Emulsion Gallery & Lomography Embassy Store

Store closed down
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Me and technology do not get along very well. Luckily the employees at Lomography were able to lend me a helping hand with my new Sprocket Rocket camera. Piper was kind enough to give me a demo of the camera, explain the different settings, and even showed me how to load in the film. They made it absolutely idiot proof for me and I deeply appreciate it!
My film came back BEAUTIFULLY! I was astonished by the quality and the speed in which I got my digital files back. I can’t wait to take more pictures!
Also, the store hosts special events and workshops all the time that are not to be missed. The St. Patrick’s Day Photo Scavenger Hunt was an experience my boyfriend and I will never forget.

Paid 50 bucks for 2 rolls of fim to be developed, got only a few back and they’re all in pretty bad shape. I think they cross processed or did something incorrectly because I’ve never had this issue before. Just don’t expext too much. If you have great shots that you don’t want to loose, I recommend trying someplace else.

I recently purchased the DianaF+ lomography camera. I’m a complete newbie when it comes to lomography and fortunately stumbled upon this place on my way to a restaurant. The way they set up their merchandise is very fun and visually appealing. The person working there was busy doing something behind the counter so she didn’t greet my friend and I right away– but when I started talking to her about how new I was to lomography she warmed up to me and passionately explained the ins and outs of the art to me. Most of the what she said went way over my head but she did explain to me the basics of how to use my new camera and offered some great information. She also recommended the best black and white film to use. She made suggestions without being pushy or making me feel obligated to buy buy buy which I appreciated. I think my appreciation for this store will grow as I learn to use my camera more so I will definitely be back once I get my feet wet.

This place is fantastic. It’s a local business with an awesome owner who really cares and knows her stuff. I love my Diana Mini. The space is not huge or overwhelming, but there is plenty of cool stuff to look at. It’s a perfect spot to stop whether you’re an analogue junkie or just like cool pictures. I think the Rolodex of random pictures is my favorite.
They have a lot of classes there, too, if you want to teach your new (or old) camera some new tricks.

Update: Thank you Emulsion Gallery & Lomography for the response, it totally makes sense. I appreciate the rant/​explanation and of course will come by sometime and shop with you. If I took the time to Unilocal,it’s because I was definitely very impressed with the store. Thanks!
old review: While the clerk is nice and customer friendly, and while the place looks awesome and has great products I can’t justify paying $ 30 for 20 instax prints when I can get it on amazon for $ 16. Or paying over $ 100 for a instax camera when I can get a new one on Amazon for $ 60.
I really love supporting local businesses but it’s hard to pay twice as much for the same exact item.

Cannot say too much this place because they made it very clear, not take any return as long as the box is ‘opened’. In my case, it was opened for 5 seconds. Even if I explained to the lady at store that I literally only picked it up and check it out for one second and put it back right after, because that is a birthday gift, it is what you are supposed to do, right?! But no, she told me no, because I am only supposed to check it out from outside Wish you luck with finding something you like and it happens to be in a see-​through box.
I get it that’s their store policy blah blah, but here goes a friendly reminder — do not open the box AT ALL, actually I suggest you keep your fingers away from the sticker in case it leaves your fingerprints anywhere near, and that comprises the freshest condition of the product. If you ever want to save some room for a change of mind like a regular customer, you might want to think twice before you give your business to them.
And from a quick research that I did, their products are somehow on the overpriced side. At least I will kindly suggest my husband check amazon out before he buys any gift next time. But anyways, it’s not his fault, he just wanted to be nice sine we walked by this store one time and I seemed interested in lomo cameras. Since I am keeping the camera now, I will enjoy it.

I love coming to this store. It’s a super cool store. Instead of using instragram to apply filters to your digital photos, you can do it the old-​school way and buy different types of film to achieve the same thing.
My sister got me a Fujifilm instax mini for Christmas, and so I wanted to drop by here to pick up some film. I know film is expensive, but it was still too much more than what I want to buy. Although I didn’t end up picking up film, I found out that they offer camera rentals/​workshops.
You can rent a camera for $ 12/​day AND they have workshops on weekends for $ 12 or $ 10 if you’re a student. I will have to try both of these options one of these days.

Cool photography /​camera store, helpful staff, got my child a camera, she loves it! Real film, flash works great and its got a cool nautical theme. I am not a huge photography dude, although I have had my work published (ahem) so knowing this, I was ready to try to get upsold, but I did not. Really cool place, lots of different cameras. I would return.

overly pretentious salespeople selling overly priced, poor quality cameras. no thanks. i love the toy plastic cameras (holgas, disposable point-​and-​shoots, polaroids and other vintage cameras), they are simple but work and have a great vintage feel to them.
lomo attempts to capture this, but their cameras don’t even perform basic functions. for example. lomo cameras flashes are unreliable (if they work at all) — had this with the la sardia and fisheye. the diana mini, i’ve had to return a number of cameras because the film wouldn’t advance and tear up the film. utter junk. you can get much better cameras at ¹⁄₃ of the price. and you don’t have to listen to some salesperson telling you how great she is.
(there is one exception that is worth mentioning — their camera «Sprocket Rocket», is a solid camera and a mainstay in my camera lineup.)
on top of this, their national support based in nyc is horrible. i once had to email her ~5 times over a two week period before she even responded! (yes, there is only one person who works there). every time i have an issue that i have to work with customer support it takes *weeks* to resolve and half the time i am only offered «piggies» which is basically frequent flyer points but is more like a voucher for 50% off more garbage.
this is really sad, because we need a strong company to keep film alive and thriving, but this store can’t even process orders, organize an event or open a store on time let alone make cameras that are marginally reliable.
this review isn’t based on one or two visits, but years of buying their sub-​par merchandise and dealing with their non-​existent customer services and listening to their sales reps tell you how their «kinda a big deal».
i finally learned my lesson and broke up with this place and very glad i did.

Well overall still not happy with this place. I got a phone message from them saying my scans and prints were ready. I went all the way over there only to be told that they were not ready. I did get to download my scans and I can say that the quality was good there. Still can’t say anything about the prints. Turn around time is ridiculous and customer serivce is bad. Obviously it is film and they send it away, so I expect it to take a little time, but I have used plenty of other camera stores that send out film and it has never taken this long, and they certainly have never called me to tell me my prints were in when they actually were not, causing me to waste my time going over to pick them up only to find out I have to come back another day. I honestly don’t even know how a mistake like that can happen.,
All in all I would say that if you mostly shoot for fun and are in no hurry to get them back, then this place will get the job done well on their own time. If you need them back within a reasonable time frame, especially if you are shooting for work, then go somewhere else. They can’t be counted on. Will let you know how the prints turn out when I get them.

I couldn’t believe there weren’t more reviews for this Lomo store in Chicago since there are only 2 Lomography stores in the entire US! In any case here I am to leave them a brand spanking shiny new 5 star rating which is very well deserved. First off I’ve been a fan of
for years now, the idea of actually going in an actual store was heavenly but to make it even better Piper was just excellent at answering «ALL» of our questions of which we had many. I love finding someone who is not only a friendly salesperson but also knows so much about what they are actually selling, it is such a treat, a real plus! We ended up buying quite a few things, film, a couple of cameras, a lomo book, etc. If I hadn’t been so worried about how it was all going to fit in the suitcase on the flight home we’d have bought more for sure. I have slowly been building my lomo camera collection over the years and it was great to actually be able to see and feel all the products up front and in our hands as opposed to just staring at your computer screen and buying online. Piper was very helpful and letting me know the differences between one camera or another as well as giving me much helpful info on different films that would create the look I was after. It’s a great place to buy a gift for someone who is into «lomography» or perhaps a fun gift for a photography enthusiast. It’s places like this that keep analogue and film alive. As a pro photographer who still loves film, experimenting with new and old things alike, I really appreciate this type of business and those who run it and keep inspiring so many with their unique art. If only I lived in Chicago I’d be really broke because this would be my absolutely favorite place to shop! Keep up the great work and a big Thank You for the wonderful friendly service :)

Such an awesome spot if you love film and camera. They have every possible Lomography camera available and the staff knows any detail you could ask about them. The interior is beautiful and gets you incredibly excited to start snapping some non-​digital photos. They also offer a few workshops each month to help you get into your camera. Need an accessory? They’ve got them all!

I don’t live in Wicker Park, but I don’t think most people who hang out there do either. I live in Noble Square, and whatever my neighborhood is lacking can usually be found in Wicker Park. What I missed the most in my neighborhood, however, was a resource for buying 35 mm and 120 mm film, as well as a reliable photo lab to process these types of films and others.
I can’t comment on ordering prints, but the processing times and quality for film are reasonable and affordable. The developing services met my standards and I’m happy to continue using this location as a primary photo lab.
The folks who work here are very helpful and sweet. I’m so glad this place is around.

Loved it. The two girls were helpful and pointed me in the direction of cheap merchandise after taking into account the hobbies and training of my favorite photographer. The store carries items starting about 30 bucks that make for fun gifts for the light at heart drunk picture taker and the more high end stock for the experienced.
So don’t buy your camera at Urban Outfitters come here and enjoy the knowledge of experienced sales people who love their products.