One thing that the smaller formats CAN have over larger formats is that the smaller format lenses CAN resolve more than larger format lenses. For example, if you take a Minox 8x11mm negative and compare it to an 8x11mm section of a 4x5" negative taken with a 4x5" lens, the Minox will win. So although the 4x5" negative will win out if comparing FULL 4x5" vs 8x11mm, the Minox neg does much better than expected.
I think this has more to do with manufacturing goals than anything specific to the submini formats. On 4x5, when film was all there was, there was no solid reason to spend the effort (= money) to make lenses with huge numbers of lp/mm, because almost no one expected to examine an image with enough magnification for super-high resolution to matter (even if the negative was on Tech Pan) -- but in 8x11 or 16 mm formats, that was a critical selling point ("Makes 8x10 prints almost indistinguishable from 35 mm!").
The new Lomo 110 camera requires the 110 film sprocket holes to activate the shutter, so reloading 16mm film is pretty much ruled out. Other than that the camera appears to be nicely made and capable. I just received mine yesterday and will be shooting a roll of Orca BW very soon. --- jb.
It means different things to different people -- like a lot of terms in photography. It started with the Russian camera company LOMO in 1914 in Petrograd -- which was later Soviet-named GOI after the Revolution (and later, GOZ), and Petrograd became Leningrad). Today it is often called GOZM or LOMO -- which was the name of the last cameras that they made in the 1990's. One of their last cameras were the LOMO LC cameras -- copies of the Cosina CX cameras. Production was shifted to China and new cameras were developed -- and still are being produced. Some of these old and new cameras can produce very sharp results, others very soft results. People want them for various reasons, from just weird looking cameras, to cameras that can do things that no other camera can, to very "funky" results.
Well, it's the name of a company that makes/sells film and cameras: https://www.lomography.com/. But the name refers to the Lomo camera, because the company was started by people who liked the low-fidelity, imperfect aesthetic of photos that the Lomo LC-A (itself a copy of the Cosina CX-2) produced. Their thing is experimenting and taking photos that aren't technically perfect but whose imperfections are part of the attraction, mostly using simple, often plastic, cameras. They make these kinds of cameras, some original designs, some copies of old Soviet and Chinese cameras. They do the same kind of thing with lenses, usually for modern mounts. And they also make film (albeit all coated by others) including quite a few oddball films (redscale, swapped color layers, very expired, etc.).
But they also make some decent cameras, and resell some very good films. This new Lomomatic 110 is an example of a camera that's far from high-end, but it's not just a cheap toy, either. It's a real camera with glass lens, aperture priority auto exposure, etc. Lomography also happens to be the only company in the world currently producing 110 film commercially, and in quite a few varieties.
Thanks; the benefits of a heavily overcast sky are on display here. No shadows to speak of and a wet, grey scene is rendered quite well by the film. An especially steady hand is the hardest part of using a small camera.
The Lomomatic 110 may very well be successor to the A110 but only more photos may tell the tale
Given the size of the market, the prices for these aren't bad. It's inexpensive enough to take a punt on something that could be fun....though I doubt it's much better than the Fuji or ITT 110 cameras I already own.
I'm not worried about over exposure. F5.6 and 1/125 shutter speeds were common for 110 cameras in the 70s. CN film is often over exposed two whole stops without any problems. How on earth did we manage with fixed aperture, single shutter speeds in the past? Film latitude deals with it.
This camera will stand or fall on the quality of the lens.
Fuji 110 cameras all had great glass. I'm not so sure about the ITT 110 cameras -- or who made them. Which model(s) do you have. There's some info here: