So Lomography Japan recently contacted us about testing out the yet-to-be released LOMO Instant Wide camera system with some long exposure light painting. Working with instant film for light painting sounded incredibly fun so we jumped at the chance. We will definitely publish a separate article about this unique camera soon but for now we thought we could at least share a few shots from our initial tests.

The box from Lomography Japan arrived at our office late in the afternoon. By the time we got around to opening it up it was plenty dark enough to try it out. The camera did not come with with any instructions but they are hardly needed. It does not get any simpler than an instant camera. Remember those Polaroid cameras from when you were a kid? Maybe you don’t but hey I am getting old… Anyway, you typically just push a button and the finished photo pops out. It seems LOMO took the basic idea of this and added all the functions that were missing. They even added to the fun by producing a series of lenses and lens attachments.

It is still super simple to use but they have added multiple exposures, bulb mode, and remote shooting to the functions. It is literally just perfect as far as functions go. It also has a nice built-in flash that comes with colored gels. As I said, we will publish an in-depth article about the camera soon so I will save the details for then.

Shooting with instant film added a whole new element of excitement to light painting. Generally we work with digital and adjust and adapt on the fly. With instant film it is much more pressure to get it right in one shot. All the images that have a frame around them in this post are physical prints straight from the camera that were scanned with a flat bed scanner.

ZZZ

This was really a neat evening. As you can see in the images, the color is rich and they images have strong character. We will definitely be exploring this new medium more.