The Lomo LC-A is usually a bit of a marmite* camera.  But stick in some B&W  and it becomes a different beast and actually does pretty well.

For those of you that hate the LC-A due to its response with colour shots it really is a case of ‘everything looks better in B&W’  (if you like the colour stuff again all I can say is that is becomes a different beast)

You still benefit from all of the camera’s strengths – the fast lens, shutter that can shoot from 1/500 right down to 2mins.  As a street shooter its compact nature, relative quietness and 32mm wide lens make it handy. Okay you loose the colour impact of the lens but what you get is a pretty good B&W shooter. Don’t believe me? Well try loading a roll of C41 B&W film like Ilford XP2 or Kodak BW400CN that you can buy in Boots for 2 rolls for about £12 and get processed at any labs.

These films are all locked at 400asa and probably suit the Lomo the best. I’m not going to claim the LC-A has as sharp a lens as others like the Olympus Trip 35 but at faster film speeds the narrower aperture helps. You still get a little vignetting though.

The results are good although in fairness no better than any other reasonably competent P&S. Unlike others adding a yellow, orange or red filter ain’t an option (although the LC-A+ does allow filters). The LC-A’s tendency to sometime under expose remains a curse and a blessing. Lower speeds are acceptable but not always as sharp. For colour this is less of an issue due to chromatic colours shifts and the effects they produce, but here that’s not an advantage.

Helpful links

• Lomo LC-A manual at Mike Butkus’s  site
• Kodak BW400CN Review on this site
• LOMO LC-A loves BW film  – at Flickr

*Marmite is a yeast based sandwich spread sold in the UK. Unlike the Australian Vegemite which seems to be universally loved by Aussies, you'll either love or hate Marmite. The makers even parody this in advertising.