10 years USSRPhoto camera?

Hi all,

well, in 2012 we received our 5 years camera. Now 2016 has just begun, so the next year we will have 10 years anniversary I think :-)

I think a third anniversary camera would be nice, "all good things are 3" as we say in germany.

Any ideas what camera we should take? The first one was a FED 2, the second the lovely nickel plated Zorki 1, what about a nice made KIEV II this time?

Ulrich



http://fotos.cconin.de

A good idea, Ulrich.
We just have to see if there are enough of these cameras at a goood price.
If not, another Kiev -for example a IIa- would be perfect.
Or perhaps, rather a III or IIIa, just to put our inscription on the lid? [:)]

Amitiés. Jacques.

Great idea, Ulrich.
The idea with Kiev-cameras is not bad, but I think that is not easy to get them for a good price and, besides of this, there is not so much place on Kiev-cameras for engraving.
What is about Zenit-E? These cameras are cheep and it is very easy to find some good ones for our anniversary camera.
In any case we have a little time till 2017 to think about...

Regards, Alexander

E has meter in front, B has even more space

Best regards,
Juhani

Yes. A Zenit would certainly be better.
After all, the two first ones were rangefinders.
Why not the third one, as a SLR?

Anyway, please, count on me, Vlad, if you decide there must be a ten year USSR photo camera. Whatever it can be!

Jacques.

Alexander and Juhani,

a Zenit would also be nice. But as Juhani says the Zenit B is better because there is more space on the front. And the selenium cell doesn't look very good in my eyes ;-)

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

Jacques,

it would be nice to have a 10 years camera. The next anniversary after 10 is 25 years [:D]

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

Another idea, instead of a Zenit B, what do you think about a Zenit 3M? There is also enough space for engravings but it looks more cute :-)

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

Don't count on me in 15 years, Ulrich! [:D]
So, OK for a ten year camera now, whatever is decided!

Jacques.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="MS Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by uwittehh</i>
<br />a Zenit would also be nice. But as Juhani says the Zenit B is better because there is more space on the front. And the selenium cell doesn't look very good in my eyes ;-)
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Why fake some original old cameras, I don't get it, let them rest in peace. I wouldn't complain about a Zenit-E though, the selenium cell makes it less desirable in my eyes.

I think everyone has some favorite cameras at home which are touched often, while other not so much desired ones are sleeping in boxes. Why not tune up those loved ones with parts, for example NEW wind and rewind knobs which look like fine pioneer knobs. There should still be some space on top of the knob for a fine anniversary engraving, and the good thing is, these tune ups can be reversed and everything is historical again, nothings faked. It also would help those who have cams with missing knobs, great if there are parts available.

Or instead of the vulcanite body, make a new plastic body you can look through. Would just be fantastic to have a working camera while you can always watch how it operates inside, much better than a cutaway. Also enough space for some anniversary printing, and still nothings faked, you only change parts.

Hello all!

Hmmmmmm.... well I'm going to have to see if that guy is still up to the task, I haven't talked to them in 5 years, I don't even know if they still do this. It'll have to be some very common camera that they can get a lot of easily, Zenit-E is a good option. Zenit-B is a bit harder to get. I like the "E" idea because it is an iconic Soviet camera. Lenny, your idea is marvelous, but the guy who made our two previous cameras probably won't be able to work with plastic... They can nickel-plate, chrome, etc.

So far I guess I see interest in 5-6 cameras (I'm including myself for 2 of them). So let's keep this thread open to see who else is interested, I'll reach out to Mika in Moscow to see if it's still an option.

Cheers,
Vlad.

Hello Vlad

You can add me as #005 too. Thanks!

The Zenit-E or Zenit-3(M) would be great for me too. Maybe painted black?

Best wishes - Guido

Hi Vlad.

You can count me in too. I think a Zenit-E would be a good model to choose for the 10th anniversary of USSRPhoto.com. I doubt that I will still be around for the 25 year one!



David.

Hello Vlad
If this is still a possibility, put me in for a 10 year camera.

Cheers
Geoff

Hi Vlad

I am ok for 2 cameras
008 and 004 if it is possible...

Fred

Hello guys, sorry for extended absence, just returned from vacation, I haven't been able to reach the person who made these cameras for us in the past, I will try to reach out again and will let you know.

Thank you,
Vlad

I've emailed Mika, let's see what he says, but let's talk about this special Zenit-E. Idea for covering, chrome? Would you prefer wood as covering like last one (which I've never seen done on Zenit-E and it'll be unique) or a nice custom leather? Also - color of chrome (it's probably per availability, but let's throw some ideas around) - nickel, gold, shiny chrome, black paint?

I was kind of thinking gold and mahogany wood would be an interesting combination, we hadn't done gold yet [:)].

Cheers,
Vlad.

Vlad,
I am not sure about gold & mahogany wood for Zenit [:)]. I would prefer shiny chrome for metal parts as on the 5-Years camera. Covering could be for example shiny black / dark green / dark blue. It could give the camera also very chic and unique look.

Regards, Alexander

Hello everyone, hello Vlad

I'm aware of my post in Feburary the 2nd but now I think it would be a better idea to look for some Zorki-3M (widely available in this days for very little money). Because of the selenium cells on the Zenit-E I think this would be a not so good option after all. Some of them would no more work today or in one or two years.

On the top of the Zorki-3M we would have many space to mention UssrPhoto and the "Zenit" logo (not "Zenit-3M" or a russian equivalent) would be a very good choice. A white or golden writing would be a good choise.

For the colors we had black (2 years) and bright chrome (5 years), so we maybe should change to somewhat more unconventional this time! A bright red maybe? Blue or green would also be fine but maybe somewhat boring. You know ... red is the color of the USSR flag by the way. Even when we had some kind of black wood (5 years) we could use a red-brown wood leathering this time. The knobs in silver are fine but if you think they should be in gold (like the star on the USSR flag) I would be fine with too. The USSR flag has also the colors red and gold as far as I remember and as Wikipedia says (-&gt; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sowjetunion#/media/File:Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svg).

As a lens I would prefer a black Industar-50 (maybe some new-old stock could be found?). With a red cap ... ;-)

I would appreciate any comment!

Best wishes - Guido

Hi Guido, I assume you mean Zenit-3M, not Zorki [:)]. I can tell you that the cost of those will be significantly higher than Zenit-E because they are generally most expensive and are still harder to find than Zenit-E. Maybe Zenit-B would be a little less... I personally like the idea of Zenit-E in particular just for the symbolism at 10 years, since it's the first Soviet camera that comes to mind, the most produced and thus the one that would pretty well represent the hobby.

Let's see if Mika replies and if it's even possible to make these now, his eBay store doesn't seem to have any more of these custom cameras left so it's possible he does not work with that person anymore who made these for us in the past..

I personally wouldn't mind this kind of look. With maybe shiny chrome (or painted as you suggested) like this:

http://www.ussrphoto.com/resize/resize_image.aspx?ImgWd=800&IptFl=/UserContent/12102016_woodleica.JPG

http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent/12102016_woodleica.JPG

Cheers,
Vlad

Hello Vlad

You're right, "Zenit" not "Zorki" ... But search at eBay for "Zenit-3M" and you will see that many are available for very little prices (less than 10$ in some offers). The Zenit-B is hard to find by the way ... I'm looking for some for a while.

I don't like the Zenit-E nor the Zenit-B but the Zenit-3M would be a very cool camera for our 10-year-special.

Best wishes - Guido

Hello again,

I've recieved a reply from Mika and unfontunately with some very sad news. The person who made our previous cameras had passed away last year so he doesn't know anyone else to make this happen.. I will ask around but it seems like our previous series just became very limited editions..

Vlad

Didn't the Zenit 3m have brass top and bottom plates? if so, perhaps it would be good to have the gray metal stripped off so that the cameras come like they were supplied in a brass finish?

I think this would entail the 'repainting' of any black writing that's on the top/bottom plates, as I think any 'stripping' would get rid of the black paint as well.

I presume the wind knobs etc. were not brass, so a mix of brass, chrome and black may not look as good as we would hope.

Would it be possible to make the wind knobs etc. look brass? What about the lens, which type would it be and could it be made to look brass as well?

Yes, I know. I'm getting into the realms of fantasy now.

But I do think Brass and black would look good.

I think the front of the prism should have 'Zenit 3m' on it. I also think there's enough room on top of the prism for "10 years of USSR photo forum", though maybe with 'U' starting a second line of text.
Perhaps that inscription should be in red?

This camera will be useable, yes? How much would it be?

Hmm , if "All good things are 3" then perhaps it ought o be a Zenit 3 that is used? In which case, the red inscription should go on tha back of the top plate.

EDIT: Sorry, I've only just read the sad news in the previous post. Looks like we may not be able to have this done.

Sorry that Vlad's solution cannot be used.
It would certainly be possible to find another guy to make this short series?

Anyway, as already told, you can put me in, Vlad, if possible. A Zenit would be a perfect symbol of our forum, even if I have only one!

Amitiés. Jacques.

Vlad,
I asked about such fakes in the Ukraine and hope to get an answer till the end of November.
Any ideas about the possible price (max)?

Regards, Alexander

Alexander, thank you! We paid $120-150 USD in the past for such cameras.

Cheers,
Vlad

This may seem like a silly question, but are these anniversary cameras actually useable?

I don't really know why I'm asking, I probably won't be able to afford one anyway.

yeah the two they I got were totally refurbished, I usually used the 2 year one.

Many thanks for trying, Alexander.

Good morning, Vlad;

Last year I had thought about stepping up and asking to be included as a participant in the "10 year program," but it looks like that will not be possible. Admittedly, this would have just been something where it would "be nice" to do it, but it is not truly necessary. I do have my Kiev-88 and other 120 roll film cameras, and there is a Zorki-4K here that I was able to clean, relubricate, and adjust to fit my desire for a solid working 35mm film rangefinder camera. These really are good working mechanical cameras with a range of adjustments that allow taking photographs over a wide range of lighting conditions. I enjoy using mine.

Yes, when doing work for other people, now I will usually use a DSLR camera with its immediacy and availability for transferring the photographs I have taken to them at the end of the event, and usually ready for use in their newsletter or on their web site.

But with these cameras, it brings back the feelings that I experienced back in the late 1950s and the 1960s when I was beginning to use cameras and learning photography. Then a photographer was much more involved in all aspects of the picture taking process. Now with auto-exposure, auto-focusing, and wide range zoom lenses with good image quality, photography really is much easier now. Most of what is left for a photographer is the framing and composition of the photograph, and the timing of the photograph. A lot of modern photography really is a "point-and-shoot" process today. With the Kiev, Zenit, and Zorki cameras here, I can feel much more like I did back 50 or 60 years ago when taking a photograph.

Enjoy;

Ralph
Latté Land, Washington

Hi Ralph,

good to see you back on the forum! Yes, unfortunately this project didn't take off as I still can't find anyone to do the work.. these cameras are always a great memento to have, I still cherish the 2 and 5 year anniversary ones, always great conversation pieces.. if I do run into someone who has the skills to make one, I will definitely announce it here.

Best regards,
Vlad