"What the hell is Lomography?" So begins the latest press kit from the Lomographic Society, which is almost in and of itself reason enough to write about their newest product, a kit that piggybacks off of their widely hailed Belair X 6-12 camera and gives it Polaroid-like instant film capabilities. But before we do, maybe we should actually answer that question: what the hell is Lomography?
Lomography is a small but loyal niche for photographers who prefer the authenticity of film to the pristine soullessness of digital photography. Named after the Lomo LC-A, a cheap Soviet-era camera that is legendary for the charm of its unique, colorful and blurry imagery, Lomography essentially centers on using cheap plastic film cameras to create the sort of light leaks, haloing, vignetting, and other flawed hallmarks that used to be synonymous with photography, and which we now use programs like Instagram to emulate.
One of the more high-end and widely regarded Lomographic cameras sold on the community's Website is the Belair X 6-12, a panoramic folding camera that featured interchangeable lenses, an electronic meter with auto exposure, and interchangeable masks for taking pictures in 6x6, 6x9, and 6x12 formats. It's an adorable camera that takes some stunningly retro photographs, but the rub, of course, is you have to actually take them in to get developed.
The Lomographic Society's latest product changes that. Here, the Dragonzord piggybacks upon the Megazord to create the Mega Dragonzord, the instant film kit that attaches to the back of the Belair X 6-12 and supercharges it with a cool new power: your Lomocam can now immediately print out shots on Fujifilm Instamax film, which transforms it into a sort of super high-end Polaroid.
I love the fact that people are still using vintage cameras like this at all, let alone designing modular systems that turn them into other kinds of vintage cameras. It's available for pre-order now on Lomography.com.