Is Lomo the future of film? [and other Lomo marketing threads]

gr82bart · Mar 17, 2007

This is an awesome site: http://absolut.com/lomo

Warning: If you have a slow internet connection - get with the times and get high speed - you're never going to load this site ....

Regards, Art.

gr82bart · Mar 11, 2008

Urban Outfitters are going Lomo

Dead Link Removed

Do product search for "Holga" or "Lomo".

Like I've always said, the best way to keep film alive is make it a luxury item or a fashionable one.

Regards, Art.

Mike Kennedy · Mar 11, 2008

Holy smokes did you see those price tags? Luxury is right.Heck I paid $125.00 for my LCA.

gr82bart · Mar 12, 2008

It's hip to be square

Dead Link Removed

Check out the Holga, next to the iPod and cell phone ... funny ... but good for film.

Regards, Art.

arigram · Mar 12, 2008

70 bucks for an Holga? I bought it for five new at Calumet!
I like the fact that it comes with an one year warranty!
I can see people already returning it because of light leaks and vignetting...
That blue-yellow-red Holga sure is funny though!

Maybe I can sell necklaces made out of 120 plastic rolls for a few hundred...

I am not sure if lomo and film becoming trendy is gonna help us at all.
In six months they will be looking for new fashions.

gr82bart · Mar 12, 2008

Ari,

I'm surprised you're under estimating the power of marketing. I'm talking really good marketing.

Regards, Art.

rwyoung · Mar 12, 2008

From the Urban Outfitter's site:

Includes photo book, 1 roll of 120 medium format film, 1 roll of opaque tape,

Great, they include the tape and a single roll of film! That is the $70 right there!

arigram · Mar 12, 2008

rwyoung said:
From the Urban Outfitter's site:

Includes photo book, 1 roll of 120 medium format film, 1 roll of opaque tape,

Great, they include the tape and a single roll of film! That is the $70 right there!

Don't forget it includes the one year warranty!
I wonder if you can pay more to get an extended one...
Is it a warranty that it HAS defects or that it DOESN'T?
Damn, now I am curious.
Can honestly, someone go over to a store that sells the camera and ask them to show the warranty then post the findings here?
I HAVE to know!
If I still lived in Boston, I would take the red line to Harvard Square and go ask myself!
A warranty for an Holga... that's novel!
Like Microsoft guarantying that Windows can't catch viruses or ever crash!

gr82bart · Mar 12, 2008

I looked into this some more. The Holga isn't a regular one, but the 'fancy one', with 4 coloured flash built in - so that's more expensive right off the bat - $35. The book is $25 retail. Everything adds up to $70. Same prices as on Freestyle. Seems like all the prices have 'equalized' over different vendors. Like colusion or something. I'd be interested what the heck a warranty is all about too. Mine certainly didn't come with one! LOL

The good thing about Lomo is that there selling these things like hotcakes. Before I left my last job, I gave my entire team a Holga camera as appreciation for their committment. They are becoming excellent corporate gifts, replacing the standard 'pen' and 'cheap watch'. In fact, I had my Procurement attempt to negotiate adding our company's logo to the camera, but the deal couldn't come through in time.

My brother's company - a large bank in Canada - bought several hundred as department gifts to their employees for Christmas.

Regards, Art.

cgmoyer · Mar 12, 2008

Not quite sure how Lomo is helping the film movement. They just repackage/resell items made by other vendors. What they do is dupe people who dont know of the many other sources to buy these items for less money. I would rather my money go the companies who make and distribute the film/ cameras at decent prices. Lomo maybe bringing in people who never used film and thats great, but I question how many of these people will stay life long film users after "the fad" wears off. Just the way I see it

gr82bart · Mar 12, 2008

cgmoyer said:
What they do is dupe people who dont know of the many other sources to buy these items for less money.

I see this kind of remark all the time. What are all these other sources? I have yet to see an alternative listed. eBay doesn't count.

Lomo maybe bringing in people who never used film and thats great, but I question how many of these people will stay life long film users after "the fad" wears off. Just the way I see it

I have been watching LOMO, pretty much like an analyst, and they've done more to promote, grow and sustain film over the past 10 years than pretty much every single one of their critics. That's just the way I see it.

Regards, Art.

okto · Mar 12, 2008

Why does eBay not count? What basis is there for excluding it from a list of "places to buy Lomo"?

cgmoyer · Mar 12, 2008

gr82bart said:
I see this kind of remark all the time. What are all these other sources? I have yet to see an alternative listed. eBay doesn't count.

I have been watching LOMO, pretty much like an analyst, and they've done more to promote, grow and sustain film over the past 10 years than pretty much every single one of their critics. That's just the way I see it.

Regards, Art.

Freestyle Photo and B&H offer very low Holga prices. I am targeting the Holga since that was listed in the first post. eBay does count- many "toy cameras" are no longer produced and this is the main avenue for getting them, of course along with flea markets, thrift shops, etc.

We are just going to have to agree to disagree on the Lomo site.

Sino · Mar 12, 2008

I see both sides as correct at the argument of whether Lomo promotes film photography; yes, they do overprice and yes, they do promote it. Whether or not someone will continue using film is up to him, but providing an "option" in this digital world is worth a bravo. You can't really force someone, but you might as well use marketing tricks to sell film cameras for more than they're really worth, which I can't see why classify as "opposing" to any film-lovers' ideals. Aren't photographic materials and equipment overpriced by default? Don't like to pay that much? There's thousands of alternatives out there to keep us all happily motivated and creative!

Funny thing, that warranty. Can I buy one and sue them for not working properly?

-Sino.

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Mar 12, 2008

Ubran Outfitter and Lomo... yeah, there's an obvious connection! As obnoxious as I find both firms, they are a match made in hipster heaven.

Whether this does something for film, it will depends on how "hooked" people are on their Holga and/or film. I've seen a few people getting serious about film out of trying lomo cams, but I don't have much more market info.

Fintan · Mar 13, 2008

I think this is great, thanks for posting Art.

ebay etc are great places for people that know what they are looking for. Urbanoutfitters are great for people browsing for a gift or just see something like a Holga that appeals to their creative side.

I hope they sell in thousands....

Fintan · Mar 13, 2008

cgmoyer said:
Not quite sure how Lomo is helping the film movement. They just repackage/resell items made by other vendors. What they do is dupe people who dont know of the many other sources to buy these items for less money. I would rather my money go the companies who make and distribute the film/ cameras at decent prices. Lomo maybe bringing in people who never used film and thats great, but I question how many of these people will stay life long film users after "the fad" wears off. Just the way I see it

Every single roll of film helps the film industry. I've seen many people, fed up with the sameness of digital, try and love Lomo/Holga cameras, then extend into other film cameras.

gr82bart · Apr 20, 2008

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Apr 20, 2008

Art, aren't you asking that question every other month?

If there are that many Lomo site, it's maybe also a sign that their marketing works. People want Lomo, they don't want film.

I, for myself, will invent a category that is called SHARMO, as in Sharp+Lomo, which will mix together proper focus and Lomo, which now stands for the object formerly known as film.

Alex Bishop-Thorpe · Apr 20, 2008

If they take a digital camera and sell it as lomo, no. It's an interesting exercise in marketing, and it does introduce film to a new generation, but it's being introduced to them as a medium they don't directly control. It's all left up to light leaks and odd cameras to create originality and a unique look that is now getting a little stale. People who want control of what they create will disregard film and use a D-SLR and photoshop.

David A. Goldfarb · Apr 20, 2008

mhv said:
Art, aren't you asking that question every other month?

Three threads merged.

vdonovan · Apr 20, 2008

No one can get "hooked" on film if they don't try it. Lomo markets their products so well that many many people are trying film that would not otherwise. If you are a kid who has only taken pictures with your phone or digital point-n-shoot, you are not going to go to Freestyle and buy a Holga. But if you see one in Urban Outfitters, you just might.

A fraction of Holga buyers will shoot more than one roll. A fraction of those people will branch out and try other cameras and techniques. However small that fraction may be, it's more than would have without Lomo out there pumping it.

gr82bart · May 26, 2008

The irony is that one moderator thinks the sites I have listed are Lomo marketing sites, and several are actually sites by Lomo 'haters'. Goes to show that a minority of vocal complaints speak louder than evidence. Too funny.

Regards, Art.

Andy K · May 28, 2008

People need to understand the difference. LOMO is an optical products company in Russia that made some funky little cameras. The Lomographic Society International are the people who overprice those funky little cameras. That said, their film deals are always pretty good.

I haven't used this in a long time, but here's my 'Lomohome': www.lomohomes.com/Minitar1

nov · Jun 8, 2008

just wait a year and then we will all be able to buy cheap second hans LCA's! WOOO!
I bought a schema 8 in poland for 5 bucks and in Sydney they sell them for 250! I bet I could be rich if i had a business from them..

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