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Luiz Paracampo
Luiz Paracampo
Brazil
2002 Posts
My Collection
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 Posted - Dec 03 2013 : 3:40:55 PM
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Next year LOMO of St. Petersburg will complete 100 years. I believe this is an important date.
USSRPhoto site is now a World reference on Russian cameras. I believe we can't pass the date without anyspecial event.
That way, I call for all members Vladislav Kern, William Parkinson, Aidas Pikiotas, Yuri Boguslavsky, Viktor Suglob, Alain Berry, Jean Loup Princelle, Igor Chertok, Mike Haley, Jim McGee, Steven Berkowitz, Guido Studer, Juhani Halmeenmaki, Dmitriy Kopp, Yuriy Davidenko, Alexandr Komarov, Georgiy Abramov, Mike Schenk, Ulrich Witte, Jacques Morin, Michel Chretien, Oleg Kravets, David Tomlinson, Nathan Dayton and sll other friends who had contributed to our forum towards send pictures and information in making a book for the event.
My best regards
LP |
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Luiz Paracampo
Luiz Paracampo
Brazil
2002 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Dec 03 2013 : 3:43:22 PM
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This should be the begining of out text:
LOMO and the Smena History
The optical enterprise LOMO was officially founded at February 4 th1914, first with the named RAOOMP (РАООМП) "Российское Акционерное Общество Оптического и Механического Производств" (Russian Joint Stock Company of Optical and Mechanical Production) as an Optical and Mechanical Production Joint Stock Company. From this date it was by far the first and largest Russian factory dedicated to the manufacture of optical and mechanical enterprise, and now, one of the greatest World over, if not the greatest. The beginning of the building construction was registered during the summer of 1913.
The present description is a tribute to the Knowledge and the Science ad to a factory whose destination was more than simple earnings, but a Legacy to mankind, and how technology can be used for men’s development.
At the time, the Russian empire’s economy was in good condition and it was made to be the largest financial, scientific and industrial centre in Europe.
It was an era when Russia’s industrial growth peaked at the extraordinary level of 30% a year, ever unattained by no other country in the World. The nobility owned almost all the land and Tsar Nicholas II decided to industrialize his country to an unsurpassed level.
Soon the WW War I ecloded and RAOOMP was the first factory to furnish all kind of needed optical devices for the Russian empire such as telemeters, binoculars, periscopes and gun sights.
The foundation of RAOOMP was done under military philosophy, once it united three main smaller shops: the filial of the German Goerz and Zeiss his enemy and the work shop of the French Debrie, Russia’s war allied country. German factories were sent from Riga which could easily defeat in German hands, to the capital of the then Russian empire Petrograd, later Leningrad and now St. Petersburg. The main shareholders of the new born firm were the French “Schneider-Creuzot” company, the Russian-Asiatic Bank and the St. Petersburg Commercial Bank. After a choice of places, a four-floored building at Chugunnaya Street was constructed and happily inaugurated on the February 14 th1914. It stays there still now.
The sad experience of the Russian Navy defeated in the Russo-Japanese War called for modern equipment to Russian battleships. Tsar Nicholas II ordered to pay what was necessary to rival the outstanding German industry, and so was born this new enterprise with its optical and mechanical workshop based at the Obukhovo Steel Mill Works, then in Petrograd. A.L. Gershun, a professor at the local university, was appointed as the first head of this emergent optical industry.
Russia had an important previous history in optics and specially St. Petersburg. Just in 1839, Vasili Yakovlev von Stuwe opened the Pulkovo observatory under the orders of Tsar Nicolas I. Due to the Stuwe works, by 1885 the city of St. Peterburg was acclaimed as the World’s Astronomy Capital.
Also in 1900 the St.Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics was founded as an special school for masters of precision instruments and optics. In 1918, just after the Bolshevik Revolution it was founded also in St. Petersburg, The GOI, State Optical Institute which became the centre of development of all Russian optics Since then.
After the end of the WW I Germans were prohibited to develop military devices, lost his territories and became economically vulnerable as prayed the Versailles treaty. During 1917, Russia went out of conflict renouncing some territorial and financial claims through the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Germany saw in Russia a possibility of restore his potentialities, Soviet Union was an excluded country due his new politic trends and saw enormous possibilities in his own developments. That way at April 16th 1922, both countries signed in Italy at the city of Santa Margherita Ligure the Rapallo Treaty of mutual cooperation at various levels. At that era economic situation of both Germany and the now Soviet Union was isolated from the western countries, and thus favored the cooperation between countries.
Furthermore, the Russians got access to German engineering techniques and expertise, invaluable, when in 1927 Stalin began his series of Five Year Plans to rapidly industrialize the USSR. According to him, Russia should be at the third stage of the Five Year Plan at the top level of production quality making all the best products the World could ever see.
In fact, at the first Five Year Plan it was founded the Progress Factory which from the beginning made school and scientific microscopes and also in the 1930 years the best planapochomatic objectives which bared the name Zeiss of supreme quality impossible to be made at such prices in Germany.
In 1918 RAOOMP was nationalized. in 1926 began producing his own optical glasses at his other unit LENZOS (Leningrad Factory of Optical Glasses) (ЛЕНЗОС) Ленинградское Завод оптического-стекла ; this same year was opened the branch Promet later Progress which produced gun sights for the German Reichswehr army artillery. During 1932, there were nationalized two types of Geman shutters: the Vario became the GOMZ and the rim-set COMPUR became TEMP. Following a plan of amalgamation of factories, The conglomerate had at all passed through various names and administrations:
The names:
The original RAOOMP led into forming several branches the most important were:
GOMZ /ГОМЗ (1914-1962)
KINAP /КИНАП (1931-1962)
PROGRESS /ПРОГРЕСС (1931-1962)
From 1924 the enterprise was often reorganized and took various designations and management.
The enterprise conducts the history from existing since 1924
(TOMP) "Trust of the optical-mechanical productions" (ТОМП), «Треста оптико-механических производств» where some small plants and workshops entered.
On December 29, 1929 by the decision of Council of Work and Defense of the USSR into TOMP it was reorganized and its structure included Izyumsky and Leningrad plants of optical glass, and also Pavshinsky plant of exact mechanics.
This new association received the name (VTOMP) "All-Union Trust of the Optical-mechanical Enterprises" (ВТОМП). «Всесоюзный Трест Оптико-Механических предприятий».
In 1930 of VTOMP again I replaced the name with (VOOMP) "All-union association of the Optical-mechanical industry" (ВООМП) «Всесоюзное Объединение Оптико-Механической промышленности». In the same 1930 the enterprise was renamed into (GOMZ)."The state optical-mechanical plant" (ГОМЗ) «Государственный оптико-механический завод».
Since 1962 The conglomerate became LOOMP "The Leningrad association of the optical-mechanical enterprises" (ЛООМП) «Ленинградское объединение оптико-механических производств»— and in 1965 into (LOMO) was transformed to "The Leningrad optical-mechanical association (ЛОМО) «Ленинградское оптико-механическое объединение». By the time of LOMO creation it included also plants:
• "KINAP" (film equipment)
• "Progress" (military production — sights and so forth)
• (OOMZ) "Experimental optical-mechanical plant" (ООМЗ) ) «Оытный оптико-механический завод»
• some other enterprises
From 1962 to 1965 the enterprise also was called as "LOOMP" (The Leningrad association of the optical-mechanical enterprises).
In 1993 of LOMO it was privatized and received JSC LOMO name which owners are more than 16 thousand shareholders. Today in JSC LOMO ОАО «ЛОМО» about 3,5 thousand employees work.
LOMO NAMES before the LOMO structure:
1914 - Russian Joint-stock Company of Optical and Mechanical Productions (RAOOMP) - Российское Акционерное Общество Оптического и Механического Производств (РАООМП)
1918 - Plant of Optical and Mechanical Productions - Завод Оптического и Механического Производств
1921 - State optical plant N 95 (GOZ) - Государственный оптический завод N 95 (ГОЗ)
1930 - State Optical Plant (GOZ) - Государственный оптический завод (ГОЗ)
1931 - The State Optical-mechanical Plant (GOMZ) of name OGPU - Государственный оптико-механический завод (ГОМЗ) им. ОГПУ
1939 - Plan N 349 of name OGPU p/ya 412 - Завод N 349 им. ОГПУ п/я 412
1960 - GOMZ of name OGPU - ГОМЗ им. ОГПУ
1961 - GOMZ of Lenin's Order of OGPU - Ордена Ленина ГОМЗ им. ОГПУ
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1926 - Experimental telescope plant - Опытный трубочный завод
1927 - Progress plant - Завод "Прогресс"
1933 - State mechanical plant "Progress" - Государственный механический завод "Прогресс"
1937 - State unified plant "Progress" - Государственный союзный завод "Прогресс"
1940 - State unified plant N 357- Государственный союзный завод N 357
1953 - State unified plant N 357 of p/ya 825 - Государственный союзный завод N 357 п/я 825
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1931 - Leningrad state plant of cinematographic equipment (KINAP) - Ленинградский государственный завод киноаппаратуры (КИНАП)
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1962 - Leningrad association of optical and mechanical productions (LOOMP) - Ленинградское объединение оптических и механических производств (ЛООМП) 11965 - Leningrad Optical-mechanical Association (LOMO) - Ленинградское оптико-механическое объединение (ЛОМО)
1993 - LOMO open joint stock company - Открытое акционерное общество "ЛОМО"
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The Second War years were a hard time for LOMO furthermore considering the Leningrad Siege were several people died from hungry and starvation. LOMO lost many of his staff as everywhere in Russia, but the great challenge of reconstruction was won.
In 1957 due the high demand of photographic products LOMO cooperated in the foundation of MMZ factory at Minsk in Belorussia, the Minsk Mechanical Works named after S.I. Vavilov (whose first products were cameras and machines for optical instruments and devices processing). There was founded a production line of the Smena cameras. In view of production expansion volume and nomenclature of manufactured items, in 1971 the BelOMO (Belarusian Optical and Mechanical Association) has been founded on the basis of the previous MMZ S.I. Vavilov factory. Soon new camera generations like Vesna, Siluet, Chaika and Vilia came to light, all derived from the original Smena first produced. They will be shown in the following pages.
From 1990 years, the now huge concern, is known world over and probably due the efforts of Matthias Fiegl and Wolfgang Stranzinger who founded the LOMOGRAPHY in order to spread and commercialize popular photo cameras, and from a short joint venture experience together the consulter agency McKinsey, that paved exhibition fairs and resulted in the filial LOMO America now operating in the United States.
Navy optical intruments, All kind of lenses, Astronomic instruments and telescopes, Meteorologic devices, Professional picture taking and projecting movie equipment, Sound installations for theatre and radio broadcasting, sound and image recorders for television networks, Amateur and professional cameras, Telephone and communication equipment, Loudspeakers and microphones, Amateur movie devices, Medical and metallurgical scientific and school microscopes. Precision measuring equipment, being pioneered in the large telescope construction, stereo projection without glasses, the kinopanorama technologies and the MANPADS a portative optical guided missile.
Our description will concentrate in the camera developing giving special honor to the most important market phenomena –The Smena- not often seen as an important landmark in the photographic world. But decisive in a series of technical proposals adopted by various other manufacturers. Smena- (the new generation) is the opposite of sophisticated cameras. Its technical concept goes against the establishment that complicated cameras are needed for quality work. This simple camera at expert hands produces top quality results at near box camera price. Its second series adopted the 40mm optics as standard already in 1953. It was needed twenty more years for Leica CL and Rollei 35 to adopt the same philosophy in their products.
LOMO was known in the photo camera field through the 1930 Fotokor, which was the first mass produced Soviet camera. The extraordinary Reporter of 1937 and being the developer and contributor of the FED in the first period through their VOOMP Pioner (1934), the Gelgar Stereo Camera and in the previous war years some Aero photogrammetric cameras and specially the famous Photo Sniper with 300mm lens. Also pioneered bringing on light the first 35mm SLR camera the Sport evolved from the 1929 Gelvetta. Other cameras were made, but a special attention were directed to the learning of the photography through simple cameras as Uchenik and Tcyclokamera and Rekord in smaller parallel factories, Smena camera was aimed to the children and its forerunners can be considered to be the Liliput (1937) and Malyutka (1940)
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Alexander K.
AlexanderK
Germany
590 Posts |
Posted - Dec 03 2013 : 4:47:50 PM
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Luiz,
it is a great idea to make a book for this event, but we don't have enough time for it. LOMO will celebrate it's 100 aniversary at the end of February 2014. We could prepare an official booklet from USSRPhoto to congratulate LOMO with this jubilee.
Aidas has already wrote a book about LOMO and LOMO cameras, and I think this book will be presented during the official celebration.
Regards, Alexander |
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Luiz Paracampo
Luiz Paracampo
Brazil
2002 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Dec 04 2013 : 06:09:27 AM
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Alexander
Good News konwing about the preparation of the book by Aidas.
Really I am also preparing one.
Special enphasis is charged on Smena which was the Guiness Camera Championship. I am also preparing a special series of Smena based cameras, introducing a complete different concept to be made to our members.
"Na pamiyat RAOOMP v LOMOGRAPHY"
LP |
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calling all members
