I purchased the Lomomatic 110 the second I found out about its existence. I personally love Lomography as a company because of how much fun they make photography appear and especially because they still produce 110 film. As someone who enjoys the 110 experience, I want to support them in every way I can and I felt that purchasing this camera helped to show my support.
I put so many styles of film from Lomography through this camera. I used pretty much every kind of 110 film on their site besides their black and white stocks. I used this camera a lot in Europe. I managed to shoot 4 rolls of film during my 16 day trip.
110 film is odd. With so many unique styles and film stocks from Lomography I never know which direction to take each roll. I don’t fully understand it, I just know that it is finicky and touchy. But I can’t stop using it. I love the weirdness of it and I find myself buying more even when photos turn out poorly. I am still learning how to shoot film, and I can understand where I went wrong on this camera.
This camera is one that I packed along with my WP-1 on my summer trip to Europe. I purchased the metal exterior just to give it that extra style and protection. I loved the weight of the camera and how it feels in my hands. However, I hate the winding mechanism on it. Its clunky and feels like I will break the camera every time I need to wind my film. It took me a couple of rolls to fully get used to it and I still found it off-putting.
I also hated the distancing meter on the side. My hand bumped it frequently and ruined how the camera was focusing multiple times. On the photo below, the meter was bumped incorrectly and altered how the photo could have turned out.
I am not a fantastic photographer. I am not trying to say that this is solely the cameras fault. Photos that got affected honestly might not have turned out the right way regardless, but the meter threw me for a loop and I was constantly questioning myself and my hand placement.
I also had mixed feelings about the flash unit being separate. I did not even bother taking it to Europe out of fear of losing it. Every time I have thought about taking this camera out, I have ended up leaving it aside because I didn’t feel like packing the flash piece along. It’s annoying yet handy and I could not imagine this camera any other way. It is convenient because you are not stuck with it at all times and it helps the camera be lightweight and easier to navigate around.
These issues at the end of the day are not major. You adjust and learn this camera’s personality just like any other camera. I still had fun using the Lomomatic 110 and that is truly all that matters to me. I don’t think I will use it much after this adventure, but I will not stop using it.
I would argue that spending $100 on this camera is just not fully worth the money, especially if you have never used 110 film before. I don’t think it is a bad camera and it is certainly not complicated, but you can save so much money by going with a similar styled 110 camera off of eBay or other marketplaces. I have seen some essentially new 110 cameras with original packages for less than $30 on some marketplaces. Lomography’s price is unfortunately just too high in my opinion.
I don’t hate this camera. I would honestly choose to buy it again if my current one broke. I just have so many other 110 cameras that I find myself picking over this one. I am in a tough position with this one and my feelings will be left mixed on it for a long time.
I got so many cool photos that helped me to store memories of this trip and helped make our journey memorable. I am thankful I chose to take it overseas with me because I think it held up significantly better than any other camera in my arsenal would have. I will keep shooting on this little camera. Hopefully one day I can write a new review that takes all of these negative thoughts back.
