Lomography LC-Wide 35mm film camera

I recently purchased a new compact point and shoot digital camera, a Nikon P300. I had high hopes for it’s small size and unique features. Sadly, I wasn’t that impressed with it after using it for a little while and returned it. My iPhone is just too good of a point and shoot camera.

So then I decided to treat myself to Lomography’s newest 35mm film camera, the LC-Wide which had just come out:

The appealing thing about the LC-Wide was that it came with an awesome 17mm ultra wide angle lens, hence the name.

I’ve put about four rolls of film through it now and think I’ve finally got it all figured out and have been loving the results from it.

Here’s a handful of my favorite shots, taken over the last month during my travels:

Here’s a brief run down of my likes/dislikes of this camera:

I Liked:

• solid – camera doesn’t feel cheap or ‘plasticy’ and has some heft to it
• well built – unlike my Holga’s, it doesn’t feel like it’s going to break simply by advancing the film
• small – fits easily in my hand and can be tucked away in your jean or cargo short pockets if you needed to
• awesome wide angle glass lens – 17mm on a ‘full frame’ 35mm film camera is fabulous…that is all.
• great focal distance – you can easily switch between 0.4-0.9m or 0.9m to infinity focus distance which means you can get really close to your subjects with that wide angle lens

I didn’t like:

• expensive – it came with a huge wooden box and two printed books along with other accessories including a remote shutter release cable that was DOA. I would have preferred to just buy the camera and skip the ‘extras’ which while nice, inflated the price of the package
• cheesy screenprinted graphics – (see above photo) it seems to be Lomo’s schtick but it would look like a more serious film camera if the body didn’t have cartoon people printed on it…especially for this price point. At least they disappear when you open the lens cover.
• tiny ASA dial – to change the film’s ASA setting, the dial is tucked away beside the front of the viewfinder and you need tiny child hands to be able to change the settings

Sure I can probably get similar results if I mess around on my iPhone with Instagram, Hipstamatic or Lemeleme but I still love the look of film, the ‘Christmas Day’ joy of getting a roll back from being developed (I usually just get my rolls developed and scanned to CDs) and seeing the results. I have other film cameras I use occasionally too but this one is usually in my bag all the time since it’s so compact and a ton of fun to use.