  We present the characteristics and some early scientific results of the first
instrument at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT), the Large Binocular Camera
(LBC). Each LBT telescope unit will be equipped with similar prime focus
cameras. The blue channel is optimized for imaging in the UV-B bands and the
red channel for imaging in the VRIz bands. The corrected field-of-view of each
camera is approximately 30 arcminutes in diameter, and the chip area is
equivalent to a 23x23 arcmin2 field. In this paper we also present the
commissioning results of the blue channel. The scientific and technical
performance of the blue channel was assessed by measurement of the astrometric
distortion, flat fielding, ghosts, and photometric calibrations. These
measurements were then used as input to a data reduction pipeline applied to
science commissioning data. The measurements completed during commissioning
show that the technical performance of the blue channel is in agreement with
original expectations. Since the red camera is very similar to the blue one we
expect similar performance from the commissioning that will be performed in the
following months in binocular configuration. Using deep UV image, acquired
during the commissioning of the blue camera, we derived faint UV galaxy-counts
in a ~500 sq. arcmin. sky area to U(Vega)=26.5. These galaxy counts imply that
the blue camera is the most powerful UV imager presently available and in the
near future in terms of depth and extent of the field-of-view. We emphasize the
potential of the blue camera to increase the robustness of the UGR multicolour
selection of Lyman break galaxies at redshift z~3.
