The Plastic Lens ~ Words

The Lubitel TLR (Twin Lens Reflex) is not strictly a toy camera, but it is a reasonably cheap one as compared to other more sophisticated TLRs (more sophisticated in terms of build quality & optics). You will often see Lubitel images in toy camera exhibitions, but it’s glass lens and extensive choice of apertures and shutter speeds pops it into a different category to “true” plastic fantastics like the Diana or Holga. I picked one up (a Lubitel 166B) at a camera collectors market for $25 (Au) which isn’t bad at all, but it had a bit of plastic missing from the bottom hinge (so I wouldn’t have paid any more). I had a feeling it may leak a bit of light, but I always like to run an initial roll through any new camera just to determine how much light they will leak and get an idea of where from.
After getting the first roll developed from my Lubi, I found it leaked everywhere! This is probably a common factor with Lubitels, but not ever owning one before I wasn’t sure. In fact the only image that didn’t have a ruddy great light leak right over the top third of the exposure was one of some buckets, and even that had large leaks at the corners. This is something a generous application of light-proof tape (I usually just use black electrician’s tape) can easily remedy!