Today, you and I are going to take a look at the camera Lomo'Instant Wide the largest representative of Lomography's instant-camera lineup, both in terms of size and frame format.
Camera ergonomics and controls
The camera is indeed quite large, with an ungainly shape, and it feels like a large brick. But its capabilities make up for its size. Nevertheless, in terms of weight, the Lomo'Instant Wide is lighter than comparable cameras made by Fujifilm. It's easy to carry and easy to shoot with.
Shooting is intuitive and not particularly difficult. The shutter-release button is located on the front of the camera, while all the other controls are on the back. This is very convenient because you can change settings and modes and take photos with one hand.
Shooting modes
While you can get used to the camera's controls and tactile feel, its full potential is revealed in its capabilities. There probably isn't another wide-format instant camera on the market with capabilities like these.
Let's go through the modes:
Simple Auto—the mode chooses all the settings for you.
Bulb mode—a long exposure for your nighttime shots.
Fixed 1/30 shutter speed will help in difficult lighting conditions.
For each of these modes, you can turn the flash and the multiple-exposure function on or off.
Multiple exposure is one of my favorite features of this camera. With it, you can create even more interesting shots by layering two, three, four—or as many exposures as you want.
Shot using a double multiple exposure
The camera also comes with four color filters for the flash, which can be combined with one another as well as with the multiple-exposure function.
Photo taken with flash and a blue filter
On the left: multiple exposure + yellow and blue filters
On the right: multiple exposure + red and blue filters
With the fixed shutter speed of 1/30 of a second, you can shoot indoors and experiment with moving subjects.
1\30
I’d also like to highlight one of the Lomo'Instant Wide’s most interesting features: its excellent lens cap, which also functions as a remote shutter release for the camera. Taking self-portraits and shooting with a tripod will become much easier with it. The main thing is not to forget to remove the cap before shooting; otherwise, instead of a photo, the camera will give you a wonderful gray rectangle :) Yes, the camera also has a tripod socket and even a connector for a synchronizer.
Lomo'Instant Wide is a camera that encourages your creativity and invites you to experiment with everything: light, color, and composition. Although I didn’t become a fan of its design, I genuinely had fun shooting with it—without thinking about shutter speed, aperture, or depth of field, and simply taking photos while wondering, “What happens if...?”
After all those DSLRs and other “serious” cameras, I realized that instant photography is a completely different class of emotions and experiences. It’s photography for fun. And what could be important in this life if not fun and joy?
