Rating: 
Summary: A unique camera but not for everyone
Review: Pros: Unique, it's Russian-cool!
Cons: a lot of your shots will come out blurry.The Lomo LC-A camera has quite a cult following. I guess you should try one out for yourself to see if you like it. I did and have not yet grown tired of the novelty. The Lomo takes some unique pictures which often have a glassy-like quality with saturated colors and sometimes blurry images. The Lomo also tends to vignette at the edges quite a bit. I guess that's the 'Lomo look'. Since there is no flash, you have to press the shutter button down and hold it down until the camera gathers enough light for an exposure and closes the shutter. In low light situations, this proves difficult since it is hard to hold the camera steady for the necessary second or two. The result in low to medium light situations is often a blurry image. While some feel that the Lomo is an ideal camera in low light situations, I don't. It's difficult to get an image that is not blurry or a bit fuzzy in low light situations and this can really get old fast. I much prefer the Lomo look of photos taken in daylight. Also, I've played with a couple of different Lomo LCA's and noticed that the shutter button varies a bit from camera to camera. Some are quite smooth and are easier to shoot in low light with, while others seem to have more of a clunk when you press them. For instance, I have an older Lomo that is better in this respect than the newer one. Most 'Lomographers' as Lomo users/fans are often referred to, like these unpredictable blurry-type images because they can at times be cool looking and different. One thing you have to give credit to Lomographers for is their work ethic. The Lomo ethic is to shoot snapshots everywhere and anywhere. Just carry the small camera everywhere you go and shoot shoot shoot! I agree with this ethic and anything that get's people out there, taking more pictures is a good thing. However, you can practice this ethic with just about any other cheaper point and shoot camera if you know how to set it properly. I guess you just have to decide for yourself. If you want convenience and versatility, and sharpness that perhaps rivals the best topline 35mm cameras, go with another point and shoot camera like an Olympus Stylus Epic or Yashica T-4 Super which both have very nice and sharp lenses.. But if you are looking for a bit of an artsy, glassy, dreamy unique look, then the Lomo is it! The Lomo images usually look grass roots, gen-x and artsy for lack of better terms. Note that the pictures taken with a Lomo are more suited to small 4x6 prints. Don't expect to blow them up to poster size. The Lomo is just not sharp enough. But, simply as a unique piece of interesting Russian workmanship and history behind it, the Lomo LC-A is a marvel in design personality. At full retail price, I don't feel the Lomo is a good value. It's been way over hyped by some Austrian guys who are buying the cameras cheap from the Russian factory and then marketing the heck out of the camera, charging an arm and a leg for the camera, bundled with some film and a flashy booklet. The camera itself is actually really only worth about half what they charge.
Rating: 
Summary: Artsy Cool and never a bad photo..
Review: If you are tired of every photo you take looking somewhat the same, try a lomo, I travel with mine all over the world! Its small and convenient to carry, not intimidating to subjects, because it is so non descript and yet the photos are always interesting. Its also THE BEST when it comes to low light NON flash photos, Never mind a pocket zoom thing give them a lomo!
Rating:
Summary: From Russia with Love
Review: A friend of mine had bought the lomo automatic a couple years ago in college. Being a photographer and a graphic design major, I take photography kind of seriously. When I looked at the cold little smells-like-lint box I thought that there is no way that this cheap, little nothing could take a clear photograph. As it turns out, I was right, the darn thing took the most brilliant motion-blury shots that I've ever seen! It is so easy, my large semi-automatic can only edge the Lomo in the fact that it has inter-changable lens', but still too large. One can see how this camera was based from spy designs, it goes anywhere, it is so easy to use. It really is a step backwards as far as technically advanced photographers, but the end result is far more rewarding. Additionally, after awhile you begin to think like the ...thing, you look at stuff and say "yeah that would look great on a Lomograph! I would suppose my facination for the Lomo is the fact that it is like having photoshop in the camera already. As for my friend, he went on to base his entire senior art show on the Lomo and its photographs. Seriously.
Rating:
Summary: Practice Makes Perfect
Review: I bought this camera after listening to an NPR short about it, and I've been in love with it ever since. It was hard at first trying to figure out how to use it, with the steady-handness that you need and the timing that requires a little knowledge about what the light is like, but nail those two things and you're ready to take some awesome pictures. A point and shoot camera is a good thing, but there is something more fun about a Lomo. I took my P/S and the Lomo to Barcelona and took some great pictures with both. I appreciate the encouragement of the spontaneous nature that the Lomo brings out, and I'm guessing you will too. I wound up taking a lot of pictures without using the viewfinder. I took some great pictures with the Lomo that I feel would not come out with the P/S. A great investment, and lots of fun. Cheap too!
Rating:
Summary: believe in yourself
Review: All these complainers about price, hype and bluryness of the images- learn how to take pictures with a non automatic camera and then you might realize what a jewel of a camera you hold in your hands with the lomo camera! Maybe you want an automatic camera, that loads your film and rewinds it for you, harsh contrasts 'cause of flash, autofocuses, etc. So get one of those and take your calculated pictures. But if you like the purple in the blue of the sky when the sun sets, and you like to take pictures in bars without blinding your object of desire, if you like to carry your camera everywhere and be ready to shoot in a second, if you like to experiment, and if you like striking bright colors, if you like to be in control but also like surprises- you will LOVE the lomo camera! This is how i feel about it- LOMO saved my believe in my creative abilities. Give yourself a chance and see what you can create! Adam, Philadelphia
Rating:
Summary: spectacular - but be warned!
Review: First word of warning: if you want a point-and-click camera to take holiday pictures etc. get an Olympus Stylus. Second word of warning: if you are a serious photographer, get a good SLR camera. The LOMO is a joy, but it requires some patience, and most essentially some imagination. With low speed film (recommend Lucky film, often found for a mere 99ยข) in daylight it can pull off some amazing shots - the color is vibrant, sometimes bizarre. At night the effects can also be staggering, but you need a steady hand. Take pictures of the strangest things, snap everything, everwhere, you'll get used to it, and it'll become an addiction. The LOMO is really a toy (and I mean that in a nice way) - it's fun, and it brings out the artist in you - just don't buy one if you want to take 'ordinary' photos, or if you are really serious about photography. Arty, funny, blurry, spectacular, vibrant, weird - these words best sum up the LOMO experience. And best of all, you'll sometimes take a photo that will look good enough to be album art, and as good as any professional shot you'll ever see - and that's when the the joy of LOMO hits in, and the camera is worth its weight in gold.
Rating:
Summary: Not easy, but worth it.
Review: When I first got my lomo, I found it to be a little difficult to use. For example, loading the film was a chore. I have never manually loaded a camera, so the new experience caused me to waste a few rolls of good film. BUT, after I figured that part out I learned this camera is nothing but fun. It's so easy to carry around and the results are stunning. Sure it's not comparable to your digital or your 35mm ... a lomo shouldn't be the sole camera you use. It provides offbeat photos that you couldn't capture on another camera without knowing sophisticated photographic techniques. You never know what the outcome of the camera will be and sometimes that's the best part.
Rating:
Summary: A great little camera-if you know photography
Review: I bought the Lomo after being impressed by the sample photos here and on other websites run by other "lomographers." I also wanted an everyday camera in addition to my all manual SLR. Its a good little camera, fits in your pocket, great for photographing the general minutae of life. Why do I give it 4 stars only? Because it is for people who have some knowlegde of shutter speed, manual focus, and aperture. This is not, repeat, is not, a point and shoot camera. It is for people who have experience using SLRs who want a camera with all the same features but that is smaller. It is an old fashioned camera that is a Russian copy of 1950s-1960's Olympus. It looks like a "faux retro" point and shoot but it is not. If a point and shoot is what you are looking for, this is not the camera for you. If you still think you want this camera, check out the worldwide websites of people who have this camera. Its a great way to see what kind of pictures people take with the camera and what they come out looking like. One piece of advice-find the cheapest film possible to use with this camera. It is so small and you will take it everywhere, that you will be shooting all the time. Save your saturated slide film for SLR shooting.
Rating: 
Summary: terrible pictures
Review: My lomo has been a HUGE disappointment. I don't know much about photography, but I've been able to take decent pictures with other cameras--not with the Lomo, however. I've shot three rolls of film and have only one passable picture. I was really excited about the blurring and distortion that looks so cool in Lomo pictures I've seen on the Web, but all my pics have been SO blurred, distorted, and dark that they were not worth keeping. If you're an accomplished photographer you might be able to coax this thing into taking some cool pics, but for the average person this is, in my opinion, a total waste of money.
Rating: 
Summary: Great photos, but shoddy construction
Review: I bought this camera 3 years ago after a 'must have' report in a national newspaper, and was delighted with the results - the photos I took turned out to be great, and to be fair still are. The problem I have is that even though it's still taking photos the damn thing has just about fallen apart in my hands since I started. I've not treated it roughly, but the LED went after the first day and since then the counter is jammed on 36, the distance indicator has dissapeared, the manual winder just snapped in two, and worst of all, the front is falling off even though all the screws are still there! It's NOT built like a tank, there's a lot of plastic and less than sturdy workmanship so treat it gently! As long as it still takes great photos I shall keep using it, but I don't anticipate it lasting much longer.
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