Lomography just launched MC-A, a new premium point-and-shoot¹ 35mm film camera!Lomography just launched MC-A, a new premium point-and-shoot¹ 35mm film camera!

#editorial🔥 #gas All Comments☝️
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  • Dmitri edited on 5:11PM

    Lomography just launched MC-A, a new premium point-and-shoot¹ 35mm film camera!

    Lomo MC-A is Lomography’s first autofocus design. It features a 32mm f/2.8-16 multi-coated Lomo glass lens, a 1/500s top shutter speed, manual controls, and a metal body. The camera is available for *pre-order* at $549 (links below).

    ¹ — MC-A uses a film advance lever, which may not make it a point-and-shoot camera according to some definitions. However, its autoexposure and autofocus modes, along with a DX code reader and a built-in flash, certainly make it convenient.

    MC-A is built to give avid photographers a lot of control. Exposures can be set to aperture-priority or fully manual, and there are up to two stops of exposure compensation. The DX code reader can be overridden with a custom film ISO (12-3200). The built-in flash (GN9) offers creative modes and coloured filters; plus, there’s a PC socket for an external flash. Autofocus can also be bypassed manually via zone focusing. Last but not least: unlimited double-exposures, bulb mode, self-timer, filter thread (30.5mm), and a rechargeable CR2 battery (included; recharges via USB-C).

    The camera weighs 332g (11.7oz) without a battery and measures 125.8mm × 69.5mm × 42mm (4.95” × 2.74” × 1.65”). The body is made of metal and comes in all-black or silver-accented.

    MC-A features a viewfinder with reflective brightlines (the specs I received don’t specify how it handles parallax error or the magnification factor).

    Note that the autofocus on this camera *may* use a step mechanism, switching between 0.4m, 0.8m, 1.5m, 3m, and ∞ (instead of the more accurate continuous autofocus — but this is not confirmed).

    This is yet another fall film photography product surprise (following the earlier Kodacolor releases, see: analog.cafe/r/kodak-colorp…).

    This camera appears to be a significant step forward for Lomography in terms of features, materials, and construction quality. Undoubtedly designed to compete with the Pentax 17 half-frame camera (which sells for about the same price), the Rollei 35AF (analog.cafe/r/rollei-35af-…), and cameras that are still in production, such as the Analogue aF-1 (analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…).

    Lomography is no stranger to significant investments in lens and camera design. Though they still make and sell cheap plastic toy cameras (which are lovely) without any reservations or discontinuation plans, the company has come a long way in the decades since its founding as a camera, lens, and accessory manufacturer. They’ve even designed their own lines of film (the latest being LomoChrome Classicolor: analog.cafe/comments/c6x3).

    I haven’t had the chance to try this camera yet, but I am cautiously optimistic about seeing some substantial competition for the vintage mainstays. Classic point-and-shoot cameras made in the ‘90s and the ‘00s were the pinnacle of miniaturization and automation blended with aerospace technology (just look at the Minolta TC-1: analog.cafe/r/minolta-tc-1…). Unfortunately, these old cameras are not cheap — often fetching well over $1,000 — and are prone to breaking, with very few repair options.

    An outstanding modern point-and-shoot film camera at a reasonable price is what many photographers crave today. Can MC-A’s novelty, design, build quality, features, availability, and manufacturer’s warranty finally answer those desires? I guess we’ll see once independent reviews come out and the cameras trickle down into people’s hands.

    If you’re feeling sold already, you can reserve your black version here: shop.lomography.com/ca/lom… or silver, here: shop.lomography.com/lomo-m…. Shipping date has not yet been announced.

    More product photos and sample images taken with the camera below.

    #editorial🔥 #gas

  • Dmitri

    This is the black version of Lomo MC-A.

  • Dmitri

    Silver vesion of Lomo MC-A. Here you can see the film advance winder.

  • Dmitri

    The camera has an LCD to help with settings and other information. Not sure if it’s backlit and what exactly gets displayed there.

  • Dmitri

    At the bottom, you’ll see a tripod hold and a film rewind crank.

  • Dmitri

    A sample photo from Lomo MC-A with a bit of background separation/bokeh.

  • Dmitri

    One more sample from Lomo MC-A, taken by Edwin.

  • Dmitri

    Lomo MC-A double-exposure example. Taken by Antonio Sotelo.

  • Dmitri edited on 5:12PM

    I took some liberties with this Lomo MC-A sample, photographed by Anil Mistry. This was a detailed scan, so I enlarged a small portion to give you a better idea of how sharp the camera’s lens is.

    Note that since the camera *may* be using step autofocus, rather than continuous autofocus, it may not be as sharp in every image. The step autofocus uses five key points (0.4m, 0.8m, 1.5m, 3m, and ∞), and relies on the optics to render everything in between within an acceptable sharpness range. Most of the time it’ll work, but if you shoot this camera wide open (i.e., at f/2.8) and focus on something close (let’s say 0.6m away), you may get a soft image.

    Some examples of stepped autofocus cameras are Minolta AF-S (analog.cafe/r/minolta-af-s…), Konica Recorder (analog.cafe/r/konica-recor…), Minolta P’s (analog.cafe/r/minolta-ps-r…), Yashica T2 (analog.cafe/r/yashica-t2-f…), and Polaroid Now/Flip cameras (analog.cafe/r/polaroid-now…).

  • Robert Pustułka

    Hi! I can’t find confirmation for step autofocus anywhere. Could you link to the source?

  • Mats Fagerberg

    Same. I haven’t seen it mentioned that the AF only uses those few steps anywhere else. This would be a big oversight on Lomos part. Practically rendering it useless for close focus and portraits (unless you like oof shots).

  • Dmitri

    Hi Robert and Mats, there is indeed no confirmation that the camera uses step autofocus.

    I’ve looked over the docs they sent me, and it does not say that anywhere. So I could be wrong. I’ve changed my description to reflect that.

    Figuring out something like this would take some tinkering with the actual camera and may not actually be easy to tell from the photos. A 32mm lens may be wide enough to hide the fact very well, but I have noticed that for a camera that can take a photo this close (0.4m), there are very few images showing its bokeh capabilities… Still, I wouldn’t take that as proof of anything.

    Sorry if this misled you in any way!

  • Mats Fagerberg

    Thanks for the clarification. It probably uses steps in some way. But hopefully a lot more than those user selectable steps. Anything closer than 1m is going to need more precision, even with a wide angle lens.