Lomo Fisheye Baby 110 Camera Review

Lomo Fisheye Baby 110

Manufacturer: Lomography

Date: 2012

Format: 110 film

Price: $39.00 basic version, $59.00 metal version

Summary: Plastic 110 film fisheye lens camera

Technical Details:

 Aperture F8

 Shutter 1/100 and Bulb

 Lens 13mm diameter

Attributes:

 Blurring

 Lens flare

 Distortion from fisheye

Field Notes:

  The Lomography group is at it again. They are still making new film cameras despite the totally saturated digital market. To top it off, they have brought back an old film format to boot. Their Orca film is the first black and white 110 film to be produced in years. The Fisheye Baby 110 is a fun camera to have on you at all times. It little size makes it truly pocketable. The basic camera comes with a storage back installed. It is basically for looks. It does have a frosted plastic screen, much like a ground glass, that allows you to preview your shot. This can only be done in bulb mode and with no film loaded. To take pictures, you have to take off the storage back and install the film transport back. There is a small slide switch that makes the switch fairly easy. Unless you want to use the camera as a shelf sitter for display, I see no real reason to use the storage back. Once the film transport back is on, you can now load a 110 film cartridge. First rotate the frosted plastic pressure plate clockwise. Slide the 110 film in place, and rotate the plate back to hold the film. Rotate the thumb wheel to advance your film, and its ready to take a photo. The Baby doesn’t have a shutter lock, so it is capable of taking multiple exposures. You have an N (normal) shutter speed of 1/100 of a sec. or bulb mode to select prior to taking a photo. A thumbwheel is how you advance your film and there are no focusing controls. The viewfinder is fairly decent and with most fisheye lenses, the closer you get to your subject, the more distorted they appear. Since the lens is plastic, expect some lens flair when shooting towards the sun. One unique thing about 110 films is that since it’s contained in its own cartridge, you do not have to rewind the film. For my first test of this camera, I used Lomography’s Orca b&w film. Normally 100 films have a frame counter window on the back to let you know what number photo you are on. The first batch of Orca film did not have it. I was told because there was no backing paper on this batch of film and that the open window would cause massive light leaks. If you use the Orca film, best to keep track of what frame you are on. If you don’t want double exposures, I would suggest you always advance the film after each shot so you don’t forget. When done shooting, just take the film out and have the lab develop. Don’t forget, most labs will have to mail this film out. I used the good people at Old School Photo Labs http://www.oldschoolphotolab.com/ This crew knows film and specializes in toy camera stuff. The negatives are super tiny (17mmx13mm) so don’t expect to make huge enlargements. If you want to also save some headaches, have the lab scan your negs for you. You can imagine how much fun it will be scanning these tiny things! Lomography also has another version of this camera called Fisheye Baby 110 Metal. This version offers some metal trim and a pc flash adapter and they just introduce a new 110 color film called Tiger 110.   

C. Gary Moyer