Film format 35mm (135) ASA/ISO range 25-400 | Film size 36mm x 24mm Film advance Manual | |
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Type Compact, point and shoot Lens Fixed, Minitar 1 32mm f/2.8 | ||
The LOMO LC-A (Lomo Kompakt Automat) is a fixed lens, 35 mm film, leaf shutter, zone focus, compact camera introduced in 1984. The design is based on the Cosina CX-2.
Contents
In 2005, production of the original Lomo LC-A was discontinued. Its replacement, the LC-A+, was introduced in 2006 and production moved to China. The LC-A+ featured the original LC-A lens manufactured by LOMO in Russia. This changed in 2007 and lenses on subsequent models have been made in China. Some LC-As were sold badged as Zenith, this label was only a sticker underneath the lens. Zenit (Zenith in some countries) is a trademark of KMZ (Krasnogorsk Mechanical Works).
Operation
The only automatic function offered by the LC-A is exposure. Film loading, winding, rewinding, and focus adjustments are accomplished manually. Aperture can also be set manually, the shutter speed being fixed at 1⁄60 s (this ability was removed from the LC-A+).
Exposure is completely automatic when the camera is set to "A"; the shutter speeds range from 2 minutes to 1⁄500 s. The aperture range is f/2.8 to f/16. The automatic exposure system compensates for changes in light levels after the shutter is opened by increasing or decreasing the shutter speed. This, in conjunction with the rear-curtain flash-sync, results in interesting effects with flash photography in low ambient light levels.
The lens is focused by selecting one of four zones (0.8 m, 1.5 m, 3 m or ∞). Older versions of the camera feature viewfinder icons showing the currently selected focus zone, a feature omitted from later models.
A battery checking feature uses a LED inside the viewfinder; if there is sufficient power this illuminates whenever the shutter release button is lightly depressed. Another viewfinder LED illuminates whenever the camera's chosen shutter speed is below 1⁄30 s.
Body design
The size and shape is very close to that of the Cosina CX-2, the main difference being that the lens bezel is fixed (unlike the rotating one of the CX-2). Power is supplied by three 1.5v silver oxide cells (S76, LR44).