The Lomo Kompact Automat (or LC-A for short), is a small Russian-made 35mm camera that has become super hip and popular - I wish I could say that we got there first, but we didn't. It's really fun to use because it's perfect for fast point-and-shoot photography. The other cool thing is that you never know what kind of photos you'll get with the Lomo. Using cheap, 100 speed film, color saturation can be incredible, and the camera's unpredictability means it's always a pleasure to shoot with.
It's got a wacky automatic exposure control, so it's possible to take interesting shots at night without a flash - the shutter will merely stay open for as long as necessary, be it 2 seconds or 10 minutes. Results can be blurry and arty, but invariably they're interesting.
The lens - a 1:28 38mm - is the heart of the Lomo. It's super sharp and is what separates the Lomo from the competition.
We love our Lomo.

Visit our Lomo Home website at www.lomohomes.com/ed.wenn

The Holga 120 is a medium format camera which is idiosyncratic to say the least. Half of the reason for buying this baby is because the results are even less predictable than the Lomo. The other half is that you get huge, medium format prints (usually 6"X6") shot through a crazy plastic lens. To top that it has no guard against double-exposures so you can expose the same frame multiple times - usually with interesting results. The 'SF' version comes with a built-in flash that we have grown to love. The plastic lens is sharper in the middle than at the edges and vignetting comes as standard! As the blurb says, "Marvel as your Holga transforms ordinary photographs into extraordinary low-tech works of art. A classic!"

• Lens: 60mm, f/8 optical lens
• Adjustable focusing from 1.5m to infinity
• Shutter: Leaf shutter, speed 1/100 second
• Material body: Plastic
• Material lens: Plastic
• Integrated flash
• Dimensions: 140 x 102 x 76 mm
• Weight: 200 grams
• Picture format: 6 x 4,5 cm (standard) 6 x 6 cm (simply remove the inner frame)

Jacqui needed a replacement point-and-shoot when her previous one blew up. She wanted something with a decent wide-angle to it and after looking in some magazines she decided on this baby.
At the time it came out it was the smallest wide-angle 3x zoom 35mm camera in the world and right from the start, we were impressed with the pictures it took. It's definitely not the easiest or most intuitive camera to use and the jog dial on the back is a pain, but if you're not prepared to fight for your pictures maybe you shouldn't be bothering in the first place :-)
We use this when we don't want the unpredictability of the Lomo or the Holga & it really comes into its own at gigs with fast film (1600ASA -> 3200ASA) and the 'Night' setting.

• Lens: 28-90mm f/4.5-9.9 7
• Min focus: 1.5 ft./0.45 m
• Auto-exposure lock