C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Lubitel 166 Universal is the last and most capable variant of the long-running Lubitel TLR line produced by LOMO in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). Introduced around 1976, it carries forward the plastic body and T-22 75mm f/4.5 triplet taking lens of its predecessors while adding one notable feature: a built-in film-plane mask that allows the photographer to switch between the standard 6x6 square format and the taller 4.5x6 (6x4.5 portrait) format on a single 120 roll. This yields 16 frames per roll in 4.5x6 mode versus 12 in 6x6, giving a useful economy option. The camera is fully mechanical and battery-free. Like all Lubitel variants, the body is entirely plastic and the optical formula is a simple three-element triplet.
Reference
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C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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About this camera
The final Soviet plastic TLR - adds dual-format masking for 6x6 and 4.5x6 on one roll of 120.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 120 (6x6 or 4.5x6 with mask) |
| Taking lens | LOMO T-22 75mm f/4.5 (triplet, fixed) |
| Viewing lens | ~75mm f/4.5 (fixed, waist-level finder) |
| Focus | Scale focus (~1.2 m - infinity) |
| Shutter speeds | 1/15s, 1/30s, 1/60s, 1/125s, 1/250s + B |
| Flash sync | ~1/30s (PC socket + hotshoe) |
| Meter | None |
| Modes | Manual aperture + manual shutter |
| Viewfinder | Waist-level TLR ground glass |
| Body material | Plastic |
| Weight | ~380 g |
| Battery | None required |
| Frames per roll | 12 (6x6) or 16 (4.5x6) |
The Lubitel line traces to 1949, when LOMO introduced a cheap Soviet answer to the Voigtlander Brilliant. The Lubitel-2 (1955) was the first significant revision. In the mid-to-late 1970s LOMO introduced the 166 designation with a series of refinements: the Lubitel 166 followed by the 166B (circa 1980, adding a hotshoe), and then the 166 Universal. The Universal's defining addition was the dual-format masking system. Production of the Lubitel line wound down in the mid-1990s as Soviet state manufacturing collapsed following the USSR's dissolution. The Lomographische AG reissued the design concept as the Lubitel+ (2009) and Lubitel 166+ (2010), which borrowed the waist-level TLR aesthetic while adding modern film transport and viewfinder features.
The 166 Universal is the most versatile camera in the Lubitel line, offering the 4.5x6 masking option that none of the earlier variants provided. For photographers shooting 120 film and wanting to maximize frame count - or who prefer the portrait aspect ratio - this is a practical advantage over the Lubitel-2 and 166B. Like its predecessors, the T-22 triplet produces characteristically soft corners and moderate vignetting at wider apertures, rendering that the Lomography community treats as desirable rather than deficient. The Universal model commands a modest premium over the earlier 166B on the used market for this reason.
In the broader context of Soviet camera history, the Lubitel Universal represents the endpoint of a 45-year line of mass-market medium-format cameras that democratized 120-film photography in the Eastern Bloc. It was neither technically distinguished nor precision-built, but it delivered real medium-format negatives to amateur photographers who could not afford Japanese TLRs.
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
View profile →LOMO Lubitel 166 Universal
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