Lomo Belair X/6-12 - for your curiosity

filmamigo said:

Your results match up with my experience. I did add both Russian lenses, but was roundly disappointed with them. I thought they would perk the camera up with sharpness and contrast that would permit nice moderately sized prints. Unfortunately I found them to not deliver that much better results. They also made the camera very nose-heavy. I ended up selling the whole kit.

I did record my initial thoughts here:
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I had wanted wanted a Belair for awhile for the novelty of a wide-angle 6x12 folder, but your review has stilled that desire. The field curvature and film flatness issues make the camera seem much less appealing. I had thought the camera could be hammered into shape and that it wasn't a toy. But it looks like for a $300 toy, I should spend money elsewhere.

I actually enjoy mine it's not sharp, it's not perfect. But with in it's limitations it's a nice piece of kit. I mainly use it for contact print work (composites). Like this one:

Trees dream too by Santtu Määttänen, on Flickr

Beautiful work ValoPeikko. That's exactly the sort of thing this camera is suited for.

I was looking for something more prosaic. A solid snapshot camera with a large negative for contact printing, something like a modern Kodak 3A Folding Pocket camera.

Ko.Fe. said:

Would you be able to stay in California by selling cameras for $30 instead of $300?
How much you charge, paid for your job? Pennies?

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Thankfully I'm not in the business of selling cameras. If people are willing to pay 300 for one of them, then more power to Lomo. You know the margin on those things has to be absolutely outrageous, which is how they can afford all of their slick marketing. But why it's so expensive on the used market, which is the only place I would ever buy one, is beyond me.

The same thing could be said of any analog equipment these days. When I bought my RZ67 Pro II, new ones were still available.. For the paltry sum of $6000. That camera is actually worth that much because it's a very well engineered tool with amazing lenses. But I got mine in great condition with multiple backs and two lenses used for under a thousand. It's the same thing with field used Leicas or Rolleiflexes or Hasselblads.. The new ones are outrageously expensive, but there are plenty of used ones for reasonable prices. 500 bucks for a new Nikon FM10? That's highway robbery for a piece of plastic.. One could go so much further with his money by taking the time to find a quality used alternative. A professional with a meaty budget wouldn't mind shelling out the bonkers price for something brand new and under warranty; the rest of us have to be sensible.

But a plastic lens mass produced camera? I couldn't be convinced to buy one used at such a negligible discount. An old VW Rabbit might be fun to drive and be just what the doctor ordered, but you don't buy one for next to the list price.

ValoPeikko: excellent use of it, btw!

This makes pictures pretty nice, came from old plate camera in which the lens was pretty much only thing worth saving. I haven't made a focusing helicoid yet so it's still fixed focus (at around 4 meters, which at f8 is from sharp enough from around 3 meters to almost six, at f16 it's nice for pretty much everything mid range and at f32 sharpness is enough at infinity to work for me). It's not perfect, but works. Also I'm planning on adding focusing helicoid which would make life easier. Simply use cardstock or something to wedge the cameras shutter at bulb setting and then use rulex shutter on lens. Or use cameras autoexposure at f8. Lens doesn't quite cover 6x12, but it's enough (there's vignetting at corners). I consider to try other lenses at later date and I thought about taking the lens standard apart to remove inbuild shutter.. but that would be quite irreversible.

Thanks for the review. I had been looking at these to compliment my Isolette (6x6 only) and far too many Chrome Sixes (some with the 4.5 mask). But between just two apertures and the electronic shutter it seemed too limiting to be worth the cost.

So instead, I just picked up a Bessa I from the evil auction site. The listing said it was fully operational and the pictures of it looked great. We shall see...

ValoPeikko said:

I actually enjoy mine it's not sharp, it's not perfect. But with in it's limitations it's a nice piece of kit. I mainly use it for contact print work (composites). Like this one:

Trees dream too by Santtu Määttänen, on Flickr

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Gorgeous! Love this.