturated colors
• Takes amazing night photos
• Sturdy, stylish retro construction
• Uses normal 35mm film
• Easy to use

Cons:

• Manual film loading, winding, and focusing
• Photos aren't always sharp