Why have the Russians never made digital cameras?

Keith

Keith

The best camera is one that still works!
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That I know of anyway!

Serious question though ... I know we all have a giggle every time some poor soul tells us about buying five examples of 'X type' FSU before finding one that actually worked properly ... but these old things were made a long time ago when they (the Soviets) were keener to punish the west for our excesses and our distrust of anything remotely connected to communism by offering us cameras that they knew would drive us all insane! 😛

It's a huge country and certainly not technically retarded ... fifty years since they shot Yuri into space for the first orbit of the earth after all. Not to mention the Arsenal factory that used to manufacture the Kievs also built some pretty advanced fighter pilot training simulators from memory.

What do the Russians take their digital pics with ... are they Canon or Nikon fans, is there a waiting list for the X100? The questions are endless but it comes down to one ... why doesn't this enigmatic nation make a digital camera?
 
What ... the one with the optional 'stubby holder?
Click to expand...

Yes. It has a pouch for the uv filter and memory cards.

DigiRoo is the brand, with a special export version, the DigiRu.
 
I'm seeing a worrying trend in the responses here already.

You lot are not taking this question seriously are you? 😛
 
This is a fun "what-if" question, isn't it?

I think part of the reason why we've seen so many FSU cameras on the second-hand market is due to the simple desire for the Russians, Ukrainians, et al. wanting to join the rest of the hyper-consumerist countries ... thereby trading in their Zorkis and Zenits for Panasonics and Nikons.

Another theory: I have no evidence to back this up, but I think with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the brightest and smartest people (engineers, scientists, etc.) just packed up and headed for the West. It's a well-known fact that many manufacturing sectors of the former Soviet Union were totally gutted after "democracy" emerged in 1991 -- and what wasn't stolen or vandalized was merely abandoned.

I think if the Soviet Union had continued (albeit in a different, more humane form) they probably would have continued making 1000's of different products ... and they probably would have made some kind of digital camera. The Soviets definitely had the know-how. I came across an old Soviet department store catalog on the internet and I was surprised at the range and variety of products they made -- including synthesizers, video games, and other nifty gadgets.

Even still, towards the end of Communism, the Soviets tended satisfy their critical imaging needs through buying Japanese products. I distinctly remember Toshiba getting in hot water in the late 1980's because they sold Moscow a very powerful (for the time) digital imaging / processing computer system.

Who knows? I have an old Canon G2 that's only worth $50 now. Maybe I could shoe-horn the 4MP sensor into my Kiev 4! LOL!
 
yes its strange why engineering oriented Russia isnt using its potential more... Russia inherited e.g. top class avionics industry from USSR, but where are modern Tupolevs competing with Airbus and Boeing ?
 
Keith said:
Oh yes you may well laugh ... but what do you lot produce of any worth aside from maple syrup and snow?
Click to expand...

We did make some Leica cameras and some lenses for them at Midland.
Some fine lenses where also designed here in the woodsy land of ice and snow.
 
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