Over the weekend, Toisha emailed me to ask what camera I’d used to take my photos from our camping expedition on Indian Lake. She’s planning on buying a camera and wanted to learn about the features and costs of the models used by various campers.
After some quick Googling, I was surprised to learn the Lomo LC-A is no longer in production. In fact, it was discontinued in 2005 and this was the first I’d heard of it. I bought mine as part of a “Deluxe Package,” which included a small hardcover book and a few rolls of Lomo-branded film, in October 2002 for $180, which I thought excessive at the time. Then it sat unused until Labor Day weekend 2007 when I dusted it off to take photos of our camping trip in Hickory Run State Park.
Unbeknownst to me, the Lomo LC-A was discontinued on May 1, 2005 due to rising labor and production costs. Pricing on the company’s remaining stock increased to $260 for the camera alone and $325 for the “Deluxe Package.” Original “dead stock” Lomo LC-As still seem to be available for $350, while the Chinese-made replacement model, the Lomo LC-A+, currently retails for $250.
Much of the brouhaha around the Lomo was that although it was admittedly a flimsy camera, it actually had a decent lens, made by LOMO, a storied Russian optics factory that manufactured gun sights during World War I and now makes telescopes and microscopes. To have the camera—and that lens—made in China—it’s just not the same.
So although I didn’t know it, I snuck in the door just as it was closing on the original Lomo.