Who Wants To Test The Lomo LC-A 120 ???????????

I just finished up my review of the LC-A 120, and it should be online soon.
I'll share the link when it's ready.

Here's one of my favorites from the camera.

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LOMO LC-A 120
Minigon XL 38/4.5
Expired Fuji Pro 400NPH
Epson V500​
 
Huss said:
Hey Colton, could you use this item to help take pics? It is a trigger type mechanism that screws in to the tripod socket of the camera, then the cable release attaches to the shutter.
If so, I can ship it to you in honour of the pay it forward thread.

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Click to expand...

Dudes. Please, please don't use that in public. Anything that looks like a trigger. In this environment? Just read this a few moments ago:

http://petapixel.com/2015/11/19/911-called-after-photographers-tripod-mistaken-for-machine-gun/
 
Arrival

Arrival

The touring LC-A 120 has arrived. Everything is in great shape.

This is actually quite an interesting camera. Yes...it is a Lomo. Yes...there is plenty of plastic in it. Yes...the price seems to be quite high. But there are also quite a few things that are positives.

What it is -
A very compact, handy, point and shoot, auto-exposure, medium format, 6x6 camera. I am not sure that I know of any other cameras like this one. My Fuji GA645 Pro is close but the Fuji is larger, heavier and takes 645 sized photographs.


This may come as a bit of a surprise but it could be a good street camera. I am going to take it downtown tomorrow and try it out. Elko is certainly not a large city but there should be a few people to photograph. Of course, Walmart may actually be a better location. 🙂


The biggest downside will end up being the shutter. This shutter has to be the worst. Even my old Holga has a better shutter.


I have put one roll of film through the camera, which I already know is short on images. The second is over half done.
 
The weekend is over and it was productive.

Nine rolls of film are now on their way to the lab for developing. I am certainly hoping that something turns out! 🙂

So far, with the exception of a couple of problems, the camera seems to be functioning flawlessly. Obviously until the film returns we can't be certain regarding the image quality.

But there are a few other things to talk about in the meantime. Lets start with the build quality.

The body of this camera is primarily constructed of metal, with the top and bottom plates made from plastic. The potential high wear points are constructed of metal. This includes the film door latch system and hinge. The entire film door is metal. The pressure plate and film rollers are metal and well polished as well. The tripod bushing and hot shoe. The zone focus lever and mechanism and the lens barrel. Though the film advance knob is plastic the shaft and drive that turns the spool is metal. Though I have not opened up the camera I am sure that there are other metal gears, spring parts and slides inside. Obviously this is not Leica, but it does appear that there has been some thought given to ensuring the camera can last for quite awhile as long as reasonable care is given by the operator. Parts fit well and work as they were intended.

The feel of the camera in the hand is generally good. It is covered with a grippy surface that works quite well. It is just barely shorter in length than my Leica M-A and it is the same width. The need to get a 6cm image height means the camera is higher. It feels good in the hand and it does not feel flimsy. It doesn't weigh much, which is probably good since the leather strap that came with the camera is pretty thin and flimsy looking.

Tomorrow I'll discuss how the camera gets the image on the film.
 
Through the lens.
The lens, a Minigon XL 1:4.5 38mm, is a wide angle 38mm which is the equivalent of a 21mm on 35mm film, though it isn't an exact match because of the frame ratio difference. The lens is made of multi-coated glass and consists of 5 elements in 4 groups with a 92 degree angle of view. This lens is a version of the Minigon -1, a 17mm wide angle lens that was developed for the LCA-Wide.

When the camera is not in use a front cover can be slid up to cover it. This also locks the shutter release button so it is not possible to take a shot with the lens covered. The lens cover also blocks the viewfinder so you know immediately that the lens is covered.

Inside the camera the light path to the film is surrounded with flat black plastic, some of which is ridged to prevent reflections. The film frame seems to be quite well isolated so any reflections are unlikely, though probably not totally impossible.

The rear of the camera has channels where the edges of the film door fit and there is also foam lining the outside edge of the film door itself to prevent light leaks.


Shutter and Aperture
One of the unique features of this camera is the fully automatic exposure system. This system consists of an electronically timed shutter and an automatic aperture. This system, combined with the small size of the camera and the large size of the negative, is a huge positive.

When you load the film you set the film speed by turning a small knob on the front of the camera until the correct film speed in ISO is selected. The available ISO speeds range from ISO 100 to ISO 1600 in whole stops, no half or third stops available.

Once the proper film speed is selected the camera takes care of the rest. The aperture should open and close between f/4.5 when wide open to f/16 at minimum aperture based on the light measured by the meter. I have based this on the description provided in the Instruction Manual and other locations on-line as I have not been able to create a situation in testing that causes the meter to close down. It is possible that the shutter opening is being controlled at various openings similar to the old Volute shutters that allows the shutter blades to act as an aperture. There is no aperture mechanism within the lens itself.

The shutter is a simple form of leaf shutter located behind the lens. It reminds me of the old Kodak Brownie shutter. The shutter speeds are electronically timed to operate between 1/500 seconds and infinity based on the light meter's exposure decisions. I haven't tested to see how long the shutter will stay open and still close.

Based on the available shutter speeds and aperture options the LC-A has an EV range from unlimited on the lower end to EV17 on the upper end. If time permits I may try to test the lower end of this EV range.

The biggest headache is the shutter release itself. As described in Colton's review, as you press the button it becomes progressively stiffer until it reaches the point that it finally trips. When it trips it sounds like a stiff spring releasing. Needless to say it is difficult to keep the camera steady if shooting handheld. The most reliable hand held method seems to be holding the camera at the waist like you would a TLR, and then pressing the shutter down with your thumb while supporting the bottom of the camera with your fingers. Interestingly, when my grandson used the camera he didn't find the shutter to difficult for him to use.Since all of his pictures were taken hand held it will be interesting to see if there is any camera shake in his photos.

There are some other concerns with the auto exposure system. For starters, there is no way to set the exposure manually. Everything is completely automatic.

Neither is there any way to apply any exposure compensation short of using the ISO selector. In essence, if you are using ISO 400 speed film you can manually select + or – 2 stops of compensation by using the ISO control.I guess that would make TriX or HP5+ the preferred film for the Lomo LC-A. 🙂

Tomorrow we will take a close look at the film transport system to see how well it does its job.
 
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The exposure compensation trial has been shot. The film is developed and hanging to dry this evening.

Likewise, some focus testing using a Lens Align focus target has been completed and those negs are also hanging to dry this evening.

If time permits between getting up Christmas Decorations I will try and get these scanned and posted tomorrow.
 
Viewfinder
I can put this quite simply. This is not the worlds best viewfinder. It feels a lot like looking through a tunnel...with very blurry glasses...built for a mouse. Fortunately you are not trying to focus with it. It is also fortunate that the lens is as wide as it is so you don't even have be too picky about framing your photograph.


Focusing
Face it, this is really just a point and shoot. By setting the focus at infinity you can expect to get everything from 4 meters (12 feet) to infinity in focus. However, there are focusing options. This is a scale focus camera so Lomo has given you 4 settings. The first, 0.6 meters, gives you a range from around half of a meter and 3/4 of a meter in focus. What that means for me is if I can reach out and touch it with my fingers then I should get a relatively sharp picture by setting the focus at 0.6m. The next setting is 1 meter. This will focus things anywhere from about 3/4 of a meter to 1 1/2 meters away. The 3rd setting is 2.5 meters. This is supposed to be good for 1 1/2 meters out to 4 meters. Finally, as already said, the infinity setting shoud focus from around 4 meters all the way out to as far as you can see.

But...does all this actually work? Or are we being encouraged to switch a little slider when nothing is happening? I know I am being a bit obsessive here (isn't that what camera testing is?) so I decided to test it. Inquiring minds would like to know.


However, before we get to the tests, I can tell you this much. The little slider switch is attached to the lens barrel and the lens does rotate when the lever is slid up and down. The sliding motion is neatly and simply transferred to a rotating motion which, through the action of a very simple collar and two studs to form a helical, that does move the entire lens in and out. The question of course is exactly how much difference does this 3mm (+/- .01mm) of lateral focus movement really mean with a 38mm lens?


Time for the test. Please be assured that his was a highly scientific survey. Because there are certainly thousands of people who want to be able to repeat these results I was very careful. I used a Spyder Cal lens target. This focus target was set up and leveled on a tripod which was set up in front of my white garage door on an overcast day. The Lomo LC-A 120 was also set up on a tripod and carefully located at various distances from the target. The distances chosen corresponded with the distances on the focus slider. Since I don't have a metric ruler I had to use my American Made ruler with inch markings. But I did carefully do my google conversions to ensure things remained properly scientific.


The photographs shown here were taken using a cable release at 0.6m (24”), 1m (39”), 2.5m (96”), 4m (156”) and 10m (390”). I chose 4m and 10m in lieu of a true infinity because my focus target would not be visible at a true infinity. I actually took two photos of each setting in case something happened to one of them. The photos were scanned using the Epson V500 with the Epson software. The settings were chosen to minimize scanner modification. The results are presented here at 100% magnification.


There are a couple things I think I learned from this test. First, Arista EDU 400 film is not ideal for focus testing. Too much grain. Next, this may be a glass lens but I still don't think it is really the type of lens where clear focus was one of Lomo's priorities.
 
First test at 0.6 meters.



To me it is clear that the lens is actually focused further back than the center. The 6 on the tilt portion of the target to the right is much clearer than the 0 in the center.

Focus test at 1 meter.



The camera has been moved back to one meter and it is still clear that the actual focus is further back.

Focus test at 2.5 meters



At this distance nothing is really in focus. Although it is hard to tell here I believe that the actual focus point is now moved to a point further back than the garage door.

Focus test at infinity



Wow! I think this may be one of the busiest photographs I have ever taken. It really isn't clear to me that the focus of the entire picture is that tiny little focus target setting on the tripod in front of the garage door. Hmmm.

Rather than trying to move in to the target at 100% I thought I would leave this image as it was taken. First, it is clear how far away the target looks at 10 meters. Next, I find it very instructive how clear things are at different distances within the photograph. The tail light of the Grand Am looks focused as well as things further away.

Basically, It appears that you will likely be quite satisfied by putting the focus lever at infinity and then leaving it there.
 
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