And another new 35mm film SLR: Ihagee Elbaflex

[Skiff]

Looks like there is coming more new camera stuff for film photographers:
The famous German brand Ihagee (which produced also the Exakta cameras in former times) is reborn:

http://i-hagee.com/

 

[JeffS7444]

As folks have pointed out elsewhere, it looks remarkably similar to a Kiev 19M

 

[Archlich]

They are honest to state it's made in Ukraine and inside it's a 80's design. Which means it indeed is a Kiev 19M with a wooden grip - just fancy enough to hop onto the "renaissance" bandwagon.

Not very Ihagee-ish I say. Guess how much would they charge?

 

[David Murphy]

I support any new serious film camera effort. I will buy one if it is even close to reasonably priced!

 

[Huss]

"The New ELBAFLEX …
… is a joint effort of German and Ukrainian engineers. The inside of the camera is based on Ukrainian camera technology design manufactured in the Ukrainian Arsenal factory up to the late 1980s. This inside of the camera has been improved by carefully reengineering some of its key components, especially some of its mechanical elements. These parts include elements of the mechanical shutter, the usage of different sealing materials of the highest quality and a new, soft stop of the mirror on a specially designed foam pad.

Besides these technical changes on the inside, the team has designed a beautiful body along the line of the famous German Ihagee ELBAFLEX camera. It is possible to personalize the camera with a choice of leather coating and associated straps."

So KIEV 19 re-wrapped. You can still buy Kiev 19s for $20.

This could still be a very cool camera if they really do re-engineer the mechanics (as they claim) and the price is kept low. It doesn't bring anything new to the table, just a reintroduction of a very low spec camera.
If the price is right, that may be fine.

 

[David Hughes]

Ok, I'll wish them luck...

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Of course any new film camera is a good sign. And if it sells others may follow...

Chris

 

[zuiko85]

This seems very much more practical than the "Reflex" campaign, which is way overthought. There is a reason the K1000 was so popular with students. It was basic, exactly (or Exakta-ly, har har) what you need to start out learning camera functions.
Not saying this is only for students or other young folks, I can't be alone in having a love of a simple (10 page instruction book) style 35mm SLR. The tough part will be the price. With so many classic, all mechanical 35mm SLR available on the used market at bargain prices, a new camera, even priced as low as $250 (and I'm going to guess this one will be more than that with a standard lens) would have a hard slog to sell enough units to ensure volume production to lower costs. Of course, we know that perhaps 50% of all those used cameras need service, and that runs up the price quite a bit. So, marketing this camera could be approached from that angle, the true price of buying used, especially if a person does not have the know how to check out a used camera.

 

[JeffS7444]

If a person simply wants a nice new 35mm SLR at a reasonable price, they could do worse than to purchase a Zenit via Lomography:

https://shop.lomography.com/en/bazaar/cameras/zenit-412ls-slr

I've purchased 2 other Zenit models from them, and though they were actually manufactured circa 2005, the KMZ inspection seal was very recent, and the cameras did not need any further servicing.

Or if you want something more sophisticated, this (currently shown as out of stock) KM Plus might be the ticket:
https://shop.lomography.com/en/zenit-km-slr
I bought one. Bigger and heavier than a Canon Rebel, and noisy too. But it worked! Modern features like motor drive, full range of shutter speeds up to 1/2000th, bright finder with 90%+ coverage etc. What other new 35mm SLR offers all that for $130 in 2017?

 

[Mistral75]

People behind the rebirth of Ihagee on Kickstarter are the same one as those behind the rebirth of Meyer-Optik Görlitz, Oprema Jena and Emil Busch, all trademarks also active on Kickstarter and Indiegogo: the listed, Koblenz-headquartered net SE group and first of all its CEO Herr Doktor Stefan Immes.

Indeed, the Ihagee trademark belongs to SEMI Verwaltung GmbH, a company based in Koblenz. Other trademarks owned by SEMI Verwaltung include Lydith, Makroplasmat, Nocturnus, Oreston, Primagon and Telemegor. Those are some of the names used by Meyer-Optik Görlitz, a subsidiary of the net SE group also based in Koblenz, for their lenses.

So don't expect this Ihagee Elbaflex to be inexpensive.

The corresponding Kickstarter campaign will be launched tomorrow 14 December at 4pm CET.

 

[Timmyjoe]

Not to be a killjoy, but with such an abundance of used, fully functional, film SLR's in existence, these kind of projects really baffle me. What are these cameras offering that isn't readily available on the used market?

Best,
-Tim

 

[lawrence]

Not to be a killjoy, but with such an abundance of used, fully functional, film SLR's in existence, these kind of projects really baffle me. What are these cameras offering that isn't readily available on the used market?

Best,
-Tim

Yes, it doesn't look like a used OM1 or FM2 competitor to me.

 

[farlymac]

If I didn't already have so many Nikons, I'd jump on this in a minute. I also would like to wait and see if they can actually produce enough of them at a quality point where folks aren't turning them back in for warranty work as soon as they get them.

PF

 

[Prest_400]

Not to be a killjoy, but with such an abundance of used, fully functional, film SLR's in existence, these kind of projects really baffle me. What are these cameras offering that isn't readily available on the used market?

Best,
-Tim

I guess that down to needing the optics as well, I'm surprised there hasn't been a sort of Medium Format RF, or even SLR, project going on.
Something akin to the Mamiya 6/7 which have appreciated nicely these last years...

And 35mm compacts, the call was made by Bellamy of JCH but no one has launched any project (well, he himself did). Maybe electronics and manufacturing complexity.

 

[Hannes]

The Kiev 19 has Nikon F mount. And the camera on the new Ihagee site has an old Nikkor lens mounted. That is the best part of it.

On the other side. My old Nikkormat feels much better than my Kiev 19. The led gauge for exposure metering in the Kiev is not very reactive.

Let's wait and see.

Hannes

 

[xayraa33]

I wonder if their Ukraine made lenses will suffer the oil on the aperture blades sticky problem of all Kiev SLR lenses ?

 

[Archlich]

If a person simply wants a nice new 35mm SLR at a reasonable price, they could do worse than to purchase a Zenit via Lomography:

https://shop.lomography.com/en/bazaar/cameras/zenit-412ls-slr

I've purchased 2 other Zenit models from them, and though they were actually manufactured circa 2005, the KMZ inspection seal was very recent, and the cameras did not need any further servicing.

Or if you want something more sophisticated, this (currently shown as out of stock) KM Plus might be the ticket:
https://shop.lomography.com/en/zenit-km-slr
I bought one. Bigger and heavier than a Canon Rebel, and noisy too. But it worked! Modern features like motor drive, full range of shutter speeds up to 1/2000th, bright finder with 90%+ coverage etc. What other new 35mm SLR offers all that for $130 in 2017?

Decent cameras for the price, but as the trend goes, they too need a coat of "young startup" and "rebirth of a legend" aura (and charge double) to actually appeal to the supportive crowd.

Weirdly all these seem to be following the path Lomography paved decades ago. Even more weird is Lomo actually made some new film cameras in the past decade, not just rebadged...

 

[Huss]

Guess the Lomo name carries mocked and scorned upon

I've got nothing against Lomo, they don't make those Zenits, just sell them.
And the price is very attractive for a new camera.

But... I bought 2 new old stock Zenits a year ago - the 12SD which arguably was the zenit of their camera production 😀 , and a TTL. I bought them because they were cheap and brought back fond memories of my childhood.

The 12SD arrived with pin holes in the shutter. I fixed that using carbon black paint. The TTL is a complete light leaking mess with a shutter that needs calibration. Electronics are not strength of these machines, seeing the way the 'light meters' behave on my two. The one that Lomo now offers has auto DX setting, which quite frankly I see as negative. Funnily enough I feel the same way about that on my Leica M7!

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I have working, clean Kiev-19 with amazing lens and nobody wants it, including me. Now I know how to finely sell it. Wooden shtuk and Dresdina name will do it.

 

[Mistral75]

The Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/692391811/elbaflex-35mm-true-analog-camera-history-reloaded

This is definitely a Kiev 19M in disguise.

Prices are outrageous, like always with Meyer-Optik Görlitz and their bunch:

- 24h offer $499
- Super Early Bird $529 (50 units)
- Early Bird $549 (75 units)
- Super Deal $599 (100 units),
- bundled with Meyer-Optik Görlitz Trioplan 50mm: $1,299 (50 units)
- bundled with Meyer-Optik Görlitz Lydith 30mm f/3.5: $1,399 (50 units)
- bundled with Meyer-Optik Görlitz Primotar (Tessar) 50mm f/2.8: $1,499 (50 units).

- forecast RRP (body only): $1,499.

The Kickstarter campaign is only a marketing tool: the financing goal is set at $50,000.