Photographer Mathieu Stern, the creator of the Weird Lens Museum and unique DIY lenses like the ice lens, has published a review of Lomography’s LomoMod No.1 featuring the Liquid Lens. The review is not kind, with Stern stating bluntly that LomoMod No.1 is the ‘worst camera’ he has ever tested.
The LomoMod No.1 is a build-it-yourself medium format cardboard camera that features a unique liquid-filled lens. Photographers can inject their own preferred liquid into the lens, such as tea, in order to create the effects they’re seeking. The DIY nature of the camera makes it seem like it would be a good fit for Stern given his lens projects.
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Stern explains that though he likes to create his own lenses, building the LomoMod No.1 was ‘not a fun moment,’ and that the entire process took around two hours because some of the pieces didn’t fit properly. Among other issues, Stern shows in the video that his cardboard camera’s back wouldn’t close properly.
He had more luck assembling a second camera kit but encountered other issues. In addition to producing poor image quality, the film advance wheel — which is made of cardboard — broke, leaving him unable to use the device. ‘I was really p*ssed for spending two hours building a camera and only [getting] 10 minutes [to use] it,’ Stern explains in the video.
The reviewer was able to replace the broken wheel with the wheel from the first camera kit, but it, too, broke in a short period of time. Ultimately, Stern explains that while he liked some of the images shot with the liquid lens, the camera itself was ‘one of the worst things I [have] ever used.’
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
