LOMO
The Leningradskoe Optiko Mechanichesckoe Objedinenie (LOMO) was one of the largest and most secret companies in the Soviet Union. They designed and made almost all of the optics used by Soviet military and space programs. Now, however, Russia has lost her client states and hence LOMO has lost most of its military and scientific contracts. The company that once employed over 30,000 people now employs about 10,000 but still remains the largest firm in St. Petersburg.
In a peculiar twist of fate, after the decline of the Soviet Union, two Viennese art students - Matthias Fiegl and Wolfgang Stranzinger - came upon an LC-A while travelling in 1991. They shot random snapshots of their travels with their new LOMO, not knowing what would turn up on film. To their surprise, the resulting images had amazing colour and saturation, and were unlike anything they'd seen before. And so the Lomography movement was born.
Today, LOMO is best known among photographers as a producer of toy cameras - cheap, low-quality plastic cameras. However the company's accomplishments should not be underestimated. The LOMO company produces microscopes, spectral instruments, measuring instruments, sighting tubes, objective lenses, telescopes, sights, night vision devices, and more. They also made the largest telescope in the world, with a mirror that is 6 meters in diameter.
Alphabetical List of Lomo Cameras
- LOMO Actionsampler
- LOMO Colorsplash Camera
- LOMO Fisheye Camera
- LOMO Frogeye Underwater
- LOMO LC-A
- LOMO Oktomat
- LOMO Pop9
- LOMO Smena 35
- LOMO Smena 8
- LOMO Smena 8m
- LOMO Smena Symbol
- LOMO SuperSampler
- Lomolitos Single Use
Links
- LOMO Company Background
- A Trip Through The LOMO Factory, by Mahlon G. Kelly
