The Rangefinder Drug (or: Fanning the Flames of GAS)

[rxmd]

Hi Michael,

it is actually quite rare and considered to be very usable but with an unreliable winding mechanism

yes, the guy here I got it from says the same thing about the Drug, and also about the Zorki-5 and Zorki-6, that their rewind mechanism is a bit capricious. According to him, one should stick to the FED-2 or (hark, hark!) the FED-5 if one wants a good compromise between features and lack of capriciousness 😉

Philipp

 

[rxmd]

Hi Jon,

One question, what is the frame spacing on yours like? Mine upset the processor, the frames touch, and care has to be taken to pull the lever the full length of the base to make sure the film is fully advanced. Luckily the guy was awake and didn't cut the negative roll, but the automated printing could not cope.

I can't really say yet. It does have a sprocketed film advance, so at least it should be even. The lever gives good audible feedback when you reach the end of the pull. I'm currently still photographing here with the "Pass-the-RF Part 3" FED-2 and will start using the Drug exclusively after that. I'll post when I have results, but I'll ask them to leave the first roll uncut. Thanks for the warning.

Also the Drug is a lot more user friendly than the Leningrad.

Definitely. I was lusting for the Leningrad for quite some time, but then got the opportunity to borrow a friend's for a while. It's nice, especially with the etched framelines in the finder, but it's heavy, winding and rewinding are a pain, and the film can't be processed automatically. In comparison, the Drug seems a lot better in terms of usability. The finder alone is a marvel.

The Krasnogorsk factory apparently had a period between about 1955 and 1965 that was characterised by a spark of productive creativity that has given us great cameras like the Zorki-3, -5 and -6, the two Iskras and the Drug, and interesting projects like the Rodina and the Drug-2. It is a great pity that their innovation was apparently stifled and the factory's camera section was relegated to five-year-plan production of Zorki-4's at the beginning of the Brezhnev period.

Philipp

 

[Spyderman]

Hi Ondrej,


Close, but not quite there yet... it's not a Leica 🙂 But either way you'll find a couple of nice things in the box. 😀

Philipp

Then is it the Pansonic Lumix FX07 ?

 

[oscroft]

Oh, and for those who did not make the connection yet, in Clockwork Orange, the term "droogies" to which Alex and his buddies are referring to each other is derived from the russian word "droog." So they're just calling each other "buddy."

Funnily enough, I just thought "Aha, I wonder if that's where 'droogies' came from?" 🙂

 

[Michael I.]

droog means friend

 

[outfitter]

Hi Philipp,

I seriously collected cameras in the 1980s when most Soviet cameras were rare and expensive in the USA - a common Kiev went for almost $500! When the Soviet Union broke up and eBay came along I went wild and bought a bunch of real rarities (should have bought more) that have now doubled and tripled in price (well asking price I don't see all that much moving on eBay at the high end). As best I recall the Drug was around the $100 mark and I notice their are eBay sellers asking $150+ - don't know if they are actually selling at that price.

I believe the alleged winding mechanism "weakness" is caused by the fact that the link between the trigger and the gears is a chain (like a bicycle chain) and this breaks. Might be good idea to attempt to locate a spare part (perhaps from Oleg) or inquire after a kitchen table fix (the FSU's specialty) before (if) you actually need one.

Your Drug is really a beauty.

Michael

 

[rxmd]

Then is it the Pansonic Lumix FX07 ?

OK, you get your jeton 😉

 

[zhang xk]

Hello Michael,

You must be the Russian cameras collector with the longest histroy.😀 Did you post on beststuff and the earlier yahoo group? Did we meet on these forum before?

The most regretable thing was that I let go 5-6 pre-1950 Kiev IIs with collectable ZK lenses for less than $10 each! I also let go a Carl Zeiss Jena Contax II, and thought that it was a fake!! It was a mint example of the very rare Jena Contax.:bang: I also let go a few Drug for $30-60. Today they are very hard to find. I saw some mint Kiev cameras displayed in a most expensive jewelery shop, and were not for sale in Venice, Italy some years ago. That was quite an honour of Russian cameras.😀

Kind regards

zhang

 

[rxmd]

Funnily enough, I just thought "Aha, I wonder if that's where 'droogies' came from?" 🙂

The language in "A Clockwork Orange" actually has a lot of elements from Russian, like moloko for "milk", britva for "razor" or horrorshow for "good" (Russian хорошо, pronounced kha-ra-SHOW).

 

[Michael I.]

and ptica(bird) or devochka(girlie) for a woman

 

[40oz]

that's a nice camera, thanks for sharing. I've wanted one for a while, and at least now I know it isn't a fool's quest.

 

[outfitter]

Hello Michael,

Did you post on beststuff and the earlier yahoo group? Did we meet on these forum before?



zhang

Yes zhang I posted on both group and still post on Kiev Report under various names (names seem to grow like weeds) and I'm certain we've met on the web before. Sounds like you set the record for GAS regret - those are very desirable misses at very very low prices. Of course prices aren't all one way (up). When I look at the list of the Contax collection I sold in 1989 I think it might be worth less today. Of course when I look on the invoice for the sale of the collection and see the black Leica A in excellent plus condition I sold for $450 I get GAS regrets (I wont even go into the Stereotar-C with prism and finder or the various Nikon RF cameras and lenses which weren't highly valued then). Oh well onto new conquests.

Cheers,

Michael

 

[wontonny]

Can someone enlighten me as to what GAS is?

 

[rxmd]

Can someone enlighten me as to what GAS is?

GAS = Gear Acquisition Syndrome. The irrational desire to obtain photographic gear, induced either by looking at pictures and descriptions of the gear itself or at pictures other people produce with said gear. In the latter case it is often linked to the assumption that it's the gear that takes the picture (as opposed to the photographer). The term is rather common on web sites like RFF. 🙂

 

[nzeeman]

and how much drug costs- and is there a place to find it?

 

[JonP]

Hi Nzeeman
I got mine from DVD Technic a few weeks ago (still listed for sale, it's not, that one is mine) Ruscamera store has one listed at $135 - that's it at present, unless you try the *bay shops, there are 2 but I can't remember where<sorry!>

 

[outfitter]

Hi Nzeeman
I got mine from DVD Technic a few weeks ago (still listed for sale, it's not, that one is mine) Ruscamera store has one listed at $135 - that's it at present, unless you try the *bay shops, there are 2 but I can't remember where<sorry!>

Looks like some of those guys are reading this thread and anticipating a big demand; six sellers now running from $125 to $190! I've noticed a trend where greed drives high prices until the lack of buyers merely generates eBay listing fees. Why do they always test the high end instead of go for a certain sale (my theory is they haven't a clue why anyone would buy the stuff in the first place so how do you set a price)? There's an old saying on Wall Street, "Bulls make money and Bears make money but all hogs die in the slaughterhouse."

Michael