The Lomography LC-Wide ($389) is the wide-angle version of Lomo's popular LC-A+( at Amazon) 35mm camera. It's similar in design, but its 17mm f/4.5 lens captures a much larger breadth, and both square and half-frame shootings option are available if you'd like to narrow the field of view. It's on the pricey side, but when you consider just how wide its field of view is, its compact size, and the extras that Lomo puts in the package, the sticker price is easier to justify.

The LC-Wide measures 2.5 by 4 by 1.6 inches (HWD) and weighs about 7.7 ounces. There aren't a lot of controls—there's a shutter release and a film advance wheel on the top, along with the film rewind control and a hot shoe. The lens cover opens via a switch on the bottom. It's got two positions—one for full-frame and one for half-frame shooting, and there's a toggle switch on the bottom plate to change between full and half frame advance. There's a switch labeled MX on the bottom plate that allows for multiple exposures; it cocks the shutter without advancing the frame. The battery compartment is also on the bottom, and takes three LR44 batteries.

There's a wheel on the front, next to the viewfinder, to set the film speed; it supports ISO 100 through 1600 at full-stop increments. The shutter speed is automatic based on ambient light, but it will only stay open if you continue to hold the shutter release down, so you can release it more quickly in order to avoid camera shake. Focus is controlled via a lever next to the lens-the two settings are for 0.4 to 0.9 meters and 0.9 meters to infinity. The wide-angle lens has a fixed f/4.5 aperture, so there's a lot of depth of field to work with. Zone focusing is practical with a wide lens of this aperture, and you can still get some background blur behind subjects when working close. The field of view is wide enough that you'll have to take some care as to not to get a stray finger or, if you're pointing the camera down, your feet in a shot.

The optical viewfinder is fairly bright, and it shows a lot of barrel distortion. But that's not an indication of image quality; the lens shows very little distortion, and is quite sharp through most of the frame. There is some blurriness at the edges, and the corners of images are darker than the center of the frame due to fall-off. But when you consider the LC-W's size, cost, and field of view, there's very little to complain about when it comes to the quality of images it captures.

You can skirt some of the edge issues by shooting in square (24 by 24mm) or half-frame (24 by 17mm) formats. You'll need to commit to these for an entire roll, however; film masks that block stray light from making its way to the film are included and must be changed at the same time the roll is. You'll still only get 36 exposures to a roll with the square option, but you'll be able to shoot 72 shots between film changes when shooting half-frame.

Lomography includes a few extra items with the LC-Wide. There are two rolls of 36-exposure ISO 100 color negative film in the box, each in a reusable tin canister. There's also a standard shutter release cable for tripod exposures, a set of batteries, and two thick hardcover books. One includes shooting tips and showcases some available accessories for the LC-A+ and LC-Wide; it's full of images captured with the LC-A+. The other is all about the LC-Wide; it does provide some shooting tips—including how to capture panoramic images using the half-frame mode without installing the frame mask, but it's mainly a photo book that shows off some wonderful images captured with the camera. Both are suitable for your coffee table.

The Lomography LC-Wide is one of the more expensive cameras in the company's lineup, but it's also one of the more refined. Its lens covers an ultra-wide field of view, and is quite sharp through most of the frame. The corners show some blurriness and fall-off, but you'll have to spend a lot more to get a professional lens that covers this field of view and doesn't show those issues. The pocketable form factor, half-frame and square shooting options, and automatic operation are appealing to shooters who are more concerned about artistry than capturing a technically perfect exposure. If you're still using 35mm film, and like the idea of shooting at such a wide angle, the LC-Wide is a solid choice.

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