Check out all episodes -> Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
Above is part 1 of a 7 part BBC series on the “Lomo Movement” from 2006. I remember when these BBC videos first came out (I was shooting with an early series Canon A9 digital Powershot). I was inspired. The series didn’t motivate me to purchase a Russian made Lomo film camera (started production in 1983) but it did get me thinking about what exactly I was shooting, and how often. The Lomo Movement as it was called back in the early 90′s, was the simple idea of photographers “letting go”. Letting the artist within take over, maybe take a few shots from the hip and let the moment rule your capture instead of trying to control the moment in order to attain a good capture. Basically, shoot as often as you can and keep your camera on you at all times. The core Lomo Movement group had 10 basic rules to follow (you can see them towards the end of the first video), the last rule of the 10 was not to follow any of the rules. You get the idea. These videos loosened up my own personal shooting style, made the simple act of shooting more fun and as a result I have been taking pics almost daily since 2006.
One of the big attractions of the Lomo camera is it’s compact size and portability. The past few years in the digital realm, compact size has meant the sacrifice of picture quality and usually a user interface that would confuse most airline pilots. SLR’s have been the prized option for photographers who really want/need/care for high picture quality but they are far from compact and require large bags and a lot of accessories. Without going into too many details, I feel that photographers have been left with two options when selecting a digital camera. Small, crappy cameras and large expensive high-quality cameras. Fortunately for us, the camera industry in the past six months has shown great signs of innovation and change.
Enter the Lomo-sized digital camera that can take near SLR quality pics. They they are not only similar in size as a Lomo camera, in many cases they have taken on the classic look as well. This is a good thing, my compact camera no longer looks like a fragile compact make-up case. It looks like a real camera. Even though the Lomo camera is not known for it’s high quality pics, it is known for it’s ease of operation, portability and that funky Russian lens. Last Fall I bought a Canon G10 and have been very pleased with the picture quality, performance and it’s classic looks. The pics that come from my G10 may not have those fun darkened corners that a Lomo will produce, but it’s definitely with me all the time and I have standard controls at my fingertips. Yes, real knobs and switches. To me this brings back some of the fun that I was missing. I think it’s safe to say that the Lomo Movement in 2006 had some effect on the our current camera industry and the models that have been released in the past year.
One thing to keep in mind when shopping for one of these new cameras is that the whole megapixel race is over between brands and that it’s the sensor size that really matters. You can buy a 12mp camera with a small sensor and it’s photos will be of lessor quality (in most cases) than a 9mp camera with a large sensor. Some companies have developed new ways to calibrate and compress images in order to make up for the smaller sized sensor, for example, Canon G10′s DIGIC 4 technology.There have recently been other companies to have released some interesting mid-size cameras as well. Below are a few that I have been keeping my eye on:
Sigma -> Sigma DP2
Canon -> Canon G10
Samsung -> Samsung TL320
Leica -> Leica C-Lux and D-Lux
Panasonic -> Panasonic DMC-FX150K
Shop for a traditional Lomo film cameras -> http://shop.lomography.com/shop/
Lomo microsite -> http://www.lomography.com/lca+/
Lomographic Society International -> Lomography.com
