Lomo Kompakt Automat LC-A+ 35mm Camera Kit with 32mm f/2.8 Lens

Average customer rating:

Camera: Good, "Philosophy": Suspect.

Lomo Kompakt Automat LC-A+ 35mm Camera Kit with 32mm f/2.8 Lens

Manufacturer: Lomographic
ProductGroup: Photography
Binding: Electronics

All Film Cameras | Film Cameras | Camera & Photo | Categories | Electronics
Product Features:

Chinese-made Lomo lens Lomo has duplicated everything that we know and love about its original Minitar 1 32mm f/2.8 lens

Automatic Exposure & Long Exposures

Multiple Exposure (MX) switch (NEW!)

Cable Release /Thread Socket / Tripod Thread (NEW!)

Expanded Manual ISO Setting (NEW!) - from 100 ISO to 1600 ISO

ASIN: B000TKT0G6

Product Description

Harnessing the best features of the original Lomo LC-A, and rising above it witha host of new capabilities the Lomo LC-A+ is simply the finest, most delightfully unexpected, robust, pocketable, vividly colorful, and soundly addictive snapshot camera of all time. First off, it's got the lighting-fast zone focusing and on-point automatic exposure of the original. Next, we faithfully & lovingly duplicated the original Russian Minitar 32mm f/2.8 lens - yielding the same radiant colors, the knockout contrast, the edge vignetting, the powerful multicoating, and the occasionally temperamental focusing of like the original. On top of that, it now offers a Multiple Exposure switch, expanded film ISO setting to 1600, and a cable release thread. Size: 4.25" (10.5cm) x 2.5" (6cm) x 1.6" (4cm) Weight: 0.65lb (0.3kg) Format: all 35mm (color negative, slide, b&w) Lens: Chinese-made Lomo lens Focal length: 32mm Available apertures: 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16 Shutter speeds: 1/500 to unlimited (via auto-exposure) Exposure: program automatic (selects aperture & shutter automatically) Multiple Exposure switch for unlimited shots on 1 frame Flash: standard hotshoe with second-curtain sync Standard tripod & cable release thread Film can be processed at any 35mm lab, supermarket, drug store, swapmeet, etc.

Customer Reviews:

Camera: Good, "Philosophy": Suspect........2007-09-20

I have owned several Lomo LC-a cameras, and enjoy using them very much. This little camera does seem to take pictures that look distinctively different from the same shot, taken with a different camera. Most research seems to attribute this to the unique 32mm "Minataur" lens. I have not seen nor used this Chinese version, but it's probably comparable to the original Soviet version. Those are still widely available (steadily rising in price) from the usual online sources.
With this camera it is possible, with a tripod, to take great pictures in very low light, by holding the shutter open. The excellent metering system will close the shutter at the optimum time, so you don't need to guess at your exposure time. Night shots in the streets come out great with this camera.
However, along with the cult that has grown up around this camera is a "Lomo Philosophy" which flaunts disdain for the "rules" of good photography.
Shoot what you want, don't compose your shots, don't bother with a level horizon, etc. Out of focus, off kilter, uncomposed, this is all "art" to these Lomoheads. This is called the Art of "Lomography". Art, of course, is in the eye of the beholder, but almost all of the online galleries which feature photos taken with the Lomo seem to me to be universally ugly. Just my opinion, but there it is. Have fun, whatever you do.

Average customer rating:

Camera for the self conscious
great camera
Lomo- good pocket camera.
qUiRkY but functional.
Hipster camera for naive beginners

Lomo Kompakt Automat 35mm Camera

Manufacturer: Lomographic Cameras
ProductGroup: Photography
Binding: Electronics

All Film Cameras | Film Cameras | Camera & Photo | Categories | Electronics

Lomographic Cameras | Camera & Photo Brands | Camera & Photo Features | Electronics

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Product Features:

Originally designed as a pocket-sized Soviet spy camera
Renders brilliant, super-saturated colors (for sample photos, click on the "See more pictures" link above)
Takes amazing night photos
Sturdy, stylish retro construction
Easy to use, takes normal 35mm film (2 rolls included)

ASIN: B00004S9WR

Product Description

The legendary LOMO Kompakt Automat is a pocketsize, robust, precise and automatic snapshot camera made in St. Petersburg, Russia. Using Prof. Radionov's incredible "Minitar 1" wide-angle lens, the Lomo is forever at your side for contrast, color-drenched images.

Amazon.com Review

The unique Lomo opens up a whole new world of creative photography. Built as sturdy as a tank, the black retro-looking Lomo was originally designed by a top-secret military optics factory in the Soviet Union and is still made by hand in the St. Petersburg factory. It's easy to use, takes normal 35mm film, and gives you brilliant colors and superb night photos.

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 über-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

Customer Reviews:

Camera for the self conscious.......2006-01-17

These cameras are fun, but they are not great. They're the photographic equivalent of a mono tape recorder that takes 4 big batteries.

They may be good for a high school art project but they are not equal to taking good pictures. They produce unpredictable results when you want consistency. The results from using open flash or long exposure soon become boring.

However, a good camera if you're trying to chat-up an art school chick. She wont dig your digi compact but her knickers will fly off when you produce this.

Perhaps worth the investment.

great camera.......2005-08-18

this is a terrific camera, it works even better with colorsplash flash. ASA 25- 100 film works the best. it is also a lot smaller than most people think. its an ADORABLE camera.

Lomo- good pocket camera........2005-02-02

It's a good camera for day-to-day use because of its size, and can still take quality pictures. However for a beginner, its probally best to go for a used SLR (think ebay or good luck at garage sales) for the same price or less. With an SLR you'll find better options for lenses and be able to focus visually rather than guess (tip for lomo- guess the distance to your subject and go to the focus point further than it) and have better control of shutter speed / aperture than with the Lomo. The wide angle lens (35mm) is limiting for some shooting styles, and you'll find yourself needing to get up close to your subject. However as a second camera (one to throw in your backpack or laptop bag) that can provide good photos with little time to prepare or react, the Lomo is a good choice.

My Lomo is pre-english print and came apparently used, and after a few days the forward lens assembely appeared to be loose- with a fine screwdriver this was fixed in about 10 minutes, so dont expect the build quality to be Japanese by any means. Moving parts are for the most part reliable, though a fatal design flaw is that on a tripod mount you cannot operate the lens open/close lever. However I doubt most people will bother shooting with a tripod because this camera is for fun. Overall I am happy with it, but workmanship leaves something to be desired. Within the first few frames of a 36exp roll, it has failed to advance all the way and left a 1/8 inch (on the negative) or so overlap with the previous exposure. When shooting at night, I've found it best to turn the exposure meter down 1 notch (an iso lower). I've had the best results with Kodak Gold 100, but haven't experimented too much.

Enough with the bad, I think the camera makes up for most of these shortcomings by taking great pictures without requiring you to take time to set up the shot, calculate shutter speed, etc. Some of my favorite photos have come from my Lomo not just because of the good photo quality, but because I take it everywhere.

4 stars- Its enjoyable, good size, decent price, and I'm not dissapointed with the picture quality. However it leaves something to be desired in build quality.

Those who have flamed and given it 1 star probally do not own one, take their input with a few spoonfuls of salt. Yes, the lomography society people do hype it up a little too much, but the pictures come out nicely and that is what I value in a camera, not "hipster appeal" or other such advertising schemes.

qUiRkY but functional........2004-11-16

Despite the wanky marketing hype of the official site, the LOMO is a funky and useful little camera.
As an artist, I often need to take images of thangs all over the place - something inspirational in a gallery, stuff for sale at a flea market, obese people in public, etc.
In places where photos are frowned-upon, you can easily take stealth photos and get away with it - no flash/autowind or beeping to give you away.
And the robust/compact construction means one can just plop it in a pocket and forget about it until it's needed.
Another bonus of sorts is the fixed focus - one can readily take snap shots through the glass of display cases - something an autofocussing snap-happy-job just won't do.
On the down side, shots taken from within a few feet of the subject are often blurry (unless you're really accurate with the appropriate distance 80cm/1.5m etc) - but landscape shots always work well.

Hipster camera for naive beginners.......2004-07-21

In a nutshell: save your money, don't buy into this fashion accessory, hyped camera when for the same price you can buy a decent used SLR and get real knowledge about photography.

LOMO cameras are marketed by a company who's primary interest seems to be selling $8 Soviet-era design cameras at boutique prices ($200). Accordingly, the cameras have very little speaking for them technically, and the defects are very cleverly hyped with a strong "revolutionary" slant, as being great new discoveries and strengths.

Their website casts a hip skew on the defects in these cameras, aiming them as a "revolution" in photography. Righhhht.

Among the most egregious re-evaluations from the marketing hype at their website:

_______________________________________
THE LOMO TUNNEL EFFECT
...produces an awesome effect called "Vignetting." Look closely - you'll notice that the corners of your Lomographs are slightly darker and a little softer, in contrast to the lighter and sharper center. This tunnel effect yields a clear and vivid subject, with the corners acting as a natural "frame," directing your attention to the center. You see, lomographs simply have more content!
_______________________________________

Keep in mind, vignetting is a powerful *defect* in the lens design, something Canon, Nikon and the other manufacturers have spent decades of advanced lens design and R&D in trying to eliminate. In Lomo's doublespeak, it's a good thing. (Yes, it can sometimes render interesting photographs, but this breathless hype's almost-mystical description of this effect/lens is misleading at best).

_______________________________________
LOMO WIDE ANGLE
The "all-seeing wide angle view"?
_______________________________________

It's really only a 32mm focal length. Woo hoo.

Most SLR lens manufacturers have for decades offered extensive ranges in lenses with this view coverage and wider made to fit their SLR cameras (even old SLR's from the 60s and 70s); for wide coverage, a vintage 70's SLR+wide lens can be had for under $75 if you look right, and it'll be a vastly better machine. Any 1980s Canon, Nikon, or Olympus 35mm film SLR for instance, offers outstanding manufacture, both full manual and electronic controls available, etc...far exceeding the exposure options and build quality of Lomo's flimsy design. Typical 70's and 80's vintage SLR's like these feature supreme exposure and internal mechanisms, and today let you take advantage of low prices for former top-of-the-line professional lenses (e.g. manual focus Canon FD, Nikkor, or Olympus Zuiko SLR lenses).

Overall, the camera purposefully introduces flaws in your photographs that can render some "artsy" feeling shots, but don't be misled by the manufacturer's clever anti-establishment skew.

_______________________________________
LOMO automatic shutter adjustment

Automatically adjusts the shutter to however long it takes to expose film. It's "intelligent" about it.
_______________________________________

This final one is the one to rule them all. Not to spoil the illusion or anything, but autometering has been around for decades in cameras in all film formats. (Marketing this as something new strikes me as akin to a car company marketing their revolutionary "automobile automatic drive modulator" when it's really only an automatic transmission they're selling). Caveat emptor.

If you want to take LOMO looking photos, buy its almost exact copy for much cheaper: the OLYMPUS XA (and XA2) but it is old, so only available on ebay. Good options also include the cheapest models of the "Jazz Jellies" that they sell at drugstores like Walgreens. (for only $10). Same vignetting effects, same purposefully-crappy lenses give blurred shots "artsy" type of feel."

You can even get the "much vaunted LOMO saturation" if you drop in 50 ISO or 100 ISO film. (this last point one is just beyond me. Saturation is mostly a function of the film, not the camera! LOL! Not according to LOMO though...)

If you still think this is a must for you, save your bucks, buy one on ebay for cheap (people tend to tire of these quickly; at least I did), and use it for it's artistic expression and distortions.

Certainly don't buy into all the LOMO company's clever hype without reading around the web for vintage camera offerings matching this camera, and take the Lomo society's skewed reporting with a giant grain of salt.

A simple photography course or some time spent at a website like Phil Green's excellent photo.net will better your education on this, and give you a relatively unbiased perspective with which you can then go back and see this equipment for what it is.

I'm writing this because it is so frustrating to see the gross exaggerations and distortions made in the marketing of this camera; buyers beware!

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Average customer rating:

Beware the dark side of HP...

Hewlett-Packard Pavilion 540N Desktop (1.5-Ghz Pentium 4, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB hard drive)

Manufacturer: Hewlett Packard
ProductGroup: Personal Computer
Binding: Personal Computers

Desktops | Computers & Add-Ons | Categories | Electronics
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HP Pavilion Desktops | Computers | Hewlett-Packard | Computers Brands | Computers Features | Electronics
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Netgear WG311 54 Mbps Wireless PCI Adapter

Product Features:

Intel® Pentium® 4 processor

1.6GHz, 256DDR SDRAM, 40GB

CD-RW, 56K, NIC, XP-Home

ASIN: B000063S3X

Product Description

With full power and the right features, the HP Pavilion 540n desktop PC is just right to help you track your finances and have fun while doing it! Powered with high-quality processors for speed and functionality, you can burn your own CDs with the CD-Writer. Love music? Record your own CDs with the hp CD-RW drive, create personalized play lists with pre-loaded MusicMatch software, and enjoy incredible sound from the Polk Audio Stereo speakers. HP Internet Command Center one-touch keyboard puts the Internet at your fingertips. Plug in your digital cameras or other peripherals with the convenient front-access USB and serial ports. Bring your music to life with the included Polk Audio stereo speakers with PowerPort technology. Setup is a snap with easy instructions and color-coded connections. Enjoy e-mail and Web-surfing with the integrated network interface, built-in modem and preloaded Internet service providers.

Customer Reviews:

Beware the dark side of HP..........2002-04-07

This isn't a review of this exact model of HP computer, but one very similar that was recently out-moded. As computer technology moves so fast, models that were hot 6 months ago don't even exist now. Still, I've found that a generic "$[money] HP computer" has most of the same problems, many of the same short cuts made to cut costs.

In my HP, the specs sounded very fast and powerful - 1.2 Ghz, 30 gig hard drive CD writer, nice software bundle, 128 meg memory. Upon getting the computer home, I found it to be very professional, everything worked well, Windows hardly ever locks up or freezes, and things work smoothly. Except...

HP cut corners to save money, and it shows. Loading a program on this modern 1.2 Ghz computer can take over 2 minutes, and I'm talking Internet Explorer, which should take 16 seconds. American Online often takes 5 minutes. Unacceptable. This stems from getting a cheap, slow hard drive and a motherboard with a small cache and slow IDE interface. It doesn't matter how fast the processor is, or how much memory you have, you still have to wait for your programs to load from the Hard Drive.

I still find that $[money] buys you a better computer from Dell or Gateway than anything you can get from Best Buy. Compaq, HP, IBM, all of these manufacturers make cheap computers to sell at Wal-Mart and Best Buy and similiar places. They cut corners to max out their profits, and I've seen people complain again and again about such "Deals". Beware.

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Data Port Anywhere

Manufacturer: KONEXX (UNLIMITED SYS CORP INC)
ProductGroup: CE

A compact handset-interface product that allows for an analog connection
Draws power from the notebook's USB port (No Batteries or AC Adapter
USB Hub enables you to use other USB devices simultaneously.
A four-position switch assures reliable operation with most office and
Compatible with virtually all laptops and modems.

ASIN: B000L6ELXK

Product Description

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