Any New Russian rangefinder cameras?

holgaguy

holgaguy

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Are there an factories left in Russia still making rangefinder cameras? If not what was the last and when?
holgaguy
 
As far as I know, and I could be wrong, there are no rangefinders being made anywhere in the FSU. The collapse of the Soviet system caused a lot of upheaval in the industry. The last FSU rangefinder produced was probably the Fed-5, which I think was still being built in the early part of the 90's. I think the Kiev and Zorki lines were closed in the 80's. I could dig out the Princelle and check, if you need more precise dates.

I think some version of the Zenit SLR is still being produced. Even production of the LOMO has gone to China ... too expensive to build in the FSU even at Lomography prices I guess.
 
I may be slightly out here but I think the FED 5 was made up till 1994. You can still get them new (old stock, unused).
 
The Russian optical firms should make a few new lenses in Leica M mount.
Or maybe re introduce a few old ones, an M mount Jupiter 3, that you still need to shim for instance.
... wait a minute, that sounds like the new Zeiss C Sonnar lens.
 
They could make big money on a series of cheap M-mount lenses, just like Cosina. But I'm affraid they didn't realize it yet. Maybe in the next 5-year plan...
 
Your info is out of date. There are no five-year-plans. Since 1993...
Click to expand...

I know. I should have added a ":D". But I know it takes a loong time for a factory to change from planned to market economy environment... My grandfather used to work in one such factory in high position before he retired, and the whole factory was just too inflexible, unable to keep pace with modern technology, changing market demands... That's what I was trying to say.
 
Hi,

minoltist7 said:
no manufacturing of FED or Zorki exist today.
but Kiev medium-format cameras and SLR are still produced (not Kiev rangefinders):
http://zavodarsenal.kiev.ua/?lan=&id=_2_2#2
Click to expand...
well, "produced" is a big word. Last time I was in Ukraine (in early 2007) Arsenal was mainly screwing together camera bodies of dubious quality from the decades' worth of spare parts that had been produced earlier on.

Camera production in Kiev is in its last throes. For all practical purposes it's dead. The cameras are more or less the same as 20 years ago, there is really no market for what Arsenal is producing, and no innovation is taking place. The most valuable thing about Arsenal is the real estate taken up by the factory.

Philipp
 
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