Customer Reviews

Lomography OKTOMAT Compact 35mm Camera with 8 Serial Lenses

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This is a cool addition to your camera bag, it is a cooky cool way to create "Art"! 8 little shots, you'll need to pay for the largest size prints allowed by your budget though to get the full 8 piccie effect, on each frame. As with all Lomo effect cameras the colours are skewed, the pictures are not bitingly sharp (getting a high res 35mm film helps though), and the effects are very much hit and miss, but the hits are superbly bizarre. Once you see the effect you'll be hooked, it is really a basic wind, point and click, hear the classic "whirrrrrrrrrzzzzzzzzclick" sound and you are done! It works best with a moving subject, crowd scenes, pets, kids, etc.... I took some shots at a hippy market in Totnes, UK and the results were great! Really odd and strangely unwordly. I took some straight shots with a Nikon D70 too and although these were interesting, the Lomo brought out the spaced outedness of the scenes, the colours and movement are pure Lomo. I love it and so will you too, for this price it is worth the gamble! Pop one in your pocket and whenever you come across a scene with bright colours, movement, shifting patterns the Lomo 8 lens camera will come into it's own. Shoot low to avoid 8 pictures of the sky and the tops of people's heads. Keep the wrist strap away from the front too.

I've had this camera for about 3 months and I think it's very unique and is definitely worth trying out. The only thing that I can think of that is a disadvantage is that it doesn't have a flash- you must take all pictures in sunlight or they don't turn out. It's really fun to take pictures of things like birds or cars on the highway because you get a completely different image in each of the eight images. I would recommend it for anyone into art.

I must admit I was apprehensive to purchace the product after some of the reviews of the OKTOMAT, but I have learned that it is an extrememly sturdy product. If used correctly, the OKTOMAT will not break. It is an incredible product and the images it produces range from awesome to so-so. Experimentation is key. It is difficult to get a bad picture from the OKTOMAT. I do suggest signing up with the International Lomographic Society once your camera arrives. It is a great place to store and share your pictures. The OKTOMAT as a whole is a great product that can make anybody a photographer.

mine broke first roll. and it destroyed the film. it's a total piece of plastic junk and waste of money. it should cost under $1, or be in a gumball machine somewhere.

Our Oktomat lasted for three rolls - not too poor a record, really, considering that we had by then spent about as much on film and processing as on the camera. Near the beginning of the fourth roll, the shutter began firing when the film advance lever was operated, and after a few hilarious attempts to take pictures like that, the shutter stopped operating entirely. Now the Okto's an honored element of our display of retired cameras. But we weren't disappointed, as our expectations had been commensurate with the 33-dollar price. Attitude is everything, see. For the record, we also have a couple of Diana Fs (one still works) and two Blackbirds (both still work). You can have a lot of grins with cheap cameras.

The funny thing about the Okto is that, instead of being mad that the thing had gone bad so quickly, we mused about how interesting it would be for someone to take this idea and execute it in a more robust build. The image quality is better than you'd expect from one-eighth of a 35mm frame, and with glass lenses and some critical internal parts made of, say, metal, you could have a ton fun. Or you could just spend another 33 dollars.

This was an impulse buy because it sounded so cool... I didn't really read enough about it beforehand and whatever my hopes were, I think at first they were too high. In fact, before figuring out what quirks I was working with, I was pretty pissed. I do love novelties, and that's what this is. The shutter sounds are loud for sure and it is definitely cheap and bulky with fragile controls. The first roll of film jammed somehow then I thought my advance lever was broken (sometimes it would shoot more pictures if I moved the lever just a millimeter too far) but it just needed attention paid to gentle handling. It has however stood up to being tossed around inside my bag, hiking, and being dropped. Since there is no flash or hotshoe, pictures really should be taken outside on a sunny day; with pretty marginal results indoor even with lighting. The pictures are definitely full of "lo-fi" charm. Often, the two shots on the sides (four total) are blurred red and the lines between shots can be quite prominent. My main frustration was actually finding someone to develop these correctly without chopping up the shots, because no matter how fuzzy or random, seeing them in their little equal frames is fun. Overall it is an amusing, cute, attention-getting toy with occasionally fun results; but totally not worth the money.

This is my second purchase from the "toy camera" line and I must say - it's tons of fun, especially if you follow the lomographer's mantra and shoot from the hip. The Oktomat is a tough little camera -it bangs around in my purse everyday just in case I happen upon something interesting to photograph (or something uninteresting that I can photograph in an interesting way). I love the occasional light leaks and the slight dreamy blur of all the photos. This camera is not for the perfectionist - it's for the experimental crowd. And I agree with some other reviewers - the best photos are of moving objects.

Notes: The eight consecutive clacks really sound more like a grind, don't let this worry you. And there is a small black piece on the top of the camera - the film advance leaver should stay to the back of this, you may have to pop it back into place once in a while. All part of the low tech fun!

I bought this camera brand new in a retail box. First roll of film and it is already struggling mightily to work. The teeth slip off the roll because the flimsy gears are not strong enough to even pull the roll. I finally figured out after wasting a few frames a way to carefully advance the film without the gears letting go. This product is made at a level of a claw-machine toy. There is flat out no excuse for the Lomo company to charge $40 for this item. I totally respect what they have done for the Lomo movement and everything but this is not the way to do it. This product will alienate people from the movement; it is that bad. Go ahead and buy it and you will see what I am talking about. Save your money and buy a genuine Lomo antique from an online auction site.

I bought this camera to have some fun, and try a few ideas I've had. I was really excited, I've had experience with toys cameras, like Holga and the Diana F+ Mini and enjoyed their unpredictability and spontaneity. However, the Oktomat never produced a single picture. Out of the box, the gears weren't winding properly and my film wasn't latching onto the gears properly. After about 20 shots of my 36 roll of film, the camera ceased to advanced or set of the shutter when I pressed the shutter release button. Not even one roll of film ended up coming out. A real disappointment. I mean I understand it's a toy, but really lomo? $40 for a toy that simply doesn't function?!?! Save yourself the time, money, and hassle. Do Not buy this piece of hipster plastic.

This product could be a really great medium of art, but it's too cheap. For one, it has no flash, which forces you to look out for sunny days to use it. Secondly, it broke on me during my second role of film. Not too surprising, being that it is made of cheap plastic. Invest in a lomo camera with a flash and durability.