Why not much people useing Siviet cameras

[Igor.Burshteyn]

Classification:
zero - you are not aware how good (bad) FSU cameras are
one - 1 FSU camera owner is extinct class. You either like them or hate'em
two - if you have 2 FSU cameras you are classic camera user.
10+ - congratulations. You are GASed collector.
You are more likelly to transit from 1 to 10+ that opposite way.
Beware when you buy your first FSU camera

 

[wierdcollector]

I agree, FSU cameras are like casino gambling, overeating or smoking, they're highly addictive. Hey, at least I don't smoke......

 

[ruben]

Hi,
The good and old Soviet cameras, even in the imaginative case they were built in Japan, lack all automatic features offered by film cameras since the sixties. Therefore, today, their main market is the very advanced amateur/pro market, which is very narrow anyway for any camera manufacturer.


Within the advanced amateur/pro film-camera market, I am not sure at all that Soviet cameras are not popular. On the contrary, enjoying the swing of the informatic revo, perhaps Soviet cameras are gaining lately more and more momentum within the abovementioned market, in spite of the fact that in many cases the Soviet equipment you buy needs overall treatment, and many poorly quality controlled items are circulating around. But many excellent specimens are circulating too, enjoying the low price influence of the first.

The most apealing Soviet camera for me is the Kiev rangefinder (up to the end of the sixties), originally designed by the German Zeiss complex, first of all for its exhuberant external beauty, (This is a shamefull confession, but I feel honest at this moment) the optics and advanced mechanical sofystication relatively to WWII. (Keep in mind that some Kiev/Contax technologically advanced features like the accurate metering system, and the pin-point finger focusing wheel, are not found in other contemporary manual rangefinder cameras.)

Within my different camera systems, the Kievs are destinated for my Take Your Time situations. OR, for situations in which I need/want a rangefinder camera with interchangeable lens.

OT: I suggest every body to dedicate some internet time to the ex-Soviet panoramic Horizon camera family being developed nowadays.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[former member]

I have had better luck with Soviet Lenses than with Bodies. So I have a J8 amd Helios-103 for my Nikon and Contax IIIa. I found that I had to file the lock pin down for the lenses to fit the Nikon, but not the Contax. It is slightly thicker than either Nikon or Contax lenses.

I have tried a Fed, shutter strap broke after 1 roll. Same problem on a Kiev 4. So I end up with Russian lenses on Japanese or German bodies.

 

[Jason_K]

I've got 4 Zorkis, a FED and an Estefeta and while they might not be as fancy as some of my other gear - they are solidly built and are a lot of fun.

 

[Marcus B]

😕 Why not much people useing Siviet cameras even it leica copy but cheaper how is it? Or is something no good about it becouse now i interesting about it (Zorki4) have u got any comment? Please help

heronop

I have a Leica but use also a Kiev 2 and did use a Fed-2 (now the shutter is unreliable, the second curtain is slow) but use the lens of the Fed on the Leica body.

Marcus

 

[Kevin]

Classification:
zero - you are not aware how good (bad) FSU cameras are
one - 1 FSU camera owner is extinct class. You either like them or hate'em
two - if you have 2 FSU cameras you are classic camera user.
10+ - congratulations. You are GASed collector.
You are more likelly to transit from 1 to 10+ that opposite way.
Beware when you buy your first FSU camera

I am a zero.

But I put this search string into eDay under Foto&Camcorder to see what the fuss is all about.

(Cmeha*,Fed*,Iskra*,Kiev*,Lubitel*,Mir*,Moskva*,Salyut*,Smena*,Zenit*,Zorki*) -(FedEx,Mirror)

And out came about 1500 results across the globe.

Although I really love Leica glass, I am sometimes concerned about taking my M6 body and ASPH lens to dodgy places here and overseas.

Who can recommend a good russian rf body and a piece of glass that comes close to the quality and speed of the M6 and 35mm f/1.4 Aspherical and ASPH lenses?

A couple of auction ids would be helpful at this stage, just to get me aquainted with all the different models and their features.

Do any of these older FSU rangefinders have aperature-priority by the way?

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[TPPhotog]

I scored my first Zorki 4K on Ebay last night, so it look like I'll be finding out just how "highly addictive" they are very soon 😉

 

[RichardS]

As far as I know everything on an FSU rangefinder is manually controlled. While a few have meters, the meters are not connected with the shutter or aperture. Note that I said as far as I know.

I like the FED 3, the Zorki 4K and the Kiev 4A but I'm certain other users will like other models. Remember in most cases you'll be dealing with 20 and 30-year old cameras.

Dick

 

[RichardS]

I scored my first Zorki 4K on Ebay last night, so it look like I'll be finding out just how "highly addictive" they are very soon 😉

You have a good camera. I hope you got it at a good price. Remember to cock the shutter before changing shutter speeds. And the 1/30 of a second is a special case. To get to it you have to move the shutter speed dial clockwise and to move to some other speed you have to move the speed dial counter clockwise, so to get from 1/30 of a second to 1 second, you have to move the dial in almost a full circle even though the two settings are right next to each other.

Dick

 

[TPPhotog]

Hi Dick,

Thanks for the info 🙂

It comes with a J-8 and I won it for GBP21 (USD37) after someone tried to pip me at the post 😀

Tony

 

[David Doler]

I hope FSU cameras stay relatively unpopular. That way the prices will stay dirt cheap and I can buy a boatload more of them.

 

[kiev4a]

I am a zero.

But I put this search string into eDay under Foto&Camcorder to see what the fuss is all about.

(Cmeha*,Fed*,Iskra*,Kiev*,Lubitel*,Mir*,Moskva*,Salyut*,Smena*,Zenit*,Zorki*) -(FedEx,Mirror)

And out came about 1500 results across the globe.

Although I really love Leica glass, I am sometimes concerned about taking my M6 body and ASPH lens to dodgy places here and overseas.

Who can recommend a good russian rf body and a piece of glass that comes close to the quality and speed of the M6 and 35mm f/1.4 Aspherical and ASPH lenses?

A couple of auction ids would be helpful at this stage, just to get me aquainted with all the different models and their features.

Do any of these older FSU rangefinders have aperature-priority by the way?

Thanks,
Kevin

Just doing a search for "russian camera" will usually pull up a boatload of different brands and models. The best way to judge the seller is by feedback and things you hear here. There are bad sellers, however, that collect a lot of bad feedback so they dump that account and start a new one. Anybody here remember the infamous gasmasks.ru?

Frankly, I don't think there's quite the choice of FSU gear there was even two years ago. With upteen million produced over a 40-year period seems like that wouldn't be the case. I think possibly that a few ywars ago financial times were harder over there and a lot of folks were willing to let go of their gear because they needed the few dollars it would bring. I remember a Zorki 2C that was offered that was engraved to the commander of the Baltic fleet for outstanding leadership duing maneuvers in 1958-- or something like that. Seems like you would need the money pretty bad to part with a memento like that.

All the old cameras are "aperature priority" I suppose. You set the shutter speed manually to a specific speed--then adjust the aperature manually to the proper exposure.🙂

 

[bmattock]

😕 Why not much people useing Siviet cameras even it leica copy but cheaper how is it? Or is something no good about it becouse now i interesting about it (Zorki4) have u got any comment? Please help

heronop

My Zorki 4K fell into pieces after one roll of film. The self-timer fell off and was never seen again, and I knocked the rangefinder out of alignment by foolishly trying to mount an actual Leica lens. I can't read the shutter speeds, they were painted on and have rubbed off over time. I could see the actual aberations in the Industar 50mm lens with the naked eye. It sounded like a unabridged dictionary hitting a linoleum floor from about 4 feet up when it went off. And it smelled like the 90w gear lube I used to put in the Dana 60 rear end of my '69 Dodge Charger.

Other than that, it was dandy.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[wlewisiii]

Yep, there are those out there. There are also cameras like my 77 Kiev 4 or 73 Kiev 5 that just keep going and going and going. And there is the real problem: QC was essentially non-existant. When a FSU camera was made correctly and properly adjusted, they really were able to compete with the finest that the rest of the world made. But as the infamous quote put it, "They pretended to pay us and we pretended to work." In the 50's and 60's there were more true believers and good days tended to happen much more often; hence, the cameras of that era are generally better. But good cameras, especially the Kievs, were made right up to the bitter end.

The best thing to do when you're looking at FSU cameras is to avoid mint condition cameras unless you plan for it to be a display camera. Look instead for a camera that's been used. If it's mint, it never worked and sat in a drawer someplaces for 10 to 50 years untill ebay came along. But if it worked then, it's much more likely to be useable now.

The Kiev 5 is supposed to be a nearly trash camera. Poorly made, poorly designed, etc. Yet mine arrived with gentle brassing, handles well and has proven trouble free. Did I get lucky? Or did the people who wrote the most on the net get cameras like Bill's Zorki 4K? I can't say out of a sample of one. But I do know that every so often when a roll comes out of the tank and I hold it up to the window, I can't help but do a little happy dance that I have an amazingly sweet camera.

There is a reason for the old saying "Your Mileage May Vary". I actually prefer to say that "Your Milage Will Vary."

William

 

[bmattock]

I believe everyone who says they have a very nice FSU camera - I just got a lemon. But I've got a couple of soviet lenses, too. Don't see what all the fuss is about - mine are pretty much junk. Bad luck again, I guess. Bought a M39 lens that didn't even make the trip - arrived in pieces. And smelled bad too. That was a treat - I paid someone to mail me a turd.

I saw a nice FSU lens on cap'n slack's Bessa T last weekend. Actually looked and felt well-made. So I believe they're out there.

I guess they just don't turn me on. Strange how the people they affect positively get all evangelical about them. Not on RFF, but other places.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[laptoprob]

Your Mileage Will Vary. Very true.
I started using Fed 2 as a cheaper and stronger replacement for the Bessa L I got with a Heliar 15mm. Therefore the finder did not matter much.
All was fine upto the time I started to use standard lenses aside the 15mm.
The shutter proved to leak light, proven when changing lenses. And I was not impressed enough with the sharpness of the I61 LD's I tried.
So I used the 15mm on another FED 2, hoping to get rid of the leaking problem.
That one was eating film! The sprockets were too steep or big or sharp, whatever.

After that I was cured and started looking for Leica. With the Leica I have not used FSU lenses anymore because of the focussing differences between the two systems.

Now I have an M2, CLE, T and Hexar. So far very content.

Maybe I had bad luck.

cheers, Rob.

 

[Cmacuk]

I have Zorky-4 Soviet Camera. I was born in FSU - now Russia and live here. I love mechanical cameras and hate Japanese Canons Nikons - they shot by strange Japanese algorithms. I do not use exponometers. All by myself..