The Lomo Apparat - a quick take

Lomography introduced the Apparat 35mm camera in 2022, and while I was somewhat interested in the new camera, its price of $90 was a bit off-putting. Furthermore, it was an all-plastic camera - which isn’t surprising, but I decided a while ago not to jump right on a new Lomography product until I had seen some reviews about it.  In October 2023, KEH had a 20% off sale on some film cameras, and lo and behold -- a brand new Apparat for a reasonable price, so I ordered one.

The past couple of years has seen a number of simple plastic 35mm cameras coming to market, most of which are quite similar in features.  The Apparat though, features a 21mm lens with an integral  rectangular lens hood, flash with color filters, and B+ Instant, as well as a multiple exposure option, and a tripod socket.  It’s a small camera that encourages experimentation, as it comes with a close-up lens, multi-faceted “kaleidoscopic” lens, and a Lomo “splitzer” attachment, that when used under the multi-exposure option, allows for different sections of the frame to be exposed separately.  It uses 1 AA cell for the flash, which can be turned off when shooting the camera in daylight. 

After I received my Apparat kit from KEH, I carefully went over everything, and for one, Lomography does a great job packaging their products, making them inviting to open and examine.  Like many of their cameras, the Apparat has a paperback book accompanying it with photos that really showcase the camera’s results,  projected with that fun Lomo “shoot from the hip” ethos.  

Camera specifications:

• Film- 35mm film 
• Shutter- 1/100 sec, plus B and multiple exposure
• Lens- 21mm f/10 
• Tripod socket: yes
• Viewfinder- almost centered, with view approximating the lens coverage
• Flash- uses 1 AA battery, with ND  and multiple colored gels placed in pop-up holder
• Film advance - manual, with thumbwheel
• Film rewind - manual, no detensioning needed
• Film door - clear film reminder window, storage slot for the color flash gels

At first glance, the Apparat resembles on of the many iterations of Kodak 126 Instamatic cameras, except for the obviously large front element and lens hood.  It is definitely more robust than the RETO Ultra-Wide and Slim with the 22mm lens, and has more features.  The included metal wrist strip is quite nice, and complements the black plastic camera body.

In use:  While the Apparat is pretty easy to figure out, I do like the fact that the front switch with B, N, and OFF is easy to see, and when in OFF position, blocks the viewfinder and locks the shutter release.  That’s a welcome feature for any simple-use camera.  In addition, pressing the lower lighted switch beneath the flash turns the flash off/on - also a welcome feature.  My only real complaint is that the thumbwheel film advance is hard to turn as it does not protrude very far from the back.  Also, there is no button to depress to rewind the film. You just turn the rewind lever to pull the film back into the cassette.  I really like the lens hood and the nice secure fit of the lens cap.  I have not yet tried the accessory lenses.  

I shot a roll of Fujifilm Superia 200 in late October - mostly while on a trip to Dutchess Co., NY.  I had the film processed at my local camera store, Ball Photo in Asheville, NC.   I scanned the negatives with my Epson V700, and did some post-scan correction.  Overall, I was happy with my results.  The Apparat is a very simple camera, and I didn’t have high expectations for the results, but I liked what I did get from it.  It’s definitely a step above the typical simple-use cameras that have recently appeared on the market, and it has some features that no other cameras in its class offer.  The images are fairly sharp at center, with some blur towards the edges of the frame, and I don’t think that the wide-angle distortion is really noticeable.  You can be as close as about 1 foot from your subject, and if you use the flash, you can use the neutral density filter gel if you are really close so that the flash doesn’t wash out the image.  

Unless you are out on a bright sunny day at the beach, I recommend using ISO 200 or 400 film.  In cloudy weather, 400 ISO film should definitely be used.  I have yet to try the Apparat with b&w film, and look forward to doing so.

Is the Apparat for you?  It’s a bit lo-fi, but it feels secure in the hands and has a great wide-angle view that is better than any other simple-use camera.  It has options to encourage experimentation at a relatively low price.  It’s not as fragile as other simple use cameras, and it is fun to use.  I know that people will complain about the B option and no cable release, but if it’s on a solid tripod, there is not going to be much in the way of camera shake.  And because it does have a B setting, once could use it with low-ISO film, tripod, and guesstimation for the exposure.  You could use Lomo’s Babylon (ISO 13) or Fantome (ISO 8), and in full sun, a 1 second B exposure should be fine, with longer exposures accordingly for other conditions.

Here are some images from my first roll with the Apparat.