you can see a list of the “improvements” that come with the 166+ here
while some of these things are nice (the dedicated 35mm adaptor, zone focus, “improved” viewfinder) i’d say that they’re more marketing gimmicks than anything else. personally, i’d pick up an old lubitel 166 universal (or any other version that looked to be in good shape) on ebay for what they *should* cost – about $50 (instead of the $300+ via Lomo.) that way you can buy other fun little cameras (olympus xa’s / konica c35′s) with the money you saved! If you just want to buy a new lomo / don’t want to deal with ebay though I fully understand.

the blackbird fly, while very, very pretty is a 35mm *only* camera.

and yes, you can use 35mm film on any lubitel, it just takes a lil work (but isn’t that always half of the fun with lomography? )

links:
lomo site
35mm on lubitel

one more thought, if you’re really thinking about spending 300+ dollars on a medium format camera, you might want to check out a Kiev 88 instead. it’s a muchhhhh nicer camera, basically a hasselblad knockoff. you won’t get the same quirkiness of the lubitel, but you will get amazing photos and an all-around nicer camera. check out these photos by “flowertrip” on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/flowertrip/tags/kiev/

good luck and let me know how you make out!

anyway, can we use 35mm on lubitel??

just posted some x-pro shots from the lubitel that you might like as well (linked above)

have fun!

i tend to go for the faster films since i seem to always find myself in lower-light conditions. (the probable exceptions being the above photos )

i shot the above on kodak ektachrome 400iso 120 film. all n all i’d say that i was happy with it, especially since i really didn’t know what i was doing with the lubitel at the time. not that i do now either but … always learning, always learning.

you probably know about this film link, but just incase:

http://beta.lomography.com/magazine/films

great resource for examples, reviews, etc. my next two rolls were shot on fuji provia 400xpro film which i’ll be picking up later today. i’ll be sure to post some examples to check out

re: general lubitel tips at this point. i’d suggest a lil black electrical tape to secure the top clasp area as it can easily become unclasped in a bag, etc. (i learned that the hard way) also, in leu of carrying a lightmeter i’ve been using my canon g10 in manual mode to get a preview of exposure settings before taking the shot on the lubitel. in theory that should work smashingly. time will tell tho, eh?

congrats on your new toy! they really are beautiful

What kind of film brings out the lomo colurs good??

Many thanks.