Wiki Article: Memories of my friend Isaak Maizenberg by Greg Prior

This is a preface to a preface. On May 31, 2026, I met Greg Prior at a camera show in Detroit, Michigan. We had a very pleasant conversation and soon discovered that we shared an interest in Isaak Maizenberg. Greg had known Isaak personally, while I knew of him through his reputation and through many people in the camera collecting community who had known or worked with him.

Isaak was a prominent figure in the Soviet photographic world. He authored numerous articles for Soviet photography magazines, books on camera repair and was a renowned camera repairman in both the Soviet Union and the United States. He was also one of the pioneers of Soviet camera collecting and restoration, helping to shape the hobby and preserve its history for future generations.

After the show, Greg and I continued communicating and agreed that it would be a great idea to write an article about Isaak. The article below was written by Greg and is accompanied by an article from Shutterbug magazine. Together, they serve as a tribute to Isaak's life, his contributions to photography, and the lasting impression he made on those who knew him. I believe this site would be a perfect place to host this article. Thank you @Greg Prior!

https://ussrphoto.com/modern/Wiki/default.asp?WikiCatID=50&ParentID=49&ContentID=1738&Item=Memories+of+my+friend+Isaak+Maizenberg++

I've just had a quick look through the article in the link and I noticed that Isaak earned a 30% pay bonus "for every pay period". I've only ever earned a £10 pay rise, when I learned to change the copper wire holding "Magazine" on the Toroidal power transformer winder that I operated in 2000-2001.

Some years later I "earned" being fired after 3 and a half hours when I was assembling metal frames for lights.🙄

So far those are the only noteworthy episodes in my working life.