Film cameras may never reach the heights of ubiquity as they did during the 20th century. That much is true. But film has also never felt as playful and whimsical as it does now, and Lomography deserves much of the credit for ushering us into a modern era of appreciation for affordable film cameras that prioritize spontaneity and a celebration of imperfection. You don’t buy a Lomography camera because you want the finest image quality.
Lomography has all kinds of wild, experimental film cameras that specialize in fish-eye and ultra-wide-angle shots. I’m going to focus on the bread-and-butter models here that are useful for more than just trick-angle shots. These models won’t come for Fujifilm’s and Ricoh’s crown anytime soon, but they’re fun and a hell of a bang for your buck.
Lomography
Lomomatic 110 (opens in a new window)
Available at Lomography
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lomomatic 110
Ok, so it’s not as compact as the camera you’ve got living inside your smartphone, which slides into your pocket like a deck of playing cards. Let’s ignore that. You’re not shopping for a film camera in 2025 because you want the cheapest, most convenient way to take a photograph.
The Lomomatic 110 ($99 to $189) uses 110 format film, a compact and rarely seen film specifically designed for use in these compact travel cameras. In fact, only Lomography still makes 110 film. The 110 is bigger than a king-sized Snickers bar, but not by much. Pull it open for action, and snap it shut for transportation and storage to protect the lens from scratches and damage.
Lomography
Diana F+ (opens in a new window)
Available at Lomography
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diana F+
The retro-drenched Diana F+ ($89) shoots 120, a medium-format film that offers significantly higher resolution than common 35mm film. You can toggle the Diana F+ to shoot 12 rectangular shots on a roll of 120 or 16 square shots.
The giant flash hanging off the top of the camera body comes with colored gels in red, blue, green, purple, and more, which lets you cast funky colors over your subjects for artistic shots.
For the camera itself, there are few available colors, including wilder CMYK and milder black, if “French Riviera in the 1960s” isn’t the vibe you’re going for.
Lomography
Lomo LC-Wide 35mm (opens in a new window)
Available at Lomography
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Lomo LC-Wide 35mm
The Lomo LC-Wide 35mm ($279) is a 35mm version of the Lomo LC-A 120 ($450), a 120 medium-format film camera that first went into production in Russia in 1984 and which kickstarted the genesis of its revival under Lomography.
With the LC-Wide 35mm version, which uses cheaper and more common 35mm film, you can toggle a switch that lets you shoot the full 35mm rectangular shot, half-frame shot, or a square shot.
It has what Lomography calls the world’s widest lens in a 35mm camera. At 17mm, that captures a fairly wide view, which is perfect for snapping photos of wide-open landscapes and the interiors of buildings.
The post Out of the Dark and Into the Darkroom: Lomography’s Best Film Cameras Explained appeared first on VICE.
