Lomography’s Lomo’Instant

The Lomography’s Lomo’Instant was borned out of a Kickstarter Project two years ago. It garnered 8,448 backers with a total of US$1,118,333 pledged out of their initial goal of US$100,000.

There are several designs available and prices range between S$168 and S$258 on Lomography Online Store.

It uses Fuji Instax Mini Film and it cost S$13.90 per pack and each pack contain ten films.

Lomo'Instant - Film Compartment — Lomo’Instant – Film Compartment

I was seeded with the Lomo’Instant Reykjavik which retails for S$258.

Lomo'Instant - Front — Lomo’Instant – Front

Lomo'Instant - Back — Lomo’Instant – Back

Lomo'Instant - Bottom — Lomo’Instant – Bottom

Specification

Film Format: Fujifilm Instax Mini Film
Exposure Area: 42mm x 64mm
Shutter Speed: 1/125s / Bulb
Exposure Compensation: +2/-2 Exposure Values
Ejection Mechanism: Motorized
Multiple Exposures: Yes
Built-in Flash Guide Number: 9(m)
Automatic Flash Output: Yes
Battery Supply: 6V (4x AAA batteries)
Tripod mount: Yes
Cable Release Mount: Yes
Aperture: f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22, f/32

The default Lomo’Instant packaging comes with the camera itself with wide-angle lens built-in, three lens attachments with caps (Fisheye, Portrait and Close-Up), colored gel filters, shooting technique cards and instruction manual.

Lomo'Instant - Box Contents — Lomo’Instant – Box Contents

Lomo'Instant - Lens Attachment — Lomo’Instant – Lens Attachment

Lomo'Instant - With Lens Attachment — Lomo’Instant – With Lens Attachment

Lomo'Instant - With Lens Cap — Lomo’Instant – With Lens Cap

What set Lomo’Instant apart from other instant camera is the creative aspect.

As mentioned above, there are four different type of lens (Wide-Angle, Fisheye, Portrait and Close-Up) for various photography options.

The built-in wide-angle lens gives you a 27mm equivalent wide-angle and 40cm closest focusing distance.

The fisheye lens attachment gives you 170° viewing angle and the portrait lens attachment is the 35mm equivalent, which is good for street photography and landscape shots.

The close-up lens attachment allows you to have a 10-15cm closest focusing distance.

You can shoot long exposures by holding the shutter open as long as you like. This gives you the ability to do night shots and light painting photoshoots. You can also shoot unlimited multiple exposure which allows you to combine numerous shots into one single frame. The Lomo’Instant comes with something called Splitzer. It enables you to easily slice and dice your multiple exposure photos.

Lomo'Instant - Splitzer — Lomo’Instant – Splitzer

It uses 4x AAA batteries.

Lomo'Instant - Battery Compartment — Lomo’Instant – Battery Compartment

You can use the Lomo’Instant as a selfie camera as well. If you are a selfie fan, you will be glad to know that there is a tiny mirror to the left of the lens.

This is the first instant camera that I owned because I am a little skeptical about instant camera as it is not something you will use daily. However, a special event like a wedding is the best time to use an Instant Camera.

My Chinese wedding will be coming soon in October and this camera will be a great addition to my wedding event.

You can take creative photos with your guests and have it printed out instantly so that your guests can take home something memorable.

You might need a little time to get used to the Lomo’Instant as there are too many features. Since this is my first instant camera and it is complicated, I have to refer to the menu many times to understand what each option in the camera is for.

Because it is an analogue camera, you can’t really preview the image first before printing and hence out of the first four films I tried, only one made it because the rest are overexposed/underexposed.