Editing LOMO

The ''Leningradskoe Optiko Mechanichesckoe Objedinenie'' ('''LOMO''', or ЛОМО, in Cyrillic) was one of the largest and most secret companies in the Soviet Union. Before 1966 it had been [[GOMZ]]. They designed and made almost all of the optics used by Soviet military and space programs, but also made normal cameras like the [[Voigtländer Brillant]] copy '''LOMO''' [[Lubitel 2]].  In 1976 LOMO made the world's largest telescope, with a mirror that is 6 meters in diameter.

Now, however, Russia has lost her client states and hence LOMO has lost most of its military and scientific contracts.  The company that once employed over 30,000 people now employs about 10,000 but still remains the largest firm in St. Petersburg. 

Today, the LOMO company produces microscopes, spectral instruments, measuring instruments, sighting tubes, objective lenses, telescopes, sights, night vision devices, and more. LOMO no longer manufactures cameras.

After the decline of the Soviet Union, two Viennese marketing students - Matthias Fiegl and Wolfgang Stranzinger - came upon an [[Lomo LC-A|LC-A]] while traveling in 1991.  They shot random snapshots of their travels with their new LOMO, not knowing what would turn up on film.  To their surprise, the resulting images had amazing colour and saturation, and were unlike anything they'd seen before.  And so the [[Lomography]] movement was born. Fiegl and Stranzinger then founded Lomographic Society International, a camera retailer and obtained exclusive rights to distribute the LOMO LC-A.

In 2006 Lomographic Society International released a version of the LOMO LC-A called the LC-A+. This camera was not manufactured by LOMO but was made by Phenix Optical Instrument Company in China. Some LC-A+ models did use lenses manufactured by LOMO however.

Some photographers believe that LOMO also made cheap plastic cameras such as the [[Lomographic_ActionSampler|Action Sampler]], [[Holga]], and [[Lomographic Pop9|POP9]]. However, this is incorrect.


== Cameras made by the LOMO factory ==
=== LOMO cameras ===
* [[LOMO LC-A]]

<!-- The Smenas before Smena-8 were not produced by LOMO. They were made by GOMZ MMZ and LOOMP -->
* [[Smena-8]]
* [[Smena-8M]] also see the article [[Smena 8M (2)]]
* [[Smena-9]]
* [[Smena-M]]
* [[Smena-Rapid]]
* [[Smena-18]]
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|image_text=Smena Symbol<BR><SMALL>by Latente {{creative commons}}</SMALL>
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* [[Smena-Symbol]] also see the article [[Smena Symbol (2)]]
* [[Smena-SL]] also see the article [[Smena SL (2)]]
The list of all Smena models is in the article  [[Smena Series by GOMZ & MMZ & LOMO]].

* [[Sokol-2]]
* [[Sputnik]]
* Lomo LC-M
* Lomo LC-M2
* [[Lomo 135|Lomo 135BC and 135M]]
* [[Voskhod]]

=== Lubitel Cameras ===
<div class="floatright plainlinks">[http://www.flickr.com/photos/croco/252716102/ http://farm1.static.flickr.com/93/252716102_c791f1fe9b_t.jpg]</div>
* [[Lubitel 2]]
*   Lubitel 166
* [[Lubitel 166B]]
* [[Lubitel 166 Universal|Lubitel 166U]]
* [[Sputnik]]

== Bibliography ==
* Princelle, Jean-Loup. ''The Authentic Guide to Russian and Soviet Cameras.'' Hove Foto Books, 2nd edition, 1995. 200 pages. ISBN 1874031630.

== Links ==
* [http://www.ussrphoto.com/Wiki/default.asp?WikiCatID=72&ParentID=1 GOMZ/LOMO TLRs at USSRPhoto.com]
* [http://www.ussrphoto.com/Wiki/default.asp?WikiCatID=71&ParentID=1 GOMZ/LOMO Smena Cameras at USSRPhoto.com]
* [http://www.ussrphoto.com/Wiki/default.asp?WikiCatID=12&ParentID=1 Other LOMO Cameras at USSRPhoto.com]

* [http://lomoplc.com/ LOMO PLC]
* [http://thelomography.com TheLomography.com]
<!-- * dead link commented out: LOMO [http://www.lomooptics.com/Company/LOMO.htm Company Background] -->
* [http://www.goatandpencil.com/acatalog/PHOTOGRAPHY.html Goat & Pencil - UK experts in all Lomo cameras & accessories ]
* [http://www.lomography.com/ Home of the Lomographic Society International ]
* [http://web.archive.org/20040205000325/members.aol.com/mysciencestuff/lomo.html A Trip Through The LOMO Factory], by Mahlon G. Kelly
* [http://www.rus-camera.com/camera.php?page=lubitel Lubitel pages at Antique Russian Camera]
* [http://www.butkus.org/chinon/russian.htm Russian camera instruction manuals - English] including Fed, Kiev, Zenit and Lubitel
* [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/general/html/listeG_imagettes.php#Gomz Cameras and User manuals] on [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/general/html/francais.php www.collection-appareils.fr] by Sylvain Halgand
* [http://www.picturenoise.com/ Picture Gallery using Lomo Cameras] www.picturenoise.com
[[Category: Camera makers|Lomo]]
[[Category: Former USSR|Lomo]]
[[Category: L|Lomo]]
[[Category: LOMO|*]]
[[Category: Russia]]