Throwback Edit Version: I edited this in June 2024, checked the links and converted it to the new WordPress format.

I figured if I was writing a film camera blog then this camera had to come up at some point. There are many sites dedicated to this camera and the whole industry it started or restarted, like this one.

I did not find this camera in a junk bin, I went looking for it. I finally found one for a fairly reasonable price on eBay. It arrived after some time…and didn’t work. It should have two red lights in the viewfinder and neither lit up at any point. I got in touch with the seller and he shipped me another, no questions asked. The first one had the logo written in Russian, the replacement had it in English. The red lights worked on the replacement. Incidentally, the seller said to keep the first one, so I have shipped it off to be fixed. If it comes back working I will probably keep the one with the Russian writing and sell or give away the replacement.

Unfortunately, I also had a few issues with the replacement camera. I would forget to set the distance or my hands were not steady enough and a few shots were out of focus. I tried the “lomo” approach of shooting from the hip and it worked ok for streetish-type stuff..but you really need to judge the distance well. Trying to capture a moving, excited dog was very tricky if not impossible with the slow shutter speed due to the 100ASA film I put inside. The LC-A does have speeds up to 1/500th a faster film might make things easier for me. That will be the next roll choice.

The replacement also had a wind-on issue and would skip a few sprockets. I am hoping the one I sent for fixing will come back without this issue. I was pleased to see there were no light leaks on the replacement. As much as this camera is famous for them, I simply don’t like them. They are not cool, they are a sign of a broken camera.

So what did my first roll look like?

Of course I covered the faces of some students. They were interested in the camera, but very confused by the fact they could not see the photo straight away. They also assumed I could take lots of photos. When I got the distance correct, the quality seemed to be better than the Holga I tried earlier. I also love the vignetting. It is almost like the center is focused, but then it dissipates towards the sides.

I will try it again with a faster film and take more care with the zoning. I know that isn’t the lomo way, but it is what I like.

Sell or keep is not a question for this camera. I will decide which to keep if the original one is returned. Then I will keep the better working one, hopefully the one with the Russian writing. If it is not repairable I will keep this one, but I am unsure whether it will be a camera I keep loaded as I do prefer the olympus trip. I can hear the lomographers screaming noooo in the background.

Update: I did sell both examples of this camera eventually, but I still own one as I swapped another camera to re-own it.