OT: bakelite boxes and prices labels

[Philipp]

A bit OT: Perhaps it's just me but I really like those old bakelite-boxes most FSU-lenses come with. Especially when there is the original russian price tag on the bottom. I also store my lenses in their original box. What about you? Do you use the box to protect the lens when you are not using it?

This comes to my mind because I bought a really nice looking Jupiter 9 (from 1967) this weekend, when my girlfriend and I made a little trip to Prague. That's what I call a holiday! See this gorgeous city again and come back with a new lens 😀

Greetings,
Philipp

 

[robin a]

Hi,these boxes are the best.Made to fit and very sturdy.The best one is for the variable finder,it has a rail to hold it in place.Kinda cool. Robin

 

[John Robertson]

Even the little ones for the filters are nice. The one for my 35mm V/F has the little rail inside like the universal one!

 

[oscroft]

Oh yes, I love those little boxes, and my lenses and finder live in them when I'm not using them.

 

[ZorkiKat]

Agreed with everyone else. The tiniest box I got is one for the flash synchroniser. This is a device which screws into the shutter release button, meant for synchronising with flash cameras without internal synch wiring like the Zorki-1, FED-1, Zenit, etc. It's a scaled down tiny version of the boxes used for the lenses, with same detials including the fluting on the cap.

 

[brachal]

Philipp,

Was that at Photo Skoda off Wenceslas square? A great store. I'm just back from Prague myself. I tried to buy an Orion-15 there (Photo Skoda), but it wouldn't focus; wouldn't turn at all. Heartbreaking, but I did pick up a nice new/old Fed 3.

Oh yeah, I love the bakelite cases.

A bit OT: Perhaps it's just me but I really like those old bakelite-boxes most FSU-lenses come with. Especially when there is the original russian price tag on the bottom. I also store my lenses in their original box. What about you? Do you use the box to protect the lens when you are not using it?

This comes to my mind because I bought a really nice looking Jupiter 9 (from 1967) this weekend, when my girlfriend and I made a little trip to Prague. That's what I call a holiday! See this gorgeous city again and come back with a new lens 😀

Greetings,
Philipp

 

[John Robertson]

There is another second hand camera store in the same street as Foto Skoda almost opposite, in an arcade! And another across the street from the Bethlehem Chapel, I got a lovely Zarya there last year for about £30!! The guy there at the time had a stack of these bakelite boxes!!

 

[Philipp]

Thanks for all your replies!

Bill: You are right, I got my J9 from Foto Skoda! Funny enough, I also saw the Orion 15 you mentioned in the shop. But it was too expensive for me, though very tempting. The focus on my J9 is a bit stiff. On the other side it means that probably nobody opend and tried to relube it. I'll send it to a great lens-repairman here in Germany, he also did my J3 and now it feels like new.

John: I also went to Jan Pazdera. Great shop. Could have walked through all these shops in Prague for hours. I never thought of a Zarya. How is it?

Have a nice day,
Philipp