Lomo famously borrows from the design cues of classic cameras of years’ past for their film-loaded creations. They go a whole other route with the La Sardina collection, though, taking inspiration from the boxy tin cans that sardines are usually packed in.
Four different “canned” designs are available: El Capitan, Fischer’s Fritze, Sea Pride and Marathon. We’re not sure if these are copied from real supermarket products or their creative guys just made them up, but they do carry a very authentic feel.
The La Sardina is a 35mm camera, decked in colorful plastic construction as Lomos have become famous for. It has a 22mm wide-angle fisheye lens, two focus settings, and an MX switch and Rewind Knob for quickly producing multiple exposures. There’s no pinhole, though. And, thankfully, no fish swimming in oil inside.
A flash (Fritz the Blitz) is included on two models (El Capitan, Fischer’s Fritze) that you can attach to the left side of the camera, armed with three different levels of intensity to let you compensate for distance. They also throw in four colored gels with the illumination — red, yellow, blue and white.
If you’ve been looking for something new to add to your ever-growing collection of 35mm plastic compacts, the La Sardina should make for a nice pick. Price is $64 for the models without flash and $101 for those with a Fritz the Blitz attachment.