When I was new to lomography, I was excited and eager to buy the cameras and start shooting. The thing was, I didn't know which cameras to buy first then. I was immediately interested in the Holgas, impressed with the LC-A, and curious about the Supersampler and Fisheye cameras. I researched and asked a few people which cameras they would recommend for a newbie and the answers ranged from either the Holga 120N, the Fisheye, or the Colorsplash flash camera (which I never bought because I didn't like the flash sticking out like that). Some people have recommended the Holga 120CFN and the Holga 135BC (for those who would rather use the 35mm version). In the end I got both the 120CFN and 135BC.
For newbies, I would recommend you start with the Holga. Square Frog is one of my favorite sites for information on Holgas. There are videos on the site (and in Youtube) on how to load and unload film, how to use 35mm film in the 120 camera, etc. Once I decided which Holga I wanted, the next site I went to to buy one was eBay. Check out my favorite Holga sellers on eBay in this entry.
After learning to use the Holga, I bought myself a Fisheye 2 and then a Supersampler. The Fisheye 2 was tricky to use but I eventually learned to love it after I discovered that I preferred to use negatives instead of slides. The Supersampler is one of my favorite cameras.
If you want a Lomo LC-A but don't have the budget for it, one of the next best cameras in the market that can give you similar output pictures are the Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim (or its lookalikes and clones) and the Olympus XA series. If you're lucky, there are second hand fully functioning Olympus XA for as low as £25 (shipping excluded) on eBay. Other alternative camera discussed in forums for the LC-A can be found here and here.
It's fun to experiment with toy cameras and eBay is now full of them. Just check out the Fun Camera store for other plastic camera goodies.
If you want to start colorsplashing, you need not spend for a colorsplash flash. You can just buy an ordinary hotshoe flash and make an improvised one like what I did here.
As for films, a good site to see the output of the negative and slide films would be in the Lomo Film Shop. Don't be discouraged with the prices as you can buy them cheaper on eBay.
Anyways, I hope this entry has helped those who are new to lomography. I know it's not complete but it's a start :) good luck and happy shooting!
4 comments:
Hi,
I'm a big fan of your site. And I can actually say that you have introduced me to Lomography!! What do you think of the Lubitel 166+ Is this a true Lomo camera?
I have one important question for you. As a beginner who knows nothing about Lomo (obviously), how do you post your beautiful pics on your web? Do you have to buy a negative scanner or do you develop the film and scan the actual photo? :)
Thanks for the tips and for showing much enthusiasm in the subject
Thanks for the praise Jen :) The Lubitel is on my wish list and I haven't tried it yet. I can't say for sure whether it's worth buying or not although my lomo buddies have encouraged me to buy one. As far as Lomo is concerned, I've read that the LC-A is what supposedly started it all in lomography (it's the "true lomo camera").
There's this photo lab in the Philippines called Digiprint that offers film scanning to CD burning. I avail of this because it's cheaper--I just drop of my rolls at the branch and the rolls are delivered to my preferred address after two days already scanned and burned in a CD. No prints to scan because it's all been scanned and ready to upload on the web :)
I use Multiply to store my images--Blogger's Picasa has a limit so I try not to save my photos from there. Some of my friends use Flickr or Photobucket for their photo storage.
:)
Thanks, Mia for your tip! I am looking forward to perusing your Lomo album!
You're welcome :) now following you at Twitter. I love your travel blog!
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