LOMO is an acronym in Russian which translates roughly to the Leningrad Optics and Mechanical Association. The company is best known for it's optics, camera lens, lasers, as well as film studio equipment. The film studio division, which was also known as KINAP, produced microphones for film studio use. These became the finest microphones available in Eastern Europe during the cold war era when much of the western import equipment was largely forbidden, or at least hard to get, so LOMO microphones were put into use in most every recording studio as well during the Soviet era. After the fall of the Soviet Union many of the ubiquitous microphones were thrown away and replaced with more common western analogs, even though LOMO microphones rivaled the quality of their western counterparts. They became a very good bargain in the 1990's for those in the know and in the 21st century the endless supply of these microphones is not so endless and they have joined their German made counterparts at the upper end of the the price scale, although still comparatively a bargain. The LOMO factory discontinued their microphone division the 1990's and the focus of the company has shifted, therefore no more LOMO microphones are ever likely to be made.