Lomo’Instant Automat Camera
Recently I found out that Lomography makes an instant camera that shoots multiple exposures and I just HAD to have one!
Instant film is cool and has always been cool, but when it comes to film photography it never attracted me all that much. My interest was always geared more towards 35mm and weird plastic cameras. I like oddball experimental things when it comes to film. I know there’s a lot that can be done with old Polaroid film stocks such as multiple exposures, but some of them are rather expensive and come with a learning curve. Plus the age of the film stocks make it an expensive gamble.
So the idea that you could easily do multiple exposures with off the shelf instant film was fascinating to me!
Fuji Instant Film
There are a few different model instant cameras that Lomography makes. They offer cameras which shoot Fuji Instax Mini and Instax Wide. While the earlier versions of the cameras were plastic lenses, eventually they released a premium version that shoots with a glass lens for even sharper images.
The Glass lens versions are much more expensive so I figured I’d start with the plastic one to see how I liked it. Plus if I ever get a Glass version, which I probably will at some point, it will be nice to compare images from the two cameras.
I chose to go with the version that shot Fuji Instax Mini film. This was partially due to the fact that around 2008, I had purchased a Fuji instant camera that shot their wide film. It was nice to be able to shoot new instant film stocks at the time, but something about the Instax Wide film always seemed a bit odd to me, probably since I was so familiar with Polaroid square frames. Not too long after I picked that camera up, I met some photographers who were shooting with Instax Mini film and I liked that size film so much more. Since then I’ve been wanting to try it out, but again, was never super drawn to instant film.
Discovering the Lomo’Instant Automat camera gave me a great reason to shoot some Fuji Instax Mini film!
Below is the very first shot I took with the Lomo’Instant Automat Camera. It’s of an artist working on a mural installation in a studio at the Alternative Gallery.
I was very satisfied with the results of the first shot. The first thing that jumped out at me was how good the color was!
For the second shot I couldn’t help myself and HAD try out a double exposure. So I took a photo of Megan backlit from a studio window, and a close-up of part of her mural as the second exposure.
And damn was I impressed with the results!
After seeing the first double exposure I knew I had to do more with other artists and their work layered over them.
The next shot is another double exposure with artist Brandon Dominguez as the first exposure, and one of his paintings overlayed through the second exposure.
After pulling off a couple of double exposure experiments that I was happy with, I figured I’d fire off another shot of Megan working on her mural installation. This image was shot without flash, directly into the light source. I was a bit surprised to see how much of a blue hue came across in this image.
I think as the lighting was changing, it would have been best to have used the flash here. I would have gotten more color and saturation. But this is how you figure it out! And I still really love the image!
Fortunately it was a busy day at the gallery when the Lomo’Instant Automat camera arrived. A group of artists were meeting-up at the gallery to plan out an event they were hosting in June. This was a great opportunity to try some more shots with the camera!
The next image is the first portrait that I tried with the flash on. I was impressed how much more the colors came through with the flash on. Of course you often get the red eye effect with flash photography. But this one turned out great!
Another double exposure with two magicians who were doing a walkthrough of their performance!
This next image is not a double exposure. I knew the light was low but I didn’t want to use the flash because I wanted to try and catch the colors of the stage lights. Since it was low light, the camera automatically adjusted to a slower shutter speed to allow in more light. The changing stage lights were captured in streaks, which created an interesting effect!
Metal Assault
A couple of days later we had a heavy metal show at the gallery, which we do every few weeks. I had been running around during most of the show getting things set-up, but later in the night I brought the camera out to snap a few images.
For the first shot I kept the flash on because I knew from the previous image, the moving lights would add streaks to the photos. I wanted to see what it would look like.
I honestly like this look a lot, reminds me of shots of old punk & metal shows from the 80s. I wish I would have taken more shots with the flash on during the night.
I wanted to try once again capturing the presence of the stage with the stage lighting. This time I figured I’d try a double exposure to add more light. The first exposure was from behind the band and the second exposure was shooting directly in front of the band.
Once again the motion of the state lights created long streaks making it nearly impossible to tell what the scene was. But it created a super cool abstract image!
For the next shot I returned to a single exposure with no flash. I really like how this one turned out with the motion blur. I took a second shot of the guitarist, holding as still as possible to see if I could get it a bit more in focus. But the lighting & motion blur were doing what they wanted, and I think it looks excellent!
Final Thoughts
I’ve only gotten the chance to run a couple of packs of Fuji Instax Mini Film through the camera, but I’m already super impressed by the Lomo’Instant Automat.
Lomography is probably the most interesting film camera company on the planet. They keep making unique tools that encourage creativity and experimentation. This is one of those cameras I’ll be using a lot during the Summer months. And I think I’ll also be using it more during music shows because it offers that nostalgic look to old punk & metal shows that I love so much.
Since shooting with the Lomo’Instant Automat, I’ve been looking around for other instant photographers and have found some fascinating things being done with old Polaroid film stocks. Especially with double exposures, which have such a different aesthetic to them with peel apart film that’s decades expired. It has such an incredible artistic nature to it that I know some day I MUST try.
I definitely recommend this camera for pretty much anyone. You don’t have to be into photography to get some joy out of shooting instant film. That’s probably what attracted so many people to instant film to begin with, was that you didn’t have to be a photographer to shoot it, and the results were immediate!
Shooting instant film is kind of like magic. Watching the chemicals breakdown and develop the image in real time sure is a fascinating thing to watch. Though I haven’t been super interested in instant film in the past, this might push me into it more.
