Lomography Experimental Lens Kit Review

Lomography Experimental Lens Kit Fish-eye Lens Sample Photos

Botanical Gardens | 1/100 sec | f/0 | 0.0 mm | ISO 320 High-Res	Lens Flare | 1/125 sec | f/0 | 0.0 mm | ISO 500 High-Res
Fisheye Flash (+2EV) | 1/100 sec | f/8 | 0.0 mm | ISO 3200 High-Res	St. Pancras | 1/100 sec | f/8 | 0.0 mm | ISO 2500 High-Res

Sample Photos - Colour and saturation can be very good with good lighting, and the shots in the park show some pleasing colours, although there is strong purple fringing and other lens distortion affecting the images, as well as varying degrees of softness in the corners. Each lens has different characteristics, and varying responses to shooting with bright light sources in the frame, producing strong, unique, and sometimes interesting lens flare. The 12mm lens produced an interesting rainbow effect with the sun in the frame, and using the fish-eye lens it was possible to get some interesting patterns and flare in the dark circle of the image, with both of these lenses able to focus quite close to the camera. The 24mm lens can only focus as close as 60cm, which is a little disappointing, although was reasonable at capturing detail in the middle of the image.

Due to the toy nature of these lenses, they are not designed for high image quality, and they certainly don't deliver, with images best shared on the web after resizing. The effects possible with these lenses can be used for some creative shots, and the compact and lightweight nature of these lenses would be hard to replicate with old vintage lenses, as even small 35mm pancake lenses will require an adapter, and in addition finding a suitable fish-eye or ultra-wide angle lens could be difficult.

Video - The lo-fi look of the lenses may be interesting for video, however the f/8 aperture may limit their usefulness in low light, unless additional lighting is added.

Value For Money

The lens kit including filters is available for £79 direct from Lomography which makes it good value for money, with the lenses costing roughly £26 each. In addition, the filters make it better value for money than just buying just a cheap "toy" lens on its own.

Alternative toy lenses you could consider include the Olympus Pancake / Cookie 15mm f/8 body cap lens (around £50), the SLR-Magic 25mm f/1.4 Toy Lens (£65), the Wanderlust PinWide Pinhole Lens ($40 US), and the Holga Lens (£20) to name a few.

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