btgc
Veteran
Maybe I should comment on "crap" I used to write before. Let's step back to audio gear which is what I used to buy being kid (I hadn't photo gear then, so I can't speak for it). Right, there were high-class tape (rolls, not cassette) players, all copies of Japan made products, as far as I'm told by colleague who is audiophyle. Then there were middle-tier - you could build your home system from apm, receiver, cassette player and...right, turntable. My wife's mom has such full set at her home right now, once I asked about it and she told that took it home from factory, for free. One channel doesn't work right from moment of assembly so she were able to get it home with no big hassle, it were counted as defect.
When teen, I bough new statinary cassette deck, Mayak (Lighthouse 🙂) and it were good, reliable thing. I were lucky with my piece as another people struggled with warranty repairs. Cost were....yum, I don't remember, not low but times less than before mentioned Japanese copies, not to say how few people had them. In fact it were hard to buy them even if one had that bunch of money ! Before this I went through period of crappy portable players, because I were schoolkid and this is what schoolkids got to get, back then.
There is another issue - most of Soviet goods (OK, almost all) worth attention were COPIES OF WESTERN DESIGN. Cameras, TV's, cars. Right, who don't knows LADA, known also is Zhiguli ? That were FIAT model sold to Soviets, first makes here were told to have FIAT logo on parts (remember about "Contax " on Kiev parts ?). As it were Sovietized, it were becoming more and more crappy. Volga ? Initially inspired by Chevy, I can be wrong here. True Soviet models were popular and crappy - to say Moskvich or Zaporozhets, because of price - not quality. Every Soviet dreamed about LADA but more often had Moskvitch if had at all.
For Ruben especially - as for cars, I hope you don't think government used same cars produced for masses ? I've heard about LADA with Vankel rotary engine for police need - to chase in case of need. You can call this parallel lines or in any other terms but there were obvious difference between mass product and specially ordered series.
In fact, even ordinary people, if they had contacts, drove their newly bought LADA to service center and it got bolts tightened, steering and brakes adjusted, chassis prepared to withstand climate. As from factory they would rust down much sooner if would not break down before from inherited misadjustment. And mind you, to get spare parts one had to be either friend, relative to service centre manager or be "welcomed person with good contacts" 🙂 Sometimes one couldn't buy spare parts even if had money !
What good have produced Soviet regime ? Rockets, submarines, Kalshnikov, optics. That's all military stuff. Heavy duty trucks because in case of war they would be converted for use.
In fact I don't distance myself from that times or things we used. I agree there were things with fantastic price/value ratio. Well, this days nobody here buys Russian cars because they are good or cheap to repair (neither is true) as there are plenty of alternatives, much better and maintaining car made in Russia is whole another story. Well, off road crowd still keep el cheapo Soviet off road vehicles, that's specific story.
So what we have in the rest ? If one want RF with interchangeable lenses and price matters, then with some efforts FSU cameras can be right path to go. While you don't hit several pure Sovieticus (don't mix with Soviet) samples which can mislead you thinking that FSU isn't usable. If one is lucky to pick up samples from early years after copying process has been set up and produced in "good periods" - this is what I wish to all FSU camera users.
To add life to thread, I can tell that previous year in Ukraine we were pleasantly surprised by excellent quality of milk products. Here we don't have anymore so good choice since time when capatalistic race for income pressed and teached factories to make cheese from skimmed milk, and butter from anything but milk ! And I feel sad thinking that after some years they in Ukraine also will spread artificial "butter-like product" on "bread-like product". That's how world is going to end up...
When teen, I bough new statinary cassette deck, Mayak (Lighthouse 🙂) and it were good, reliable thing. I were lucky with my piece as another people struggled with warranty repairs. Cost were....yum, I don't remember, not low but times less than before mentioned Japanese copies, not to say how few people had them. In fact it were hard to buy them even if one had that bunch of money ! Before this I went through period of crappy portable players, because I were schoolkid and this is what schoolkids got to get, back then.
There is another issue - most of Soviet goods (OK, almost all) worth attention were COPIES OF WESTERN DESIGN. Cameras, TV's, cars. Right, who don't knows LADA, known also is Zhiguli ? That were FIAT model sold to Soviets, first makes here were told to have FIAT logo on parts (remember about "Contax " on Kiev parts ?). As it were Sovietized, it were becoming more and more crappy. Volga ? Initially inspired by Chevy, I can be wrong here. True Soviet models were popular and crappy - to say Moskvich or Zaporozhets, because of price - not quality. Every Soviet dreamed about LADA but more often had Moskvitch if had at all.
For Ruben especially - as for cars, I hope you don't think government used same cars produced for masses ? I've heard about LADA with Vankel rotary engine for police need - to chase in case of need. You can call this parallel lines or in any other terms but there were obvious difference between mass product and specially ordered series.
In fact, even ordinary people, if they had contacts, drove their newly bought LADA to service center and it got bolts tightened, steering and brakes adjusted, chassis prepared to withstand climate. As from factory they would rust down much sooner if would not break down before from inherited misadjustment. And mind you, to get spare parts one had to be either friend, relative to service centre manager or be "welcomed person with good contacts" 🙂 Sometimes one couldn't buy spare parts even if had money !
What good have produced Soviet regime ? Rockets, submarines, Kalshnikov, optics. That's all military stuff. Heavy duty trucks because in case of war they would be converted for use.
In fact I don't distance myself from that times or things we used. I agree there were things with fantastic price/value ratio. Well, this days nobody here buys Russian cars because they are good or cheap to repair (neither is true) as there are plenty of alternatives, much better and maintaining car made in Russia is whole another story. Well, off road crowd still keep el cheapo Soviet off road vehicles, that's specific story.
So what we have in the rest ? If one want RF with interchangeable lenses and price matters, then with some efforts FSU cameras can be right path to go. While you don't hit several pure Sovieticus (don't mix with Soviet) samples which can mislead you thinking that FSU isn't usable. If one is lucky to pick up samples from early years after copying process has been set up and produced in "good periods" - this is what I wish to all FSU camera users.
To add life to thread, I can tell that previous year in Ukraine we were pleasantly surprised by excellent quality of milk products. Here we don't have anymore so good choice since time when capatalistic race for income pressed and teached factories to make cheese from skimmed milk, and butter from anything but milk ! And I feel sad thinking that after some years they in Ukraine also will spread artificial "butter-like product" on "bread-like product". That's how world is going to end up...
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