By Adele Chan
When I was first offered to review the MC-A, my initial thoughts were… oh, another new Lomography camera that’s probably about the same as every other Lomography camera before it. Then before it arrived, I mentioned it to a couple of respected photographer friends, and their eyes instantly lit up at the mention of this device. One of them even bought it when it came out. And so my interest was piqued.
DESIGN AND PACKAGING
Unboxing the camera felt very satisfying; the packaging is high quality, solid and with some weight. The camera itself is wrapped in a self-adhesive cloth, which is a super smart way to protect the MC-A considering its size and shape.
As for the camera body itself — it is absolutely beautiful. While it’s made of plastic, the top and bottom plates have a fingerprint-proof matte finish, and the body looks like it’s wrapped in leather.
Overall, the MC-A feels like a serious camera in the hand, and it has a compact size that can fit into a pocket.
CAMERA EXPERIENCE
There’s both auto and manual focus on this device. The manual focus is adjusted with a lever on the front, and its options include 0.4, 0.8, 1.5, 3m and infinity. For quick street snaps, you can easily set this to 1.5 or 3m and shoot from the hip using zone focusing.
On the top, there’s a dedicated physical dial for shutter speed, exposure compensation, and a button for flash, timer and ISO.
If you want to get creative, there’s an MX button for Multiple Exposures on the same frame of film. And it’s super easy to use. Just press it once (MX will appear on the screen), and after taking a photo, do not wind the film advance lever; just take the next picture layering over the first. You can create as many layers as you like and when you’re done, just wind the film to the next frame.
Changing the aperture is simply done by turning the tactile ring on the front of the lens barrel. There’s a Program (P) mode as well, which allows the camera to takeover and choose both aperture and shutter speed for you.
This is an easy-to-use intuitive camera for both hobbyists and professional photographers alike. It feels solid, and good in the hand, compact enough to put in a pocket or travel bag, and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
For photo examples shot with the Lomo MC-A, keep tabs on our Instagram accounts @nylonsg and @adele__chan.
Visit the brand’s website to see full specs of the MC-A. The Lomo MC-A 35mm Film Camera is priced at $699 and available in all black (featured here) and a silver/black version.
