After recently getting some experience shooting with a lomo lca i decided to take the plunge and buy one. After watching a few on ebay i placed a few bids and ended up snagging one for £41 which based on others i watched is a great price.

The seller said it hadn’t been used in years and couldn’t guarantee that it worked and also added that the light seals were falling apart. I think this may have scared off quite a few bidders, however having recently replaced the seals on my Olympus XA2 I know this is a minor, simple job to do if that was all that was wrong with it. The fact that the seller had owned it from new (1990), had the instructions and said he’d stored it with the batteries taken out for the last ten years convinced me to take the risk.

Replacing the light seals on the lomo was a relatively simple task. I bought some new light seals from Japan and when they arrived simply followed the instructions here. It is basically just a case of scraping away all of the old gunky decayed seals with a cocktail stick (Using a bit of lighter fluid dabbed on a cotton bud helps this cleaning process). Once cleaned up and dry it is a case of simply sticking the 3 pre cut seals in place. You just need to take your time and ensure the seals are stuck in place straight and untwisted.

Having replaced the seals I was keen to get a roll of film through it in order to see if it worked ok. Well I am glad to report that there are no issues with light leaks and the lca seems to be in fine working order. Here is the first shot out of it…

I intend to use mainly colour slide film with the LCA and get it cross processed. Both of these shots were taken with Agfa Precisa 100 film cross processed at my local Snappy Snaps.

I recently attended a photography course with the exceptionally talented Mr Kevin Meredith aka lomokev of flickr fame. The aim of the course was to better learn what it takes to take a good photograph.

While I know (or like to think i know!) much of the standard photography  theory seen in many books (the rule of thirds, choose backgrounds wisely, yadda yadda, yadda) what I hoped to learn was an insight into how a photographer like Kevin approaches his shooting and to hopefully be able to apply some of the same principles to my work.

Day 1 of the two day course kicked off with a talk about what make a good photograph from Kevin. The afternoon was spent shooting a set list of 60 items using just two rolls of film, forcing you to think seriously before firing the shutter. An added bonus for me was that during day one we got to shoot using Lomo LCAs, a camera I have long admired from a distance and read much about (but so far resisted buying).

Lomo LCA

Day 2 was spent shooting a series of photographs (using digital cameras) with a self set theme. The idea being to help us build our own style by shooting a set of images with a common theme.

Using a Lomo LCA

I’ve read many times about LCA owners getting very frustrated at getting their films back from being developed only to find most of the shots are blurred. Well I didn’t really find this an issue. Following Kev’s advice i found that paying close attention to the “camera to subject distance” resulted in mainly sharp images. As recommended all of the shots taken on the 0.8m zone focus setting were kept sharp by measuring the distance from camera to subject with a fold out tape measure!

It still amazes me how much thought is required when shooting with such a ’simple’ camera such as the Lomo LCA or Olympus XA2. With only the focus zone and ISO to set it amazes me how easy it is to get wrong  (common mistakes i make are forgetting to change the ASA when loading a new roll of film or forgetting to load a film all together or choosing the wrong focus zone for a shot).  I could understand why I make these mistakes if i was a lazy digital photographer used to fully automatic cameras, however when shooting digitally (currently about 90% of the time) i tend to shoot in AV or manual modes, making many manual decisions along the way.

I think maybe the cause of my film mishaps is muscle memory from the days when any compact size camera I used to use was a fully automatic digital that I assume small cameras must be fully auto. Film cameras require a different kind of pre shot thought to digital ones.

A Low Light Lomo Shot

The thing i liked most about the lomo is that it has a relatively small focussing distance compared to similar cameras such as the Olympus XA2. The minimum focussing distance of the lca is 0.8m, allowing you to really fill the frame when taking head shots or get decent photographs of smaller subjects.

I liked my experience with lomos so much i’ve just bought one off ebay. I managed to pick one up for a good price (£41). It seems in good condition apart from the light seals have completely gone. I intend to fit new seals before putting the first roll of film through it. I’ll post back soon to let you know how i get on with it.

When it was first produced in the 1980’s this 35mm zone focusing compact was a technological and design breakthrough. It’s selenium light meter and clam shell design were cutting edge at the time of release and the Zuiko 35mm f3.5 was (and still is) super sharp.

After using a DSLR in quite heavily for the last year or so it has taken quite a while to get used to using such a supposedly ‘low tech’ camera. There are really only a couple of things you can do wrong when using this camera.

Once the XA2 is loaded with film you first need to select the correct ASA, something i’ve failed to do on a c0uple of occasions. You simply move the little switch under the lense to the ASA setting that matches the speed of the film you are using (available options are ASA 25, 50, 100, 200, 400 & 800).

Before taking a shot the only thing you need to worry about is setting the correct zone focus. On the front of the camera there is a switch with 3 symbols, one for each of the focus zones:

Two Heads: 1.2m – 1.8m

Two Orange Bodies: 1.2 – 6.3m

Mountains: 6.3m – infinity

Every time you reopen the clam shell to take a shot the XA2 resets back to it’s default medium zone (the two orange bodies) so be sure to change zone before shooting if your subject is close by or in the distance. Initially this can be easy to forget and the first couple of roll of film i put through the XA2 contained numerous out of focus shots.

The Olympus XA2 works by using a selenium light meter which is incredibly sensitive. When shooting you will hear two clicks: one when the shutter opens, another when it closes . You need to keep the camera perfectly still until you hear that second click, particularly if shooting in low light.

Shooting film has been a bit of a revelation for me after shooting digital for so long. I like the idea of being forced to think much harder about my shots before pressing the shutter release button. As a result I think shooting film has helped me improve as a photographer.

The above shot was taken using colour slide film which was then cross processed as regular negative film. The results of doing this are unpredictable, high contrast colours that can offer up some really nice surprises.

The metal body and clam shell design means that most of these cameras tend to be in great condition despite being getting on for 30 years old. The most common repair you’ll need to make (i’ve just had to do this on mine) is to replace the light seals. You’ll know you need to do this if some of your pictures have a orange/yellow line across them. This is a simple job, simply buy some replacement light seals from ebay (they only cost a couple of pounds/dollars), scrape away the gunky foam from inside and fit the new seals.

The great thing about these cameras is that they offer all of the benefits of the much more expensive Lomo LCA while doing so at bargain prices. These cameras often turn up in thrift stores or junk sales but also sell at reasonable prices on ebay. If you see one for a reasonable price, just buy it.

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