lushd
Donald
santino
FSU gear head
cool stuff 
clarence
ダメ
I'm curious. When did the TOE finally close, anyway?
Clarence
Clarence
reagan
hey, they're only Zorkis
"Russian Camera Stockists" ... is that us?
O
Oldprof
Guest
Ah, the photo of the model has that ineffable "Zorki/Jupiter shine."
lushd
Donald
Demise of TOE
Demise of TOE
I am sure someone will come in with a more specific date but I am pretty sure they didn't make it into the 1990's. I think it was around 1985.
I lived in Hendon when I was teenager and was only a mile from their last resting place, Zenith House, on the Edgware Road, at the junction with Colindeep Lane. The building is still there and still called Zenith House. It does have the look of soviet architecture too. I will drive home that way sometime soon and post a picture of it.
In the meantime - here's an arial view from Google maps. Check the size - how many Zorkis could you fit in there?
Demise of TOE
I am sure someone will come in with a more specific date but I am pretty sure they didn't make it into the 1990's. I think it was around 1985.
I lived in Hendon when I was teenager and was only a mile from their last resting place, Zenith House, on the Edgware Road, at the junction with Colindeep Lane. The building is still there and still called Zenith House. It does have the look of soviet architecture too. I will drive home that way sometime soon and post a picture of it.
In the meantime - here's an arial view from Google maps. Check the size - how many Zorkis could you fit in there?
Attachments
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clarence
ダメ
lushd said:
I suppose TOE chose the name of the building?
Clarence
Jocko
Off With The Pixies
Hallo Donald - actually TOE survived rather longer: perhaps even as late as 1993.
In autumn '91 or spring '92 I was working on some camera reviews and had a series of chats with their marketing manager. They had virtually no contact with whoever was running Soviet camera exports and the latest literature they had from the Russians was dated 1988.
The gentleman in question (whose name I've forgotten) still believed that Kiev RFs were in production and thought TOE had a future in niche markets. He was especially keen to import rangefinders, but said that his bosses poohed-poohed the idea, and direct approaches to Kiev and FED went unanswered. He was a very pleasant man and seemed delighted to talk to someone who shared his enthusiasm.
He gave me a Zenit 122, which I subsequently passed to a friend who broke it: it was repaired by TOE about a year after my calls. They were a great company and really delivered the service they promised.
Ian
In autumn '91 or spring '92 I was working on some camera reviews and had a series of chats with their marketing manager. They had virtually no contact with whoever was running Soviet camera exports and the latest literature they had from the Russians was dated 1988.
The gentleman in question (whose name I've forgotten) still believed that Kiev RFs were in production and thought TOE had a future in niche markets. He was especially keen to import rangefinders, but said that his bosses poohed-poohed the idea, and direct approaches to Kiev and FED went unanswered. He was a very pleasant man and seemed delighted to talk to someone who shared his enthusiasm.
He gave me a Zenit 122, which I subsequently passed to a friend who broke it: it was repaired by TOE about a year after my calls. They were a great company and really delivered the service they promised.
Ian
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lushd
Donald
Zorki Shine/Leica Glow
Zorki Shine/Leica Glow
In no more than 500 words define the concept "Zorki Shine" and then compare and contrast it to the concept of "Leica Glow". Your answer should refer specifically to at least three black and white silver halide film emulsions and their typical characteristics. Additional remarks will be awarded for neatness, style and good English. (Marks: 40)
Your test begins NOW. You have 30 minutes.
Zorki Shine/Leica Glow
Oldprof said:
In no more than 500 words define the concept "Zorki Shine" and then compare and contrast it to the concept of "Leica Glow". Your answer should refer specifically to at least three black and white silver halide film emulsions and their typical characteristics. Additional remarks will be awarded for neatness, style and good English. (Marks: 40)
Your test begins NOW. You have 30 minutes.
lushd
Donald
Jocko said:
Hey Ian - good to hear from you.
They were fantastic! I bought a Zenit EM in 1976 and it had rust inside. I returned it to TOE with a note saying I was going on holiday in a week and was there any chance of getting it repaired and returned to me before then. One evening the next week there was knock on our front door and it was a man from TOE. He told me he passed my way as he went home and he thought he would drop this in for me. It was a brand new replacement and in the box was a nice letter wishing me a good holiday. Now that's service!
lushd
Donald
clarence said:
Don't know for sure, but they built it and were the first occupants and it's so logical it must be right.
lushd
Donald
CVBLZ4 said:"Russian Camera Stockists" ... is that us?
You lot have set me off reminiscing now!
In the 70's, adverts for Russian gear appeared in Amateur Photographer in the UK. That didn't mean the retailers had any to sell you. Shipping from the USSR was intermittent and unpredictable. If you wanted one, the drill was to get on the phone until you found a dealer with the model you wanted in stock and the you got over there quick! Hence the comment at the bottom of the page about shortages. In those halcyon days, dealers could shift their whole supply in a day, easy. Buying one these days is actually easier!
O
Oldprof
Guest
lushd said:
Your concept of a "test" is a bourgeois deception based on the failed capitalist notion of performance-based evaluation. Even the running dogs of Leicadom have never met the criterion of providing a satisfactory operational definition of "Leica glow." It is a myth deviously propagated to further elitist self-satisfaction, the perverted practice of camera fondling, and suppression of the proletariat via teaching them feelings of inferiority and self-loathing. On the other hand, "Zorki/Jupiter shine" is liberating, life-affirming, and revolutionary. It is manifestly evident in the beaming faces of Zorki users, loyal supporters of universal brotherhood and sisterhood, who realize their highly functional and competent photographic apparati were built by the people, for the people, and without the immoral pretensions of a pseudo aristocracy. This shine is so powerful and contagious that it is reflected in the faces of people who are photographed by Zorki/Jupiter users. Thus, the radiant Zorki/Jupiter shine is discernable in portraits, but not landscapes.
clarence
ダメ
Hear, hear!
Clarence
Clarence
Austintatious
Well-known
Oldprof said:
Da ! Comrade !!
lushd
Donald
Oldprof - "the immoral pretensions of the psudo aristocracy" - Lenin Prize for advanced Soviet Gobbledegook! Well done!
O
Oldprof
Guest
lushd said:
Will I get my prize in a homemade box with brown paper wrapping and secured with yak hair string?
lubitel
Well-known
This "test statement" is great!
Traditionally a soviet prize is a "gramota" aka "certificate of achievement", you might also get a medal though, or a nice handpainted plate to hang on the wall.
Traditionally a soviet prize is a "gramota" aka "certificate of achievement", you might also get a medal though, or a nice handpainted plate to hang on the wall.
Marc-A.
I Shoot Film
Oldprof said:
Powerful argument. At first reading, I was seduced. Nevertheless, you would be right if "the performance-based evaluation" was not a highly decisive criterion of any communist system. The liberation of the proletariat is altogether based on technological progress, on scientific evaluation of the economy, on preformance tests. May I say that you should read again Marx' Capital, the German ideology, the 11th Feuerbach thesis and of course the Manifesto. It is cristal clear and uncontroversial among Marx' studies. To complete the marxist conception, I recommend Lenine's Empirio-criticism Essay (I don't know the English translation, sorry).
Besides, if the "performance-based evaluation" was not a crucial communist criterion, the USSR would not have technologically dominated the world for almost 50 years.
Best,
Marc
PS: but maybe it was a joke I did not get, which would make my reply ridiculous.
O
Oldprof
Guest
Marc-A. said:
Not exactly. The liberation of the proletariat is first and foremost based on the workers' revolution which overthrows the capitalist masters of production. The subsequent progress of the proletariat could be linked to the things you mention. I think, for example, of the Soviet Five Year Plans that set production goals.
P.S. The whole post was intended to be humorous and should not be taken too seriously.