Best ebay seller product description ever!

[Kai-san]

I can't call it information but raw, untested data might be truer.

I often read about M2's and M6's and CL's needing repairs; mostly I look because I have one of each but I've yet to read any 10 minute rants about the makers and drunken staff as we read about USSR cameras.

Because of the cold war a lot of technology was denied to the USSR, our allies during WW2, and so they were handicapped. Also a lot of people all over the world started to neglect their film cameras in favour of digital and that has affected a lot of Japanese SLR's but, again, where are the 10 minute rants?

Worse still, most English speakers writing on the internet have only experience of secondhand USSR cameras bought on auction sites unseen...

And lastly the opening post in this thread suggests 95 to 93% reliability of new USSR cameras but also contradicts it. So what are we to believe?

Regards, David

PS (EDIT) And I often read about wonderfully reliable cameras that have never been serviced and I think that is storing up trouble...

Well said David, I couldn't agree more. It's sad to see the honest, hard working Russians being vilified in the western media. Judging from my own Soviet cameras which are quite a few, the failure rate is not any higher than with the Japanese. If you judge a camera model by the few that fails, then all cameras are crap. I really don't understand this discussion about failure rates, you don't buy a 60 to 70 year old camera because of its reliability. If its reliability you're after then buy something new that looks like a blob of plastic with a lens sticking out of it and a big D on the front.

 

[BillBingham2]

......He has no other choice but to use it. It crapped out in the middle of paid session. He dropt it into the garbage bin right where it happened.

I hope he unloaded before tossing.....🙄

B2 (;->

 

[valdas]

Well, most of professional photographers in FSU even before the fall of the iron curtain tried to get at least made in DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik) cameras - Praktica or Pentacon. Nobody is vilifying the past, but there was a reason FSU gear was not considered of the same quality as Japanese or German cameras.

 

[farlymac]

Well, David, my first Zorki was a junker, but I attribute that to too much use, and a lack of quality maintenance. After I had to take it apart the fourth time I gave up and bought a newer body from a reputable dealer.

Any FSU camera can give good results if serviced correctly, just like any Leica. Lord knows how many times I've read "Buy a used Leica, you better send it to Don or Sherry right away!". Talk about unreliable!

PF