Lomography

most recent articles

• LC-A Big Book Chapter 43: 1920-1930 Glass Melting and the First Russian Sound Film

  
  According to V.I. Lenin’s definition, the cinema had become “the most important of the arts” to the young Soviet Republic. So the country was gradually kitted out with mobile cinema projectors from our favourite St Petersburg optics manufacturer. In 1931, it was a LOMO PLC projector, “TOMP-4” that made it possible for young and old to watch the first Russian sound-film “Putyovka v zhizn” (“The Road to Life”, a melancholic film about homeless youth).
  February 04, 2011 1 like

• LC-A Big Book Chapter 40: LOMO PLC: An Exceptional Russian Optical Factory

  
  Come on! Let's dive into it and get to know the extraordinary history of the LOMO LC A’s inventors, the LOMO PLC optical works, St Petersburg.
  February 01, 2011 2 likes

• LC-A Big Book Chapter 39: LOMO LCA+ Forever

  
  In a record breaking six months after the signing of the contract and the engineering start date in April 2006 the first new LOMO LC-A+ lay in the hands of the Chinese engineer – and it worked! However only to begin with only. Further prototypes of the camera were then manufactured and sent to Vienna.
  January 31, 2011 1 comment 3 likes

• LC-A Big Book Chapter 38: New Features for the Camera

  
  The first accessory is the “Splitzer”. This small piece of plastic is simply fixed in front of the LOMO LC-A+ lens and by pressing the MX button, your photo can be sliced into several parts with completely different themes. Further accessories comprise the Wide Angle Lens, to be attached to the front of the camera’s lens, as well as the KRAB underwater case.
  January 30, 2011 2 likes

• LC-A Big Book Chapter 95: Credits and Contributors

  
  A big THANK YOU to all the lovely lomographers who made the effort to participate in the making of the LC-A Big Book!
  January 28, 2011

• LC-A Big Book Chapter 36: LOMO LC-A+ Production Begins

  
  It was now time for Mrs. Li and her team to set to work. Firstly, “Colibri Manufacturers” was established, which was made up of former trained employees from the Chinese “main camera factory” and were dedicated to the production of the LOMO LC-A+. Subsequently, an exclusive development and production contract was signed by the Lomographic Society in November 2005. The corresponding lens production agreements were checked with the St Petersburg LOMO PLC and then finally the top-class Chinese camera engineers began frantically designing the plans for the LOMO LC-A+.
  January 28, 2011 1 like

• LC-A Big Book Chapter 35: Mrs. Li Inspects the Russian Camera

  
  At the time when the Lomographers mulled over ideas to improve the original LOMO LC-A. Mrs. Li, was appointed chief engineer and production manager for the LOMO LC-A+. In a small engineering office in East China the capable Mrs. Li dismantled the camera into all of its individual components.
  January 27, 2011 2 comments 3 likes

• LC-A Big Book Chapter 34: Full Throttle in China

  
  Together with Mr. Li, Mr. Lee and Mrs. Li they drank rice wine (a welcome change to the St Petersburg Vodka) and in general the high quality and professionalism of the products and production by the Chinese company was awe inspiring.
  January 26, 2011 1 like

• LC-A Big Book Chapter 33: The Online Survey and a Great Surprise

  
  An online internet survey was conducted in April 2005, where Lomographers all over the world were asked their opinion on the follow-up to the LOMO LC-A. “Which functions on the camera should be retained? Which features were most popular? And should the follow-up LOMO LC-A camera jump on the bandwagon of digital photography or would it be better to stay true to the analogue snapshot camera?” These and many more questions kept going round and round the heads of the principal Lomographers in Vienna while they waited for enlightenment back from their internet community.
  January 24, 2011 1 comment 4 likes

• LC-A Big Book Chapter 32: The Lomo LC-A +

  
  Since the beginning of negotiations with LOMO PLC relocation of production to China had been considered. The Lomographers had persistently tried to keep production of the LOMO LC-A alive (remember the chapters “We want more LOMO LC-A’s”) and to continue the manufacturing in St Petersburg, however, they had foreseen a premature end.
  January 21, 2011 6 likes

• LC-A Big Book Chapter 30: LOMO LC-A Night Vision Device

  
  The core of the night vision device is the "Elf" - the smallest night vision device in the world. One beautiful day, one of the lomographers got hold of this device and tried to shoot pictures with it just held in front of the lens. The result was nothing spectacular but a new idea had been born.
  January 21, 2011 11 comments 13 likes

• LC-A Big Book Chapter 26: The Technical Changes to the Lomo LC-A

  
  One of the outcomes of the new calculations was that the LOMO LC-A had become a few grams lighter as the extra parts which were intended to attach accessories to the camera were removed. So for example, on a LOMO LC-A produced before 1997 you would find two small contacts on the bottom right side of the camera, which were designed to act as an electronic interface for a possible motor drive attachment.
  January 19, 2011 3 likes

• LC-A Big Book Chapter 23: We Want More LOMO LC-A’s The Meeting with Vladimir Putin

  
  The discussion with the prospective President of a world power was pleasant. Putin was very interested in Lomography and after approximately an hour when the meeting came to an end each party stated that production of the LOMO LC-A should be maintained. Discontinuing production of the camera would not benefit the city of St Petersburg or aid their international reputation! After the auspicious meeting, some time later another meeting took place with the political heavyweight Putin and LOMO PLC Director General Klebanov.
  January 18, 2011 1 comment 6 likes

• Chapter 20: Lomography Everywhere

  
  Overwhelmed by so much popularity the Lomographers took courage and arranged an appointment with Lazar Zalmanov at LOMO PLC. They dressed up in their school-leaving suits and got on the Russian Aeroflot to St Petersburg. Their mission: to keep the production of the LOMO LC-A alive.
  January 17, 2011 2 comments 5 likes

• LC-A Big Book Chapter 16: LOMO LC-M, LOMO LC-M2 and KRAB

  
  Similarly to the LOMO LC-M, the LOMO LC-M2 was only produced in very small quantities and was almost impossible to obtain. And what on earth is KRAB? KRAB is an underwater casing for the LOMO LC-A. However, it seems this was a matter of such secret production that even in the LOMO PLC’s own museum in St Petersburg the existence of the 1.5kg heavy cast iron casing is being contested.
  January 14, 2011 1 comment 9 likes

• Chapter 13: Advertising and Marketing

  
  In spite of limited resources when it comes to advertising and marketing, the demand for the LOMO LC-A continued to enjoy steady growth with snap-happy 'Komsomolets' making the effort to purchase the "fantastic plastic camera" from supermarkets and commission shops. Thanks to word of mouth, the seemingly uninspiring packaging of the LOMO LC-A didn't negatively affect the sales of this soon-to-be-iconic product.
  January 12, 2011 1 like

• Chapter 12: Pricing and Exports

  
  Due to its first-ever automatic exposure function - the Lubitel and Smena were still completely manually controlled - the Lomo Kompakt Automat was somewhat more expensive than its predecessor. 75 Rubies was the fixed price set by Moscow for the Item, which was a large amount when compared with the average monthly wages of the time: 150-200 Rubies. A 24 day voucher for a holiday in the Neva Sanatorium only cost 80 Rubies. Nevertheless the LOMO LC-A quickly found its way into the hearts and pockets of the photograph-enthused Russians and after a short time was exported to then Communist countries such as the Ukraine, Poland, Czechoslovakia and even Cuba.
  January 10, 2011 4 likes

• Chapter 11: 1984: The LOMO LC-A Goes Public

  
  Originally conceived as a Soviet version of the Cosina CX-2 from Japan, the LOMO LC-A (Lomo Kompakt Automat) was aimed for the Soviet masses and was first released in 1984. Initially, 1,100 units were slated to be manufactured each month - solely for the Russian market and after overcoming a few bumps in the road, everything seems to be coming up roses for the production of LOMO LC-As.
  January 10, 2011 4 likes

• LC-A Big Book Chapter 10: Problems with Production

  
  A trivial defect during the production of the supposed first batch of LOMO LC-As in 1984 caused problems during production. After extensive work, the various kinks that were found in the first few LOMO LC-As were eventually ironed out and everyone's beloved LOMO camera is finally able to produce the lomographs that it has become known for.
  January 10, 2011 3 likes

• Chapter 9: Test and Construction Phase

  
  The LOMO LC-A vvas in truth a real (and rather cheeky) copy of the Cosina CX 2. Aside from the different lens-cover mechanism (the Cos|na had a rotating cover vvhilst the LOMO LC-A vvas characterized by it's mechanical sliding door, which the Vice Defense Minister really liked) the whole construction of the LOMO LC-A was very much like the Japanese camera: the same dimpled cover extension the inscription on the front and top, the hot shoe flash, the vievvfinder, the exposure counter, the shutter release almost everything down to the smallest detail looked similar. The functions that were available with the Cosina, namely, the automatic exposure and four range settings were also included in the LOMO LC-A.
  January 09, 2011 4 likes