New Gear: The Lomography Belair X 6-12 Medium Format Camera

The Belair X 6-12 is the newest offering from the film-lovers at Lomography, a camera that revives many of the features of old medium format cameras. The Belair uses a bellows system to collapse down to a smaller size, and can shoot 120 film at 6×6, 6×9, or 6×12 formats.

According to the company, this is the first 6×12 camera with an automatic shutter speed feature, for speeds up to 1/125s. For those who want to experiment a bit more, it also has multiple and long exposure modes. It can meter ISO 50-1600 film.

The Belair will ship with two lenses. A 90mm f/8 — which, if you’re shooting 6×6 is 52mm equivalent, at 6×9 is 40mm equivalent, and at 6×12 is a 32mm equivalent. The second lens is a 58mm f/8, which is 35mm, 26mm, and 21mm equivalent respectively.

The Belair is available for pre-order right now at a discounted rate. The plain, black plastic version of the camera will set you back $175 right now, or $250 normally. You can grab a metal version for $210, which will climb to $300 when the camera is released.

As cool as this is, looking through the gallery of shots taken with the camera, you have to keep in mind that this is a Lomography camera, which means total image sharpness and color accuracy aren’t top priority. If you’re cool with that, this camera will probably provide you with a ton of stylized images.