Lubitel, Kiev ... :-o

actually this site is waaaaayyy mellower than most...

Yes, I like the Lubitel, I like it's feel and I love the waist viewer - it gives me a whole new perspective on framing up a shot - find the camera fun to use and would indeed use almost anything analogue over digital - totally <3 it!

I bought a Lubitel 166 for a bargain £3 at a camera shop a few years ago, thinking it may be good for some fun of the 'Lomo' kind.

But to my horror it was very good, a really good lens, much too good for 'Lomo'. Yes, it is plastic, it is crude, but the shutter is accurate and the whole thing is tiny. The only downside is the focusing, it does need good light, but you can't have everything.

Steve

The lens is glass. Lomo was a Russian company, I understand they have been taken over - or the name - and now make trendy-gauche, quasi-toy cameras with plastic lenses under the Lomography label. But the Lubitel is a real camera. It has no light meter, all manual, so you need to know how to use a hand-held meter and be able to set the diaphragm. This camera is stripped-down-basic and not easy to use compared to digital point'n'squirt, the Lomo would make a great trainer since it teaches you (economy and) the basics of photography as you use it: top shoppers, please don't knock this camera, we want to enthuse the next generation for analogue photography, not disillusion them with super prices for super analogue gear which will be well beyond what your average youthful photographer can afford.

There was some great gear which came out of the Soviet Union - if you can find a good'un - Kiev cameras have superb optics and the Krasnogorsk-3 clockwork cine camera is a favourite with film students. It has a great, bright zoom lens, weighs a ton, and is a joy to use if you survive the film loading experience Lomo also made cine developing tanks which are eagerly sought after and can handle both 8mm and 16mm film.

Top tip for Lubitel users: I did find, with my Sputnik, that the lens elements are held in with circlips and that occasionally those circlips aren't tight enough, and the elements can wobble slightly, enough to detect with a gentle poke with a toothpick. So if you're not into the whole Lomography thing and you want your lens to focus where it's supposed to focus, then a tiny drop of superglue on the edge of the loose elements will help.

Lubitel multiple exposure - Ilford FP4 Plus 125

Noble said:

momus, you said you never used the camera and then through some convoluted logic declared that is must have a "killer lens." I actually went out and purchased the camera and you still contradicted me. I chose to ignore it not because I want this to be a "fun" place but because it was such an absurd situation. Don't think just because people are silent what you said makes any sense. Internet forums are a place where people exchange information. "Fun" is something you do on a play ground. I don't think we should sacrifice the integrity of the information just to make the place "fun."

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partly true, but then there are some who simply have a massive chip on their shoulder whenever anything 'FSU' comes up..look out the commies are coming.:munch:Not aimed at you ...but it does happen- on EVERY photo forum.And whats wrong with the OP having simple 'fun'?

Never handled or even seen a Lubitel so thanks for posting a few pictures.

My cheap 6X6 fun is a pair of Zeiss Nettars. These were the least expensive models. They have the 75mm f6.3, 3 element lenses and a 3 speed + B Vario shutter. Not bad at f11 and smaller it's a fun little camera that can fit in a cargo pocket when folded. Clean and fully functional each was purchased for $25 and that is less than a new Holga.