Lomography La Sardina review

When Lomography sent us a tin of sardines in the post with a message attached inviting us along to a sneak preview of its new camera, we were expecting some sort of waterproof model or perhaps even a fisheye snapper. The clue was in fact much more literal - with the Lomography La Sardina turning out to be a camera shaped like a sardine tin. While this may sound ludicrous, but the odd shape is actually based on an old 1930s snapper - the Kandor Candid - made by the Irwin Corporation.
Along with the somewhat silly, yet endearing design, La Sardina also boasts a super-wide 22mm f/8 lens, while the flash has three different settings - a first for a Lomo camera. The design may be fun, but is the camera actually any good? We put it through its paces to see whether it would sink or swim.

Design

There are four different designs available - all based on sardine tins. You can choose from the green Marathon or the blue Sea Pride, both of which come with a price tag of £49 and no flashgun. To get the flash capability you'll need to shell out £89 for the red El Capitan or the blue Fishers Fritze (we had the latter in for review). You can also pick up the Fritz the Blitz flash separately for £55. (For more images of the other designs, check out our hands-on from launch day.) While the build quality isn't quite up to the standards set my the brand's more expensive cameras, such as the LC-Wide, it's reassuringly robust compared to the likes of the Diana Mini.

The camera chassis itself is relatively compact, although obviously the detachable flash, which fits on the side of the body, adds a fair bit of bulk. The lens board can be twisted into the body of the camera to make it more compact (simply turn it 45 degrees until it clicks), although you need to make sure that it's fully extended for shooting. There's a message on the extension that reads "Only shoot if you can see me!" - and as the shutter release won't go when the lens is collapsed, this shouldn't be a problem. Although a useful feature if space is at a premium in your bag (and to stop the camera going off by accident), we found that it was easier just to leave the lens extended all of the time, as it only takes up a few extra mm.

All at sea

Despite its nautical styling, the camera isn't waterproof and doesn't have a fisheye lens. Controls are kept to a minimum, which is great news for beginners or those that don't want to spend half their lives tweaking settings. The top of the camera chassis is home to a winding dial with the shutter release button in the centre, alongside the picture counter. In the centre, there is a protruding viewfinder that sports a distinctive art deco look. As with most Lomo cameras, having the viewfinder in the centre is a nice touch as it means that the camera doesn't discriminate between those who are left- or right-eyed (using a camera that's designed for right-eyed photographers can be quite uncomfortable if you predominantly use your left peeper).

On the left of the viewfinder, you'll find the rewinding dial that can be used for winding the film backwards in between shots. Just the like the mechanism on the Lomography Sprocket Rocket, this means that you can either wind all the way back to the previous frame, or simply wind part of the way back to get some cool effects on your snaps. Just in front of the viewfinder you'll find a switch that doubles up as an MX control as well as the shutter speed switch. This should be set to N (Normal) for shooting in sunny conditions and swapped to B (Bulb) for when light isn't so great or if you're indoors or using the flash. The MX (Multiple Exposure) setting means that you can take two pictures on the same frame simply by not winding on the film in between and sliding the switch over to the right. You can do this as many times as you want on one frame, although you'll find that the film starts to get overexposed if you go past about three.
Loading film couldn't be simpler - all you do is press down the small tab on the left-hand side of the camera, which releases the back panel of the body. Then it's just a case of pulling the rewinding knob up, popping the film in and attaching the sprockets to the take-up spool and winding on the film until its firmly wrapped around the spool. After that you simply pop the back of the camera body back on and press the shutter release and advance the film to the next frame (twice, to be safe), then you're all set to go.

The camera takes conventional 35mm film that can be picked up in most camera shops and chemists. You can experiment with all kinds of different 35mm films (see Cool tops for Lomo users for ideas), but normal colour negative film will do the job nicely. The camera produces standard full frame shots, albeit with the wide-angle lens packing as much into each shot as possible. La Sardina sports a 1:8 aperture, along with a focusing range of 0.6m to infinity. The focusing ring includes tiny icons of a crowd of people for group photos or landscapes (1m-infinity) and an insect for close-up shots (0.6-1m) making the whole process of adjusting the focus utterly idiot proof.

Getting flashy

One of the big draws for La Sardina is the variable flashgun, which can be easily screwed onto the side of the camera body. Unlike the AA-powred Lomo Diana flash, this one takes a CR123A (3V) battery. Although it's a standard battery format it's a little bit more unusual than an AA or AAA, so you're probably less likely to have a spare one hanging around the house. What makes the flash unique in the Lomo universe is that it has three different settings for distances, portraits and close-ups. This is great news as it means that you should be able to do away with the overly bright, washed-out close-ups that are all too common in Lomo portraits.

The flash is also provided with four plastic filters that can easily be popped on and off. The "Milky" white filter can be used on ISO 400 film or above to avoid an overpowering flash when on the highest setting and also for when you're using the lower settings. If you prefer, you can use the blue, yellow or pink filters to add a splash of colour.
The camera is comfortable to use and sits well in the hand and although adding the flash makes it a bit bulkier, it actually makes the whole set-up even easier to hold steady (there's a standard tripod mount on the underside if you want extra stability). Our only real gripe with the design is that we accidentally knocked the flash switch on in our bag, draining almost an entire battery of juice - not good news, considering that CR123A aren't the cheapest batteries around. Some sort of recess to protect the flash switch might be nice, but obviously any extra piece of engineering to the design would inevitably push the price up.

Once the film was finished, we found that winding it back took a fair bit of elbow grease. While most conventional film cameras include a flip-up lever on the rewind dial which can be whizzed round at speed, the dial on La Sardina has no lever, making it a much more arduous process. However, it's not exactly a deal breaker.

The results

We tried out two types of film on the camera - ISO 400 Lomography colour negative film and some ISO 200 Lomography slide film. We took the camera out on a particularly sunny day on London's South Bank and got some great results, from both types of film. As you'd expect, the images are pleasingly soft and there's enough visible film grain to keep fans of the nostalgic non-digital look happy, while the wide angle lens stuffs as much into each frame as possible.

The only issue was a small area of glare that appears on some of the frames which we're presuming has something to do with the reflective metallic ring that surrounds the lens (and the fact that it was very sunny indeed). The variable flash also worked really well - we were able to take close-up shots, as well as portraits withouth the usual over-bleached look that you get from a Lomo Diana flash.

Verdict

Overall, the Lomography La Sardina is a great little camera. You'll either love or hate the sardine tin design, but we're guessing that if vintage cameras are your thing then you won't be able to resist the kitsch element. The camera is neat and easy to use and the fact that the flash can be set at three different levels shouldn't be underestimated. The only real downsides to the camera are to do with the unprotected flash switch that's all too easy to flick on by accident, and the glare that appears on some of the shots (although many lomographers would argue that the latter is all part of the fun).
La Sardina is a solid choice for those that want to snap wide-angle full frame shots, but who can't afford to splash out on the Lomo LC-Wide (with its slightly steep £350 price tag). If you're after a simple, point and shoot wide-angle snapper, with a preposterous yet charming design, then you can't go far wrong with this one.

Best five camera bags for all occasions

Having a decent bag to lug your precious camera kit about in is crucial. Without one, lenses will get scratched and dropped, memory cards lost and plenty of things dented and bashed about. 

There are however a massive number of camera bags to choose from, with a hugely varied price range, making it very difficult to pick out the right one for the right job. Is an over the shoulder best? Should you go for a traditional rucksack, or is there one bag to rule them all? Check out our top five camera bag list to find out which is the one for you?

Domke F-2 - the pro's choice

Domke has a long running history of making camera bags. Its F-2 has been the go to for professionals and photojournalists the world over for years. They are tough, they are lightweight, they are comfortable and your camera gear is very easily accessed.
The levels of protection and pockets is not quite the same as some of the more high tech rucksacks but the amount carried in such a small bag is unparalleled. The Domke straps are also very, very comfy meaning you can carry around a heavy load of camera gear for the day without too many shoulder problems.

The F-2 can carry two camera bodies, anywhere up to 10 lenses, both big and small, and all the filters, light meters and flashes you would ever need.
The sand canvas material that the Domke bag is made out of is also a lot more unobtrusive than normal overly high tech camera sacks, so it draws a lot less attention to your gear - useful if you're on holiday somewhere dodgy.

Think Tank Streetwalker - street shooter's favourite

Think Tank make highly formidable and extremely comfortable rucksacks; perfect for those who regularly go on lengthy photowalks.
The bag is deliberately slim and has a small profile on your back, meaning you can get on the train, while wearing it, without smashing it into someones face. The entire front of the bag zips open allowing you to get access to the around five-strong lens pockets. Smaller zip open areas also allow you to access things like memory cards and other accessories quickly.

The real benefit of the Streetwalker, however, is the straps, we personally think it's one of the most comfortable rucksacks we have ever worn. The small size and comfort factor make it a great travelling companion as well.

Lowepro Dryzone 200 - the adventurer

Extreme sports enthusiasts and Ray Mears fans alike will most definitely like this one. This is the camera bag for the snapper that likes to throw themselves about and push their gear to its extreme.
Totally waterproof and floatable, it means you could, in theory, set about snapping while wearing it out in the ocean. The Dryzone 200 features things like an inner drypod for storing whatever gear you have and it's entirely customisable. The straps are also very good and highly adjustable meaning the back should, in theory, remain comfy even when wet.

This is the bag for those who fear water damage to their cameras, who live in countries with a rainy season, or who, in general, think gettings photo gear wet is a bad idea.

Kata UL-BD-255 - The speed demon

Kata make seriously good photography bags. You pay a premium price for a Kata sack but you most definitely get value in return. The Bug 255 is no exception. Priced in at £349, it is one of the more expensive offerings in our top five list.
The idea behind this bag is that everything is modular, meaning you can divide up sections between gear that you need quick access to and that which you would carry for emergencies. It is also massive. You can fit an entire 17-inch laptop into the back as well as a DSLR with a full 70-200mm lens.

The real trick about the Bug 255, however, is the hatch which opens at the front. You can quickly drop out a zoom and pop in the camera you have in your hands. It is perfect for those who carry two bodies but don't want the weight of a pair of cameras around their neck.

Lowepro Inverse 200 AW - the alternative

Those opposed to the common rucksack approach should think about this one. You can keep it strapped to your belt and still lug a single camera and pair of lenses about. This means plenty of movement but added protection for your photo gear.

Dual track zips on the top mean you can access your camera stuff quickly, so it is definitely one for the more street photo orientated to consider. The bag is a sort of belt and, should you fancy it, shoulder bag combination. The shoulder strapped and 3D mesh belt mean weight is distributed nicely and helps keep things comfy while not pulling your trousers down thanks to the mass of a camera and two lenses.
There is a slideout all-weather cover in the bottom which is particularly useful should you take the bag travelling, which we think it is definitely suited to do.

The Leica M9 experience

The Leica M9. Whether because of its performance or its price tag, it’s a sentence unto itself. At £4,950 and crowned the world’s smallest full frame digital camera, it’s not something anyone ever expects to understand. In fact, for most - and that’s us at Pocket-lint included - the entire Leica brand is sub-consciously summed up as dream kit that we’ll simply never get any closer to than a picture. So, when Leica called us up with the offer of a place on the company's M9 Experience workshops, we didn’t just bite their hand off, we swallowed their camera case too.

It’s 10 o’clock on a bright Tuesday morning and Pocket-lint is trotting its merry way along the cobbled backstreets of Mayfair; the kind you only know about if your chauffeur has driven you down them in which case you were probably unaware of anything outside of your Bentley in the first place.

On the way down from Oxford Circus tube, we’ve been trying to look at the streets of London with new eyes. With product and still life photography so much a part of what we publish on Pocket-lint, it’s been a while since it was all about the art and, with just a few hours with such a hallowed piece of kit, the last thing we want to is shutterbug’s block.

Fittingly tucked among shops selling high priced rarities and works of art pokes the simple red circle of the Leica Store with its almost darkroom styled interior. The walls and floor are a purposefully forgettable shade of shade with the only colour in the room the blood red backdropped cabinets inside which the sacred relics sit on display. There’s a moment to check that we can’t afford a single one of the exhibits in the shop before heading upstairs to the meet leading Leica M camera expert and photographer, Brett - he has no surname - and our fellow students in the workshop.


Four of us sit down around a white circular table with a large Mac display at one end, Brett at the other and an assortment of teas, coffees and executive class biscuits somewhere in the middle, but it’s the beautifully retro-chic M9 rangefinder cameras behind us that occupies our thoughts; two black and two chrome, and it’s the classic looks of the latter that Pocket-lint’s got its fingers crossed for.

But before we get a chance to get our hands dirty it’s a quick round of introductions. The two girls to our left are both freelance professionals looking to become part of the Lecia team - photographers to both work in the shop and send out on commissions to shoot for the company too. Each has plenty of experience assisting as well as projects of their own and plenty of hands-on time with Hasselblads and the professional end of the Nikon and Canon fleet but neither has used a rangefinder camera before and their anxiety becomes clear when it turns out that, for them, the workshop is the practical portion of an interview.

The final member of the quartet is Argan, a late to middle aged man with a scattering of grey scale in his hair and beard ranging from deep blacks at the roots to the a slight haze of over-exposed silver. Travelling the world with just a 45-litre backpack and a deep regret that he unknowingly threw out a Leica camera many, many years ago, he is, in fact, the reason we’re really all here.

“The M9 is the closest you can get to a digital film camera,” explains Brett as he takes through his own superb portfolio on the oversized computer display, each jaw dropping shot punctuating his words as he goes.


“It’s the smallest full format camera system ever made.”

We see a beautifully rendered shot of a old blue rowing boat on the low tide shores of a remote Scottish island.

“It has a 35mm size sensor that’s designed to capture images like film but won’t necessarily take the most correct or the best shots;” a virtually fully desaturated image of a blond haired woman in front of a waterfall. Her tumbling curls mimic the stream behind her.

“But what it’s probably best know for...” a cigar smoke sepia still of the back of an elderly gentleman on a busy city street framed with his tweed fedora in the centre of the image; the world melting into the background.

“..is the bokeh effect.”

If you’ve ever spent any time trawling through photography forums looking for advice on which lens to buy next, then you’ll be certain to have come across the word ‘bokeh’. Coming from the Japanese meaning blur or haze, bokeh refers to the quality of the area outside of the depth of field within a photograph. The place where the subject of the shot isn’t.

“The area of defocus is just as important as where the photograph is sharp,” come Brett’s words of photographic wisdom that hang in the air for moment before wedging themselves firmly into our collective unconscious.
While most large aperture lenses will result in shots with plenty of bokeh, it’s the quality of that on a Leica that’s often most highly praised. It’s a smooth, silky swirl; perfectly even throughout the frame with no shade of a harsh fall off at any point across the picture; the softness of a watercolour rather than the coarse daubs of an oil painting as Brett describes it.


The effect is down to the high quality Leica lenses, the cheapest of which will cost you as much as the body of a professional grade DSLR. All but three of the entire collection since the company began can be used on the M9 including a range of vintage glassware which produce a look to match - the only way of getting a true old-style photograph look according to Brett.

Of the modern lenses, there are three main types - Summicron, with a maximum aperture of f/2.0; Summilux, which open even further to f/1.4; and, finally, the prized Noctilux, aka the ‘King of the Night’; the fastest aspherical lens in the world with a maximum aperture of f/0.95 making your camera so light sensitive that you can shoot handheld with only a single candle flame for illumination. Better than the human eye at low light, it’s yours for around £7,300, 12-month waiting list to get hold of one notwithstanding.

Brett lets Pocket-lint have a quick play with a Noctilux but it’s a simple enough 35mm fixed Summicron we get to for our lesson attached to the front of our chrome and black finish M9 complete with one-piece, full-metal housing made from high-tensile magnesium alloy, and top deck and bottom plate machined from blocks of solid brass. Funnily enough, it feels great in the hand. Chunky. Weighty. Reassuringly expensive. We’re pretty much in love with the thing already; not something we’re proud of from a journalistic standpoint but this is one of those pleasures that’s just achingly hard to resist.

“The M9 is well known as a street camera but it does much more than that. It’s for documentary photography,” explains Brett as we familiarise ourselves with its curves and controls, the latter of which there are surprisingly few.

“It’s not a camera for single frame shot to blow up and put on the wall. It’s to record an event and tell the story as if the viewer was there themselves. That’s the benefit of shooting at these wide apertures with large unfocused areas. It gives you the impression of being in the scene. It’s how we see.”


Brett takes us through a collection of his wedding photography to explain the point. There’s no group shots or staged happy couple twosomes. Instead each one is a moment captured through a crowd; the small size and quiet click of the M9 allowing him to dart in and out of the action stealing thoughts from his subjects before they’ve had time to notice.

“I’ve never used a DSLR,” he proudly tells us. “I shoot weddings with my M9 and a 50mm lens. If I can’t do the commission on an M9 then it’s not a commission that I want to do.”

Charged with inspiration, Brett leads the four of us, along with company PR Heather, out to the streets but with even the two professionals amoung us a little lost for what to do, there’s plenty of on the job tutorial to take in.

The M9 is a back to basics camera. ISO, aperture and shutter speeds are the only settings to consider and one of the reasons so many of the DSLR weary are drawn to its refreshing simplicity. The natural ISO of the sensor is at 160 - even though you can get down to 80 if you wish or even pump it up high for the very best high ASA film-like grain that we’ve ever seen on digital.

Taking the camera at its natural best and a decision to shoot as wide as possible to really enjoy that bokeh, it’s only the silver shutter speed wheel we need to notch up and down as our captured previews on the 2.5-inch anti-reflective, sapphire glass rear monitor dictate. There is an automatic mode but, apparently, it’s simply not to be used, and the exposure indicator arrows at the bottom of the viewfinder should be ignored at all costs.


It might sound daunting but it’s not. The part that really requires concentration is the focus. Auto-focus simply doesn’t exist on the M9. It’s a rangefinder camera and that relies on turning the focus ring on the front until the two images in the centre of the viewfinder line up perfectly as one. When that’s spot on, you’re good to go, and spot on you absolutely have to be when working at wide apertures with such narrow depths of field.

Pocket-lint and the three other students stand scrutinizing the details of our frame for 5 or 10 seconds per shot only to find our subjects - usually each other - have moved on. In contrast, Brett skips between us snapping our pained expressions in the blink of an eye with us stock still and stuck in the mud.

“You have to practice to focus,” he says as he disappears off to find his next scene, still childlike in his enthusiasm for his art.

“It’s like playing snooker. You won’t stay sharp unless you practice.”

We start to get the hang of it but suddenly the markers disappear. It turns out we’ve accidentally covered up one of the two image finders that the rangefinder system requires to work. In fact, we’ve been holding the camera completely wrong, as it turns. Unlike a DSLR with the grip built on the right, the weight of the M9 should be borne by the palm of the left handing, leaving its thumb free to turn the focus, with the right hand positioned purely for shutter speed settings and the release button itself. By the same token, portrait position is left hand down - the opposite to the way to which you’d naturally use other cameras.

“The big mistake that most people make at first is to take lots of shots with the focus at the centre of the frame,” says Brett firing off a round from the hip as he catches Argan crouched in unusual pose trying to take a shot of his own.

“Sharpen up on your focal point, then move the camera. You need to see the frame before you even start looking down the viewfinder,” he adds as he leaps off again, his impossibly sage words hovering where he once stood. There is no spoon.


Before long the four of us have relaxed into it and “chimping” at our results, as Brett puts it, like we’ve been doing it all our lives. A quick turn of the shutter dial here, a new subject there and we’re beginning to work the angles as if we were using our own gear only without any of the strain, without the headache and none of the bulk of a DSLR body in the way. There’s simply less camera between you and the world - the very thing you’re trying to capture. There’s fewer modes, options, filters and frustrations. If you miss the focus you get the satisfaction that it was you that didn’t shoot it right and not some 11-point AF set up that just couldn’t differentiate your subject from the background.

It's not long before we're back in the studio for a little bit of “photo finishing rather than editing or post production” as Brett describes it.

“We really don’t need to do that much, perhaps just touch of vignetting to frame the subject and some desaturation of the colours is all I do.”

Brett shoots in compressed DMG and JPEG files on the camera with the JPEGs only for the purposes of in-camera review. The first thing he does when he gets back to his computer is to delete them leaving the larger and more versatile raw image files which he can put into his speical edition Leica Adobe Lightroom collection. The program comes as standard with any Leica digital camera purchase and, for the master’s final tip of the day, he suggests putting images in folders starting with the date when your session took place only with it written in reverse to make sure that the years run chronologically when listed by your OS. '110706LeicaWorkshop' and we’re done.

The other three class attendees filter out as Brett wraps it up and Pocket-lint stays back for a while to pick his brains. There’s no doubt that we all enjoyed our morning with the M9 but who can afford to actually buy these things?

“Argan’s down in the shop right now picking one out,” he says to our gob-smacked surprise as if parting with £5,000 plus who knows what on glassware is an everyday purchase.

“Does that normally happen?” we ask.

“Yeah, every workshop there’s one or two who are here, just like Argan, asking all the questions before deciding that they want one. He’s typical of the people we get who’ve fallen out of love with DSLR photography and are looking to get back the beauty of taking photos again.”

It’s easy to understand what he’s talking about and we’d be lying if there wasn’t a part of us that felt exactly as Argan did before he arrived at the Store. It's liberating. There are no worries about the likes of exposure control, flash and white balance - which Brett confesses is far better done in post; just you, a dial in each hand and the simple soft clunk of the shutter.
Perhaps, it’s the just chance to go out on a workshop with no products to capture and no family members hurrying us along or perhaps it’s this glorious designed piece of luxury camera kit in our clutch, but that flame for what this art is all about has been stoked for Pocket-lint just before we even realised we needed it to be, and we’re slightly ashamed to admit that there’s a roaring fire now burning in our hearts for one of these cameras. We’ll be waiting for that lottery win.