Shoot First, Ask Later: Lomo'Instant Automat

A casual user's insights on instant cameras

This is a series where I can write about the cameras that I own. Now I am far from being an “expert”, but I do have a few people ask me what I think about any given camera over the years. This series won’t go into technical details or the nitty-gritty of each unit. Think of it as a non-manual reader’s inane explanation of the camera’s functions, features, usage - basically my experience with it.

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My first non-Fuji Instax branded camera is Lomography’s Lomo’Instant Automat. I initially got the Playa Jardin edition, which was the all-black one, but it suddenly stopped working so Lomo replaced it with the Bora Bora (all-white) edition which I still use to this day. Not to be confused with its basic brother, the Lomo’Instant, the Automat provides a lot of functions that you can use with your photography.

On a side note, Lomo’s customer service is good as they replace cameras for free if you have proof that it’s broken (as long as it’s within warranty), but a recent experience kind of soiled the whole good CS image. I bought a Lomo instant camera for a friend but it broke and she went through the whole motion of providing proof, but they were asking her to send the camera to Hong Kong on her own dime before they decide if it will be replaced or not. I have a feeling it may be because the order was under my name, and I was an ex-employee haha. Anyway, she ended up not pursuing it and probably just made a paperweight out of the camera.

Moving on…

What can the camera do?

The Lomo’Instant Automat is an analog camera powered by 2 CR2 batteries and uses the Instax Mini film format. It has built-in flash and three focal zones: 0.6m, 1-2m, and infinity. You can turn it on by twisting the lens barrel to any of the focal zones and turn it off by holding the button found on the lower right of the lens barrel and twisting the barrel to the label OFF. The shutter button doubles as a mirror for that selfie/groufie shot.

The camera comes with a lens cover that also acts as a remote shutter button with two settings: instant and timer. It uses a CR-1632 battery. This is useful if you want that group shot with a good background and you don’t have anyone to take your photo.

The Automat comes with several features that allows more control compared to Instax cameras. These controls can be found through several buttons at the back of the camera, beside the film door:

• Flash button. You can disable the flash. It can get confusing though, since light off means that there’s no flash. Once you turn on the camera, the flash button lights red first which means that the flash is charging, and the light turns green when it’s ready to use.

• MX button. You can do multiple exposures for up to 30s each shot for theoretically an unlimited number of times. The most I’ve done is five as anything more would be overexposed. Use the remote control to keep the shutter open without the shake of using the shutter button on the camera. The Automat has a tripod mount to maximize the stability of long exposure shots.

• Exposure button (+/-). You can adjust the exposure of your shot by +1 or -1 by pressing the exposure button.

• Shooting mode button. By default, this is set to A - auto - and you can switch to B if you want to do bulb mode/long exposure.

For the shot counter, there’s a line on 10 LED lights at the top of the camera, just beside the ejection slot. Each shot would turn off one light and when you’re out of film, the whole strip flashes to signify that you need to change cartridges.

Depending on the package type that you get, the camera can either come as a standalone unit or with lens attachments. I only got the non-combo one which comes with flash gel filters, photo cards, and some magnets, DIY paper frames, and glue stickies.

Features-wise, the comparable cameras from other brands are the Instax Mini 90/99 and the Leica Sofort.

Overall thoughts?

I honestly like the Lomo’Instant Automat and still use it constantly. It’s pretty evident with its well-used look, scuffed leatherette, and all the stains that I can no longer remove. Coming from the Instax Mini LiPlay and Instax SQ6, the Automat was my first camera that provided me with more options for my photos. This was the camera that made me interested in experimenting with instant photography.

Barring the flash control button which still sometimes confuses me to this day, I found that it was pretty easy to use the first time I tested it out, even without reading the manual. The parallax error is as terrible as the SQ6’s, and I was still using the viewfinder at this point, so I had to remember to position my subjects correctly if I wanted to center them.

That being said, sometimes the Automat is wonky when it comes to exposure. Even with the correct settings, I’ve had photos that came out either overexposed or underexposed and I couldn’t figure out why. It still happens from time to time, so I just figured it’s Lomography’s design flaw since I’ve also experienced this in my other Lomography cameras.

I would also warn you about the film door lock as I’ve had this either pop out or failed to latch on properly upon closing, which resulted to exposed film. And since the body is primarily just plastic, I would take care in trying to avoid bumping the camera that much as it wouldn’t do well being jarred that much. Purchasing a strap is highly recommended and I honestly still don’t know why Lomo can’t include a basic strap with their camera packages. The leatherette also flakes for some of the versions (especially the Playa Jardin) and there’s no reskinning on this from Lomography.

Despite its quirks, the Automat is a good starter camera if you want to dabble on experimental instant photography. Get the correct zone focus and you have clear results. I usually use this for long exposures but my experience with multiple exposure in daylight is that you have to set the exposure to -1 otherwise your photo will be overexposed even at just two shots.

It’s also quite lightweight at only about 350g - a good camera to bring around when travelling. Though boxy, it’s easy to hold regardless of the orientation, with the shutter button easily accessible.

Have you ever considered using the Lomo’Instant Automat?