Lomo Lubitel 166+

The Lomo Lubitel 166+ or Lomo Lubitel 166+ Universal is a medium format camera from Lomography. The Lubitel can be placed somewhere between a toy camera and a sophisticated camera. It offers more adjustment possibilities than Holga, Diana F+ and co, but cannot be compared to a Hasselblad.

The story of the Lubitel 166+

The Lubitel 166+ is a twin lens reflex (TLR for short) camera and was modeled after the Lubitel. A twin lens reflex camera has two lenses arranged one above the other. The upper lens composes the image with the help of a mirror. The lower one has a shutter and an aperture and exposes the inserted film.

In 1946, the first Lubitel medium format camera was manufactured in Leningrad. The name “Lubitel” means “amateur” in Russian. Production of the original Lubitel was discontinued in the mid-90s.

Introduced by Lomography in 2008, the Lubitel 166+ is very similar to the Lubitel 166B, but has some new features.

The features of the Lubitel 166+

The 75mm Lomo Triplet-22 lens is a multi-coated glass lens with a maximum aperture of f4.5 and can be stopped down to f22. There are 5 shutter speeds to choose from (1/250 sec, 1/125 sec, 1/60 sec, 1/30 sec, 1/15 sec) and a Bulb mode for long exposures.

The light shaft viewfinder of the Lubitel+ is a mounted on the top of the camera. It is used to arrange the image and there the focus can be checked. Focusing is done by turning the upper lens. This is connected to the lower lens by a gear and rotates it along.

At 0.8m, 1.5m, 3m and infinity, which are similar to those of the Lomo LC-A+, the distance settings lock into place. This feature should make focusing easier. The closest focusing distance of the Lubitel+ is 0.8m, while it is 1.4m for the “normal” Lubitel. In addition to the closest focusing distance, the viewfinder has also been improved.

The focusing screen, which is used for manual focusing of the lens, reproduces 100 percent of the image in the viewfinder of the Lubitel 166+. On the original Lubitel, this was slightly curved and reproduced only 80 percent of the image.

Multiple exposures are possible without problems by releasing the shutter several times. With the crank on the Lubitel, not only 35mm film can be rewound, but also regular medium format film for multiple exposures of an image.

The Lubitel works completely mechanically without power or batteries. All settings have to be adjusted manually. There is no light meter built into the Lubitel 166+, so an external light meter is not a bad idea, or you can use the small chart on the back of the camera to estimate the correct exposure.

Film formats

Normally, the Lubitel 166+ exposes 6×6 square negatives on regular medium format film. By inserting a mask, rectangular 6×4.5 images are also possible. This makes it possible to fit 16 shots onto 120 film.

Endless panoramas are also possible with one of the included masks. With this there are no gaps between the individual images.

Using 35mm film

The Lubitel comes with the Lubikin 35mm conversion kit. This kit allows easy use of 35mm film. 35mm film is usually less expensive than medium format film, is developed by more labs, and development costs are usually lower.

With the kit, 58mm long panoramas are possible. When the camera is held in the normal position, the result is a portrait-format shot. The film perforations are also exposed, as with the Sprocket Rocket.

The Lubikin is named after the Rolleikin kit (use of 35mm film in medium format camera) for Rolleiflex TLRs. The Lubikin kit does not work with Lubitel 2 and Lubitel 166b.

Connections

The Lomo Lubitel 166+ has a connection for a cable release and a thread for mounting on a tripod. So long exposures without blur are no problem.

An external flash can be connected to the camera via hot shoe. The Colorsplash Flash and Fritz the Blitz can be used with the medium format camera without any problems.

In addition, the Lubitel 166+ has a removable back cover and a detachable viewfinder. Accessories, such as a Polaroid back for the Lubitel, have not been released yet.

Scope of delivery

The Lubitel 166+ comes with camera strap, lens cap, Lubikin (for use with 35mm film), cable release, a roll of 120 film, instructions, 6×4.5 and Endless Panorama Mask, and a book (“Love From Waist Level”).

The Lomo Lubitel 166+ is definitely not for everyone and beginners will struggle, simply because of the lack of a light meter, but it is a lot of fun, you learn a lot about photography and it leaves a lot of room for creativity because of its many setting options.

A cheaper alternative would be the Seagull 4B-1, a Chinese TLR.

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