Gotta Love Those Russian Packages...

Fedzilla_Bob

Fedzilla_Bob

man with cat
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The images below are of the package that my newly acquired Jupiter 8 came in today... Very tidy.

I find it amusing to greet the postman when I get Russian packages, they hate waiting for signatures and they often announce that it is from Russia, accompanied with an inquisitor's scowl. :)
 
Congrats Bob !! Do you mean there's not a gift inside there ? Looks somewhat bit for a J8, maybe it came with the Zorki 4 rear cap on it ? ;)
 
LOl, Nah... just lot's of foam.

The lens is a little dirty, a possible smear inside the rear element. I will be able to deal with in time.
 
I used to collect yak hair string from packages from the FSU. Kept adding it to a ball. But my wife made me get rid of it because she said we needed the space to actually put a bed in the spare bedroom. :)
 
It use to be that all packages were inspected and wrapped by some postal official. I have a large box of"Yak Hair" string sitting in my garage (over there). It seems my Russian archaeologist friend wouldn't let me use "good' carpenter's string to string out the grind lines on our excavations. I have seen pages ripped out of books for wrapping paper at the bazaar and the most interesting, back in 1994, was that a physics text book was in the men's room at the Insitute of Archaeology, for use as TP. :cool:
 
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Roman said:
You guys do know this site, I presume?

http://www.geocities.com/fzorkis/yakhair.html

Roman
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Obsolutely, that site is one the things that gave me G.A.S.

Jim Blazik, Yashica Guy, Matt Denton are all to blame... OK, I'm in denial... they were only enablers.

Today's package was nice in that the paper was folded so evenly and carefully almost like the cloth surrounding a Japanese gift or lunch box. I don't save the "Yak Hair" as my cats would probably get it and end up at the Vet.

Is this some special skill Russians are taught?

Oh one more thing, there wasn't a shred of tape on the outer wrapping, we're talking master carftsmanship here :)
 
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Yes, paper folding is- was a great skill over there. My daughter spent 3 years in a local Russian school in Almaty where she learned many of these skills.
Too bad about the grease smear. My young Russian friend used to joke about the lenses I would get from the older Russian collector- usually at least one finger print on the lens as a stamp of inspection! However, these were on outer surfaces and easily removed.
 
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Hmmm, maybe next time I'm in Mongolia I'll bring back a yak hair sweater.... :p
 
The lady down at my post office is getting sick of me and the russian packages. I wish the postman would just leave them in the door. It kind of irks me that FedEx will leave me a new Power Mac on my front stoop in plain sight, but I have to sneak out of work in business hours to pick up a $20 camera from Russia. I think the cyrillic characters mean it must be a matter of National Security.
 
You are probably on a security watch list!!! I get the same reaction in the UK, I haven't had the Yak string yet only funny smelling foam, I put it in the trash and the seagulls ate it!!!
Incidentally even after 45years in my posession the Fed2 's Leather Case still has a very distinctive smell, not bad, just ....... distinctive, probably made out of the skin of an old Siberian peasant! :rolleyes:
 
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Um.......That's quite usual getting postal package from Russia at china(I'm studying in China now.....so....).
And some of elder postman will give you a kind of respect sight on the package and me also.
But Somehow I need a pair of handglove and a mask when I open the package.....
VERY DIRTY of it......
I need bath everytime after I deal with new package from Russia
 
Funny, isn't it? A few years ago (ok, more than a few...) you could have had serious trouble by regularly receiving packages from the SO.
 
Whenever I get a nice little package of photo equipment from the FSU, my roommates yell, "Dre! Another 8-Ball from Russia!! Hook a brother up!!!"
 
I have purchased several cameras from the Ukraine. It took me three trys to get get one wrapped in brown paper and string. at last.......
 
John Robertson said:
You are probably on a security watch list!!! I get the same reaction in the UK, I haven't had the Yak string yet only funny smelling foam, I put it in the trash and the seagulls ate it!!!
Incidentally even after 45years in my posession the Fed2 's Leather Case still has a very distinctive smell, not bad, just ....... distinctive, probably made out of the skin of an old Siberian peasant! :rolleyes:
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I've got a large box in the closet full of Zorki, Kiev and FED neverready cases. And they all have a distinctive smell -- musty? Old? -- I don't know quite how to describe it, either. Too bad the stitching is usually rotted -- even in the cases where the leather is in good shape. They should have stitched them with Yak hair (or maybe they did). Who knows how many Commie cows gave their lives for those cases? Maybe I'll just dump the cameras and focus on collecting camera cases. Not that would be a REALLY unusual hobby!
 
It typically takes me 2 hours to clean up one kiev camera. This is a very slow process. To clean up knurled dials, I have to use tooth picks to get rid of old gunks. What about the serrated focus wheel? It's full of dirt as usual. I just received Kiev-5. It appeared that the lens (Helios 94) needed an overhaul. The camera appeared in a mint condition. I also received 2 kiev 3 with the bold letters from Oleg yesterday. Very nice! Both cameras went through the cleaning process. The cameras now look spotless.


pangkievrange
 
Fedzilla_Bob said:
Is this some special skill Russians are taught? :)
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yes...craft lessons in kindergarten, elemantary school, etc. My hubby still can't get over my gift-wrapping skills:))))
 
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