Lubitel 6x9

I will be glad to hear any thought about this contraption

Wow! That's some very nice machining! Thanks for posting that! I doubt this is a scientific camera, I would think this would be a street photographer camera, just like my FED3 6x9. Since the format had been popular with "roaming photographers". It has also similar removable back with dark slide, so I would think that what it was made for..

I am a bit surprised that the Lubitel fits 9cm horizontally!

Okynek, I want to thank for being very active on this site, it would be great if you post a separate thread introducing yourself and writing a few things about you. Who you are, what you do, what you collect, how big is your collection, where you live, etc...

Thanks!
Vlad

"roaming photographers" who are they? Why they need such big negatives?

You know the old scruffy guys who used to hang out in the parks asking you to take your picture... Usually have a tripod with a camera on their shoulder. Most of those were FKDs but quite a few other large format cameras... and I'm not sure why large format.. it just was... Maybe someone else knows..

Very interesting! I did not pay attention to those guys. And another point for investigation: why did they need large format? Why can’t they use Moskva, Turist, Fotocor? Why can’t they use 6x6 cameras what was available at any camera store? Why they go through such aggravation to modify smaller cameras?

Cost was probably one major factor as Lubitels and FEDs were probably cheaper cameras than Moskva and other large format ones.. so modifying was maybe cheaper than getting a higher end camera.

I also know FKDs had an instant development sheet film that you would just dip into some solution and you have a picture... Luiz Paracampo can probably chime in here, he is an expert on these... but regarding 6x9s... not sure...