11/23/2009 04:38
So...what means exactly "VTS-VS" ? please...
11/23/2009 12:35
Zoom,
Do you know, or have any ideas about which factory or which location the VTS-VS was made at ? And, do you know or have any ideas what the purpose of the camera would be for the Topographical Service since it is small format ... why would they need this camera ?
Regards, Bill
11/24/2009 08:53
Kirill,
From what I understand (by asking Yuriy in person during our meeting in France), he in that article is relying on a story of a friend who had a father working at that factory etc... We are not disputing that, but we're like to confirm it from some other sources as well, since there isn't any known documentary evidence of the Almaz factory ever making these cameras.. I guess we'd like something more concrete than word of mouth to solidify that account.
It is possible we will never know for sure, although Viktor Suglob promised some information in his book that he insisted we need to wait for to read in it. And I completely forgot to check it when I had it in my hands in Bievres, did anyone who was there remember what was in it? I know Aidas and Juhani have that book already, anything they can tell us that is not in Yuriy's article?
Vlad
11/24/2009 09:20
TCBBC is listed under Moskovskij Zavod Oboronnoj Promatslennosti or something like that. I have no cyrillic letters in my keyboard, and translitteration is to Finnish...
Vlad: Should I send you a scan of the text? After all I can't take it as a copyright violation as you are soon getting your copy and we are not duplicating anything that serious?
Best regards,
Juhani
11/24/2009 09:30
Hi Juhani, yea that'll be great if you don't mind of course, I'll translate and summarize and post it in short here.. Thank you!
Vlad
11/24/2009 10:52
Kirill,
Yes, the photo of one of my cameras is in the article on the DVD Tech site, and of course I gave Yuriy Davidenko permission to use the photo, but as Vlad has said, there is no confirmation or evidence that the article is correct.
There may be a theory also in Viktor Suglub's new book also, and hopefully there will be some evidence that this theory is correct! It is always easy to have a theory ... but to offer some convincing proof is the hard part with this camera.
I even have my own thoughts that by looking at the camera itself, and several details in its construction and build, that it may have been made as a project, for the Military Topographical Service of the USSR, but at one of the factories that were located in the Soviet Occupied Germany and had previously made the Contax cameras before they were dismantled to be used in the USSR. This may sound far-fetched at first, but when you look at the use of the specific serial numbers of the Ziess lenses used on the TSVVS (I will still call it that, although no doubt Zoom is correct about the real name being "VTSVS", as the search engines will find it under "TSVVS") and some other things like the numbers stamped onto the base plate and bottom of the shutter cage, the kind of leather used on the body and the case, the style of type used in the logo and serial number, and the quality and type of finish of the chrome.
Also, whoever designed the lens mount was very familiar with the Contax style mount, obviously, and the mount was designed not to take other lenses besides the normal 50mm lens, which makes me think that this may have been the only lens available in quantity in 1949-1950 ... in USSR there were other lenses available for this mount (taken from Germany), but in Germany maybe there were none left. Also it would seem that if made in USSR, the mount would have been an exact copy of the Contax mount rather than a new design that has no way to mount the lenses that use the exterior bayonet. This last idea, about the mount is something I have just thought of and maybe I'm not correct in my thinking about this detail.
So this is not a theory with any proof ... just some ideas I have had for some time, with my thoughts coming from observation.
Zoom,
Thank you for your answers to my questions! You are right that it could be made for auxilliary use and good to have confirmation that the camera was not made at FED or KMZ.
Regards, Bill
11/24/2009 11:13
Zoom. Yes, what ever that means...
Vlad. In 1h you will get a scan!
Best regards,
Juhani
11/24/2009 11:22
Zoom,
What factory is it and what do or did they produce? Any cameras or photo equipment? Why "LOL"?
Regards, Bill
But I think there is no doubt: Peter Coeln is a specialist. 