"modern" Fsu cameras?

[atelier7]

There's a big following on the Leica and Contax design FSU cameras.
But what about the more "modern" ones like the Fed 50? Electra 112?
Zorki 10? Any opnions on them?

 

[Nickfed]

They don't offer anything.

 

[Ash]

I personally think they're ugly 🙂

 

[Michael I.]

I have a couple(a elicon 35sm and a vilia avto).They are nice toys but nothing to write home about.I am intrested to get rid of them for a symbolic price if anyone intrestred.

 

[VinceC]

I visited a lot of camera shows in Germany from 1989 to the mid-1990s, when those cameras were pouring out of the former Soviet world. I reallly wanted to find something useful and clever to compliment my Kievs, and I never found one. They all seemed poorly designed.

 

[atelier7]

that's good news 🙂 save me from GAS!

 

[kully]

The Zorki-10 is a beautiful!

If I hadn't put a stop to buying non M-mount cameras I'd love one of these.

 

[rbiemer]

I've got an AGAT 18k--a tiny 1/2 frame scale focus plastic camera. I like it pretty well. Good small size, easy to use. It has a mechanical "auto exposure" system that works well enough for color print film. Good Viewfinder. The lens is threaded for filters but is a tiny size(18 or 19mm or there abouts).
My first dealing with Oleg was buying a Zorki 10, lovely looking in a sort of 1950's hi-fi mode. Takes good photos, the meter on mine is still fine. But it is very heavy. Fairly quick to operate.
I like 'em and have been thinking about the FED 50 as well but I do regard them as toys--and I mean that in a positive way--and don't quite trust them for continual or heavy use.
Rob

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I personally think they're ugly 🙂

I think they prefer the word "special" 😉

 

[Ash]

I was called 'special' all my life! 🙁

 

[Jocko]

The Fed 50 is a decent little camera with a sound lens: results are at least comparable to similar western compacts circa 1980 - the Yashica ME for example. It's also solidly built and in all respects a damn sight better than a Lomo!

Cheers, Ian!

 

[clarence]

Another vote for the BeLOMO AGAT-18K here. Mine was from Jon Goodman. It's tiny, and with a 28mm lens, scale-focusing is easy and camera shake is usually absent.

And it has a hot shoe.

Clarence

 

[rbiemer]

And it has a hot shoe.
Clarence

I always forget about that, Clarence, thanks for the reminder!
I haven't yet found a complimentary flash, though. The flash units I own now are all about twice the size and four times the weight of the camera😀
I have been happy with the results using Kodak 400uc.
Rob

 

[clarence]

I always forget about that, Clarence, thanks for the reminder!
I haven't yet found a complimentary flash, though. The flash units I own now are all about twice the size and four times the weight of the camera😀
I have been happy with the results using Kodak 400uc.
Rob

Do you take it to a normal, non-professional minilab for processing, Rob? Are they able to scan the frames? I haven't yet dared to use colour film in my Agat.

I just got a used Nikon SB-30 for about 60USD. It's even smaller than the AGAT, and has the following settings: Full Manual, 1/8, 1/32, four auto settings and +/- 1/2 flash compensation. I would highly recommend it, especially if you need a flash and you're not planning to use it to light up some waterfowl that's half a mile away from you.

Clarence

 

[rbiemer]

Do you take it to a normal, non-professional minilab for processing, Rob? Are they able to scan the frames? I haven't yet dared to use colour film in my Agat.

I just got a used Nikon SB-30 for about 60USD. It's even smaller than the AGAT, and has the following settings: Full Manual, 1/8, 1/32, four auto settings and +/- 1/2 flash compensation. I would highly recommend it, especially if you need a flash and you're not planning to use it to light up some waterfowl that's half a mile away from you.

Clarence

I have had poor results results with the processing at my local one-hour "labs"; nobody wants to (or is able to? not sure which is really true) scan these. The half frame size confuses either the operators or the machines (maye both?).
So I use Vermont Color Labs for the processing. They don't present themselves as a pro lab(they offer all the "photo gifts"--mugs, mouse pads, etc--one could want) but they do good work and are inexpensive. And they will pay postage in the US both ways.
I think the mini-lab places could handle this format but it mught be a better choice to ask for process only and scan at home if you can.

SB-30, eh? I read your thoughts on this flash somewhere else here at RFF, didn't I? Seems like a pretty capable flash, I'll need to look into them! Thanks!
Oh, and how did you figure out my secret plan to photographic fame?:bang: Now I have to think of something else.😀
Rob

 

[ZorkiKat]

Do you take it to a normal, non-professional minilab for processing, Rob? Are they able to scan the frames? I haven't yet dared to use colour film in my Agat.

Clarence

Clarence

Why not have the lab scan the "half" frames as they would normal "full" frame 35s? You'd have 2 frames per picture in the scan. Have them printed on postcard-size then split the prints into two. Not really big, but 10x7.5 cm is still bigger than a wallet print. Or save the scans on CD and then edit the files in your computer - split the frames then resize to a more useful size and send files back to lab for printing to "proper" size. 🙂

This was what happened when I sent some colour negatives (shot with a Chajka) to a Fuji Frontier lab. They scan 35mm negatives to a rather high resolution- as they are they would yield 23x30.5 cm prints at 300 dpi.

Jay

 

[Dougg]

Why not have the lab scan the "half" frames as they would normal "full" frame 35s? You'd have 2 frames per picture in the scan.

Jay, this is pretty much what my lab does but it's only marginally satisfactory. Their scanner frame doesn't quite cover the whole double frame. They try to set the one frame divider right in the middle, and that slices off small parts on the outer edges of both pictures. The sample below shows the full scan, and in this one they are off-center a bit, and gave me the whole right frame but cropped quite a lot from the left one.

I'm sure they do their best without spending a lot of time on it. Also, their scanner's auto exposure takes both pictures AND the clear divider into consideration, so that's not ideal either. Even if the lab were to give me a centered scan for each exposure, the scan exposure would still be an issue. They do much better with APS film, about the same frame size, because their equipment is set up for that, while half-frame 35 is a "lost" format. Unless there's a lab out there somewhere that has kept the ability to handle half-frame correctly, I think I'll have come up with a way to scan them myself.

 

[ZorkiKat]

..... I think I'll have come up with a way to scan them myself.

Doug

You're right about the loss of details on the edges. Were you using an Agat or a Chajka, or another half-framer? The Chajka which I use somehow makes frames which fit on the Frontier's carrier. Then again, I don't think I've been able to compose critically with this camera. Often, there's plenty of room around the important details which can be lost.

Scanning the negatives personally is the best route to go. This allows one to get the frames fully and properly. I've even taken to exploiting the small frames and create multi-frame (successive diptych or triptych) pictures such as this:

 

[Dougg]

ou're right about the loss of details on the edges. Were you using an Agat or a Chajka, or another half-framer?

Nice sample triptych! I use an Olympus Pen. The negative images measure 17x23.7 mm, and two together measure 36mm from the left edge of one to the right edge of the next. But the labs typically crop just a little bit all around to make sure there are no black lines showing in scans or prints. Don't know if home scanners do the same...

 

[raftman]

The Fed Micron 2 looks like it could be pretty good. Apparently has a battery-powered light meter along with other neat features. I plan to get one when I can.