New toy arrived today - Lomo LC-A 120.

[Huss]

I came here to read about the Lomo. Instead the last 23 comments are about scanning. Frak.

 

[250swb]

I came here to read about the Lomo. Instead the last 23 comments are about scanning. Frak.

What do you want to know?

I've had my LC-A 120 for about three months and probably like you when I researched it most of what I found were 'other issues' and not much about the camera itself.

From my short experience the first thing that cropped up was that the back leaks in bright light, so I tape that up after loading the film. Secondly the focus was way out, not even close to being able to focus on infinity. I guess it's not the same for all cameras but fortunately it's a really simple fix should it be a problem, remove the outer and inner front panels (eight screws) and adjust the focus stop. The meter is pretty accurate really, and you can use the ISO for tweaking the exposure. And the lens is amazing, some falloff in the corners but otherwise very sharp. So sort any problems out and the LC-A 120 becomes a good camera. It's so light that it's easy to carry in the bag alongside your main medium format kit. But there is one thing that I haven't found a solution to yet, the frame spacing and where the film starts is inconsistent, often giving only eleven exposures or even more frustrating eleven and a half exposures. Some say it depends on the thickness of the backing paper, some say set your start arrow slightly earlier than the registration mark on the body. At the moment I'm having to assume I have eleven reliable exposures and a twelfth is a bonus.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

What do you want to know?

I've had my LC-A 120 for about three months and probably like you when I researched it most of what I found were 'other issues' and not much about the camera itself.

From my short experience the first thing that cropped up was that the back leaks in bright light, so I tape that up after loading the film. Secondly the focus was way out, not even close to being able to focus on infinity. I guess it's not the same for all cameras but fortunately it's a really simple fix should it be a problem, remove the outer and inner front panels (eight screws) and adjust the focus stop. The meter is pretty accurate really, and you can use the ISO for tweaking the exposure. And the lens is amazing, some falloff in the corners but otherwise very sharp. So sort any problems out and the LC-A 120 becomes a good camera. It's so light that it's easy to carry in the bag alongside your main medium format kit. But there is one thing that I haven't found a solution to yet, the frame spacing and where the film starts is inconsistent, often giving only eleven exposures or even more frustrating eleven and a half exposures. Some say it depends on the thickness of the backing paper, some say set your start arrow slightly earlier than the registration mark on the body. At the moment I'm having to assume I have eleven reliable exposures and a twelfth is a bonus.

The frame advance has been the one biggest quirk I've had with mine. The focus has been spot on, the metering is excellent (it is a GREAT night photography camera because the way the meter works - instead of taking a reading and setting the shutter/aperture before the exposure, it is a light accumulator - it holds the shutter open until enough light has reached the film). I have not had any light leaks from the back of mine.
Every once in a while I contemplate taking it in to my repair guy and having the film spacing adjusted, but I suspect that's not possible, so I live with it as it is.

 

[Huss]

What do you want to know?
...

I have one, and have been very happy with it but understand its 'quirks'.
I wanted to see if anyone had shutter issues. My last roll had 3 blanks i.e the shutter did not open even though it clicked.
I am using brand new silver oxide cells, and they are tight in the chamber. Like really hard to remove (does anyone else have difficulty removing batteries? It would be great if there was a ribbon in there that I could use to pull them out).
The contacts are completely clean.

I then dry fired it, at a wide variety of exposure times, for about 50 shots. And the shutter worked every single time!

FYI no light leaks, no focus issues. The first one I borrowed years ago when they first were released had focus issues. You had to use infinity for everything, anything else was OOF.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Lens cap?

 

[xya]

my 2 cents are here https://www.120folder.com/lomo_lca120.htm no leaks ever, exposure spot on, focussing spot on, spacing solved after the 2nd roll. I love it...

 

[Huss]

Lens cap?

No lens cap.

 

[Huss]

my 2 cents are here https://www.120folder.com/lomo_lca120.htm no leaks ever, exposure spot on, focussing spot on, spacing solved after the 2nd roll. I love it...

How did you solve the uneven spacing issue?

 

[Huss]

Lomo LC-A 120, Arista 200, Cinestill DF96 Monobath

 

[xya]

How did you solve the uneven spacing issue?

mine wasn't uneven, it was just half of the last photo cut off. so instead of meeting the arrow of the film backing paper with the marks on the camera, I stopped winding 3 cm before the arrow would meet the marks and closed the back. since then I get full 12 exposures out of every film.

 

[Huss]

Hmm, all I've seen have shown uneven spacing. Hasn't stopped me using the camera as can be seen! I've since been trying the 3cm before arrow thing - shot two rolls so far but am travelling so it will be a few weeks before I develop them.

One thing I noticed with the camera is that it is very easy for the ISO setting to get moved accidentally. I've been shooting Delta 3200 - rated at 800 - and when I looked down I noticed the ISO was at 200! It had been set to 800. Not sure how shots were taken like that, but the results will tell the tale!

 

[Huss]

Arista 200 in DF96 Monobath

 

[kingbuzzie]

What do you want to know?

I've had my LC-A 120 for about three months and probably like you when I researched it most of what I found were 'other issues' and not much about the camera itself.

From my short experience the first thing that cropped up was that the back leaks in bright light, so I tape that up after loading the film. Secondly the focus was way out, not even close to being able to focus on infinity. I guess it's not the same for all cameras but fortunately it's a really simple fix should it be a problem, remove the outer and inner front panels (eight screws) and adjust the focus stop. The meter is pretty accurate really, and you can use the ISO for tweaking the exposure. And the lens is amazing, some falloff in the corners but otherwise very sharp. So sort any problems out and the LC-A 120 becomes a good camera. It's so light that it's easy to carry in the bag alongside your main medium format kit. But there is one thing that I haven't found a solution to yet, the frame spacing and where the film starts is inconsistent, often giving only eleven exposures or even more frustrating eleven and a half exposures. Some say it depends on the thickness of the backing paper, some say set your start arrow slightly earlier than the registration mark on the body. At the moment I'm having to assume I have eleven reliable exposures and a twelfth is a bonus.

I had read some places about the focus being off. Thank you SO MUCH of this post. I actually bought one new and stupidly shot 2-3 rolls without doing a test roll. The focus was off on nearly everything. I returned it and bought another and I've shot one test roll that I have not developed yet. Good to know there is a fix.