Topic: Lomo LCA - 120 Version

[This-is-damion]

Looks interesting... predictably expensive - but if I were loaded id get one!

http://shop.lomography.com/us/lomo-lc-a-120

[This-is-damion]

Or would it?  ... I don't know on reflection...  for that price, zone focusing etc

Thankfully I don't have £350 to splash ...

[gsgary]

You can get a really good camera for that money

[SLVR]

is this real life?

[astrobeck]

sheesh!
I think I'd just buy a glass lensed Holga ...
use the leftover money for some Ektar ...

[Francois]

is this real life?

Strangely yes...
Am I tempted... not really.

Why do they have to only produce "premium" products these days?
Couldn't they give people a bit of a break and do something really nice at a low price?
A bit like a VolksKamera...

[gsgary]

A little bit more but something worth owning http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rolleiflex-2-8F-Carl-Zeiss-Planar-TLR-/261583765575?pt=UK_Photography_VintageCameras_SM&hash=item3ce79b8047

[Erik]

I find it depressingly ugly. It'd never leave the shelf. Which is a shame because I've quite liked the sharp look of their other recent "new" products (bellair, petzval lens, even the new instant cameras).
It's also a bummer that they seem to be selling out the original LCA idea of cheap 35mm as a cheap, nifty way to be a film shooter in the 21st century.

[Peter84]

You can get a really good camera for that money

That is what always stops me from buying it! On paper it sounds nice, being quite compact and medium format,  but for this kind of money you can buy plenty of others and I wonder if "thinking" people would buy this.... Ok I've bought stuff quite impulsive before but I think sense will prevail on this one. Maybe in a couple of years time we find them on the bay for half of what they're going for now of less....

[SLVR]

Honestly, I think they tried that with the Belair.

The problem with Lomo is they are a new camera company in a used camera market. Everyone will always complain about the price of their products. $400+ for a MF LC-A sounds ridiculous when there are so many classic MF cameras out there that could blow it out of the water for equal or less money. But its a new vs used market. Those MF cameras back in their time would have cost much more than the MF LCA in todays money. Everyone seems to forget that.

To further the argument that their products are "crap" or "garbage" I can only assume that they are looking to cut costs anywhere they can to appease the masses. Whether that be in R&D, cheaper plastics and materials, etc. I believe that Lomography isn't doing so well financially. I don't think they are growing anymore. Their use of kickstarter and overhyped flop products like the belair and lomochrome purple won't withstand the test of time. They need to sell products that are timeless. The LCA is a timeless camera. It only makes sense to make a MF variation. It will compete well with Holga, while not making their Diana cameras totally obsolete. The price of the camera hopefully should say something about the build quality of it. Hopefully it doesn't follow the same path as the Belair.

I do own an LCA+ and I have to say that I like the feeling of the camera. It is quick to focus and there is a good quality about shooting with it. It's small, feels decently built. If this carries over to the MF variant I could see it doing well.

[Francois]

What I really hope is that since those first 500 will be hand made, maybe the following ones will be mass produced at a lower cost.
I also hope that they kept the nifty lens cover...

[mcduff]

I'm ok with this. I would not turn one down but would not buy one. I prefer them doing this than their goofier cameras or stuff that is really marketed for digital cameras such as their petzval lens. Or their belair which looked promising but sounded like it was too flimsy and had focusing issues. But I don't think I would ever buy one.  I will agree with my friend tintin that it is hard to compare new equipment prices to the gold mine of used equipment out there. And it is a gold mine (for now at least). Most of these ancient cameras we are using cost what this thing costs -- except in 1960's, or 70's or 80's dollars. For example my new OM-2 with 1.4 lens was about $400 way back when. That would be a shit-ton of cash now!

But I don't think I am the market. I think the market are the folks that may not stay up at night memorizing the differences between the 39 varieties of minox 35 ;-)

I think the market for this is younger folks than me who are adventurous but may not be ready to trust buying a 40 year old piece of optics off of eBay from some stranger In Ohio ;-) and they may never want to. They probably want something that is dead easy to use too. Now if this let you set aperture I might be interested, but then it would not be as well suited to their real market. I say good luck and hope it sells.

(Note that I did not get all hater and use the unproductive "hipster" word )

[Hungry Mike]

Another Lomography thread on FW! 

The question, with any new Lomography product, is who is the market? As McDuff mentions, I think the market is twenty something people who have bought into the Lomography infrastructure / lifestyle, having moved beyond the toy cameras and would like to try something with more consistent results. That's not to say that they would be the only people interested in the MF LCA but based on their ads that is who it seems to be aimed at. I've never used a LCA+ so maybe I'd love this thing but at that price point I don't think I'm the market. The culty LCA+ has maintained its price and cache, more or less, so this likely will do ok.

_{There was a brief moment, however, when I was looking at the clues as to what they planned to release that I hoped that it would be the reintroduction of 126.}

[gsgary]

What I really hope is that since those first 500 will be hand made, maybe the following ones will be mass produced at a lower cost.
I also hope that they kept the nifty lens cover...

I still wouldn't buy one

[Flippy]

I think it's very neat - but it's going to appeal to a very limited audience. Basically those who like the look provided by a Holga, but need the flexibility of a camera with auto-exposure - and who are willing to pay for it.

There are plenty of lo-fi 120 cameras out there, but almost all of them use very slow lenses, and if they have any adjustable settings at all, require at least a rudimentary understanding of exposure on the user's part.

I'm happy enough with the old cameras that it doesn't have any real appeal to me, but I can see that there may be some people out there for whom it carries some attraction.

[jojonas~]

haha this is weeird. -and ugly! they seem to try to be cost efficient by reusing parts??
considering that wide angle lens though... might just be worth the price with the guarantee that comes with buying new.  honestly, with the lc-a success I wonder why they didn't come out with this earlier? though they haven't really made automated cameras themselves since recently I guess.

anyhow, I like the night shots and I'll be looking forward to the reviews coming from the first users.

[Francois]

They probably want something that is dead easy to use too. Now if this let you set aperture I might be interested, but then it would not be as well suited to their real market. I say good luck and hope it sells.

I've been looking at this for a while now and a small door in my brain just opened up and I made a link between a few things.
Does anyone remember why people bought Polaroids during the 70's? Polaroid was to most people (and to Edwin Lands's dismay) a social/party camera. People would bring out the camera during get-togethers, snap pictures of the guests interacting and put the camera away when the party was over. I see pretty much the same thing in Lomographers these days. But contrary to Edwin Land who wanted to get rid of this reputation for a long time, Lomo simply embraces it. Hence the many instant backs they released, auto-exposure cameras and the overuse of the cloud/sun symbols. Keep it simple, make it fun, make it social.

My guess is that the very first accessory that will come out for it is an instant back...

[mcduff]

Ya I think you are right Francois. I always laugh at the high percentage of "party people" pics that are in the sample pics for their products.

[Hungry Mike]

high percentage of "party people" pics that are in the sample pics for their products

I hate to be a broken record but... Lomography are all about photography as part of a lifestyle. This MF LCA is no different. It is less about photography then it is about being part of a scene. Hence the party pics.

[JoeV]

Finally, a plastic medium format camera with auto-exposure. In my view, poor exposure control has been the main limiting factor preventing wider popularity of these kinds of cameras with photo enthusiasts. They usually have two apertures and a fixed shutter speed (plus bulb). Having the ability to adjust exposure over a wide range of lighting conditions, manual or automatic, is the real improvement here.

I have the Holga GSN-120, a glass-lensed version, and the center of the images really is pretty good, enough so to warrant the extra cost. But again, limited exposure control is the downfall, especially considering the cost of processing and printing color 120 film at a lab. Spending a bit more money up front for an auto-exposure 120 Lomo will pay for itself over time in the images you would otherwise not ruin due to faulty exposure.

As for zone focus, what I've done with my various Holgas is affix numbers to the lens barrel with the distances in feet for the four settings. i've found it very easy to estimate subject distances within the DOF tolerance of the lens aperture. Easy-peesy.

~Joe

[gsgary]

high percentage of "party people" pics that are in the sample pics for their products

I hate to be a broken record but... Lomography are all about photography as part of a lifestyle. This MF LCA is no different. It is less about photography then it is about being part of a scene. Hence the party pics.

Im not part of that scene then because I would rather pay a bit more and get my favourite MF camera after borrowing a friends the Mamiya 7, I'm probably not young enough anyway

[Late Developer]

I've just been reading a review of the Lomo Petzval lens which is available in Nikon and Canon mount for use with SLR / DSLR.  Weird looking brass thingy that has manyal discs to insert to achieve the appropriate aperture, add-ball manual focus mechanism - but it seems to produce really nice photos.

This new 120 camera seems to attract equally "Marmite" comments and I'm sure it will have its followers and haters. It's nothing I'd have on my "must have" list but it's encouraging that there are companies out there that are sufficiently interested in film to build new film cameras.  Let's face it, there's enough good quality kit out there to last for a very long time.  The only "issue" I have (if I have one at all) is that Lomo seems to expect people to pay £350 for what looks like a pretty basic piece of kit. I don't know what the mark-up is on this item but Lomo need to make it appeal and, at this price, a lot (who know nothing of 120 roll fim) may be be seduced by the dork side and buy a very well specified entry DSLR kit.....

[Jack Johnson]

I'm torn on this one. Clearly the price point hurts, but if it were any other random camera maker with similar specs I'd still be salivating over it. One fun aspect of the LC-A and similar cameras seems to be that they're pocketable. I know I love that about my XA-2, and if Fuji started producing an XA series for 120 film, how could I resist?

I don't own a Holga (yet), but I know each one is a little different. If I thought I could get that sharpness and that field of view with the 0.5 adapter, most certainly. And, as has been said, for that price a Bronica with a 40mm looks pretty enticing, but my pocket isn't that big.

So, will I buy one? Probably not. Do I want to borrow one for a week? Absolutely.

Hoping Sean takes the plunge and posts the results. He was first in with the Belair, yeah?