LOMO LC-Wide

If you don’t have time to read this review of the LOMO LC-Wide – Expansive Lomography, I can read this to you with the Photo Thinking Blogcast! You can find it on most podcast platforms or here.

Have you ever shot a LOMO LC-A and wondered what it would be like wide? Wonder no longer, as here is the LOMO LC-Wide. After the recent article of the LC-A on this site, a good friend, Adam, offered the use of his camera so I could write about the wider cousin.

I’m a bit of a sucker for wide lenses, so when Adam mentioned this has a 17mm lens, and not a fisheye, I could not say no. So a time was organised and over a beer he handed me the camera. Instantly it felt familiar, as per the original LC-A.

Ship under Sydney Harbour Bridge | LOMO LC-Wide | Ilford HP5 Plus

Well, that lasted until I looked through the viewfinder. Even though Adam did warn me I was still surprised. Now, that is an experience but I’ll have more on that later but let’s just say you will not expect it the first time you look through. I tested that with a few people who I offered a look through it, and yes, surprise!

I’ve recently liked the idea of smaller cameras which I carry around at a whim. The LOMO LC-Wide does fit in well within that category. Going to the market, check. Going to walk the dog, check. Local park with a lighthouse, check. The fact it works with automatic exposure makes it both handy and sometimes a little annoying.

Circular sculpture | LOMO LC-Wide | Kodak Gold 200

One of the things that really is quite spectacular is that the LC-Wide can shoot not only full frame 35mm, but also half frame and even square. It does require you decide at the beginning of the roll, but there is some flexibility if you want to be artistic.

Shopping by the totem pole | LOMO LC-Wide | Ilford HP5 Plus

History

In the review of the LOMO LC-A we see how the original camera was discovered by accident in Prague even as it was already a well-known in Soviet circles. The modern Lomographic Society was born, and eventually building its own version, but in China. As all this has been covered in the LC-A article, I won’t repeat the history here.

In 2011, as part of extending the product range they released the LOMO LC-Wide. Sporting the extremely wide 17mm lens, it was an option for anyone using the LC-A and wanting to go quite a bit wider.

Maroubra Rock Pool | LOMO LC-Wide | Kodak Gold 200

The lens is called the Minigon 1. It was named after the Minitar 1 lens on the LC-A, but as it is a wide lens it has the ending of “gon”. This is a nod to the famous wide lenses like the Distagon, Flektogon etc.

Apart from the multi-format shooting, the LC-Wide was offered with some very some fun product selections. Accessories include an Instax back, the Back+ which I must admit is a pretty cool option.

The other great accessory is something it shares with the LC-A, the Krab. This is an underwater housing, to take your camera to twenty metres underwater.

Camera Specifics

The LOMO LC-Wide is a 35mm compact viewfinder camera. The camera can shoot full frame 35mm, half frame and square format (24x24mm). It does require masks to achieve this as per design. The styling is very much like the LC-A and at glance could be mistaken for one.

The main difference is the wide 17mm Minigon 1 lens. While it is 17mm, it is not a fisheye even though the viewfinder has a very fisheye feel to it. The lens and viewfinder are covered when the camera is off, and a switch at the bottom opens them up for operation. Moving the switch part way allows it to be set up for half frame.

Unlike the LC-A, the LC-Wide does not have any exposure controls apart from the ASA setting on the left side of the camera on the lens compartment. ASA options are 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600. Also, on that side a little lower is the focus lever giving you two options. 0.4-0.9m and 0.9m to infinity.

On the top plate of the camera, it is a very simple affair with just the shutter release button, frame counter, hot shoe and film rewind crank. The shutter release button has a regular remote cable thread. Film advance is through a wheel rotated using the right thumb.

Under the camera is the is the battery chamber. It takes three LR44 batteries which power the camera and the meter.

Also under the camera is the switch for the full frame/square and half frame. Next to it and to the tripod socket thread is a switch called MX. It allows for multiple exposures by basically re-cocking the shutter without advancing the film.

Apart from the formats mentioned above, the LC-Wide allows for something called Endless Panorama. You shoot it by selecting half frame mode, but not inserting the masks. It blends the frames together, so if positioned right you can make a nice big panorama.

Suburban sky | LOMO LC-Wide | Kodak Gold 200

The Experience

As I mentioned above, Adam was very generous to lend me the LOMO LC-Wide over a beer. I threw in some Kodak Gold 200 the next day and off I went. He did warn me that the frame counter does not always work, so tracking through the roll was entertaining when I lost count. That usually happened after about frame four.

With the closing cover on the lens and viewfinder it is a very handy camera to take. After setting the film ASA the only thing I had to worry about was the selection of focus. As it is very rare for me to shoot anything under 0.9m, it pretty much stayed on the 0.9m to infinity setting.

Shooting with it was fun, though the viewfinder is not really that helpful. It is very warped and a “bubble” like view. What I did do, is remember that precise framing is not what this camera is designed for. It was never built for technical perfection.

I ran the film through, and while Adam did not have the frame masks, he did make an off-the-cuff suggestion that I could still shoot half frame with soft edges. One day while watching my son play football, I popped over to the next park where there is a lighthouse and tried out some half frames. I thought I was shooting diptychs and triptychs. As it turns out, I had accidentally shot an Endless Panoramic.

Endless Lighthouse Panoramic | LOMO LC-Wide | Kodak Gold 200

Not exactly the best work of art, but interesting considering it was an accident. In the next film, Ilford HP5 Plus, I actually purposely tried to get it spaced right, but still managed to repeat a few sections.

Riverbank | LOMO LC-Wide | Ilford HP5 Plus

Sydney Harbour | LOMO LC-Wide | Ilford HP5 Plus

From the non-panoramic shots, the camera does have a very distinctive style. If you like vignetting, you are in for a big treat. I have never seen a fixed lens camera have so much of it, but it does go with the style of photography.

A big surprise to me was that the results had a fairly flat horizon. I was sure at 17mm there would some warping but surprisingly it is quite straight. I have not un-warped the horizon on any of the photos in this article, but I have had to do some straightening considering it was hard to get right with the viewfinder.

The centre is quite sharp, but head out of there and it does fall off. But while I am not sure how this works, the look feels right. It does mean you have to be a little creative with what is centred in the frame, and with a viewfinder like this it is a challenge, but when you get it right it is the true sense of lomography.

Sea view | LOMO LC-Wide | Kodak Gold 200

The thing I love about the LC-Wide is that it is fun. Helps me to stop taking photography so seriously and just enjoy it.

They are not the cheapest camera to purchase, even second hand, but they are not as plentiful as other cameras. In essence it a measured purchase, but if you are after a camera to help you enjoy photography, it kind of makes it worth it.