Lubitel 166

Sofia, Bulgaria

The hipster dream. The Lomo Lubitel 166 is a twin lens reflex camera that shoots both 35mm and 120mm film, has a waste level viewfinder, and is touted as one of the cheaper introductions to medium format photography (though be careful of lemon lubitels). The camera has a 75mm lens with a range of f stops from f4.5 to f22 and manually adjustable shutter speeds from 1/250 to bulb. A classic of lomography.

The waste level viewfinder of the Lomo Lubitel 166 means the photographer shoots from the hip and looks down the top of the camera to see the shot. This can produce unwieldy results as focusing the image also relies on the use of a magnifying glass affixed to the camera body creating a conundrum for the photographer who needs to pull the camera in close to attempt to focus on the subject while inadvertently altering the composition of the photo in the process.
“It takes great consciousness and awareness to see what is around us in everyday life. It is what photography can do so beautifully”
-Judy Linn