F 21

This is pretty old, but just posting for archival purposes:

http://shop.lomography.com/mf1/

Vlad.

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Originally posted by Vlad

This is pretty old, but just posting for archival purposes:
http://shop.lomography.com/mf1/

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The History section of this page has many errors.
One error I found in the Specifications:
"Lens: Multicoated MSOF 28/2.8"
Must be:
"Lens: MC OF-28T" or simple "MC OF-28"

Thanks Zoom! So is KMZ really rebranding these cameras still into Zenits?? Or someone else is doing that?

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Originally posted by Vlad

So is KMZ really rebranding these cameras still into Zenits?? Or someone else is doing that?

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"Zenit" is the plant trade mark (of course, slightly known, but known ;)...
The real name of this camera was "AYaKS-12" (not "Ajax"! This is the abbreviation!). The KMZ production neutral name: "MF-21" (MF == Mikro-Fotoapparat == micro-photocamera; 21 == 21 mm film width). Production was started in 1952 year.
Btw, cameras were exported, and not to the socialist countries only...

Thank you, but were they exported secretly? Was the production secret for special services? Or public did know about these cameras? When did it become Zenit MF-21 and open to public? After the collapse of USSR or earlier? Was Zenit MF-21 a result of left-over production?

Must be:
"Lens: MC OF-28T" or simple "MC OF-28"
______________________________
This is the same lens of Horizont cameras OF 28-P (Panoramic) Right?

This Lomography shop is not shy, asking $1000

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Originally posted by Vlad

Was the production secret for special services?

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This camera was for a law machinery (a police shadowing etc.), not for a espionage in a foreign countries.

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Originally posted by Vlad
When did it become Zenit MF-21 and open to public?

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At first: "Zenit MF-1" -- not "MF-21". "MF-1" was "MF-21" without "sredstva prikrytiya" (camouflage).
In 1992. See http://www.zenitcamera.com/archive/spycams/to-market-with-mini-camera.html

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Originally posted by Vlad
Was Zenit MF-21 a result of left-over production?

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(MF-1) Initially? No.

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Originally posted by Luiz Paracampo

This is the same lens of Horizont cameras OF 28-P (Panoramic) Right?

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YES!

See also:
http://www.zenitcamera.com/archive/horizon/horizont-secrets.html

Thank you Zoom! This is all very interesting, since we know so little about this camera. Excellent article! It still does not answer the question which non-communist counties it was exported to. Article says it was never picked up, but that was 1993 after all .

This article also introduced me to two new cameras I have not heard of before - Ofort and Journalist. Do you have any more information about those? If you do or have any links, could you please create a separate thread for them in this forum, I don't want to mix it into this one.

Thanks!

Vlad

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Originally posted by Vlad

It still does not answer the question which non-communist counties it was exported to.

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Yes. But I know the history of all AYaKS cameras... ;)
Some information is there:
http://www.photohistory.ru/Ajax-series.html

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Originally posted by Vlad
This article also introduced me to two new cameras I have not heard of before - Ofort and Journalist. Do you have any more information about those?

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Ofort -- was a medical equipment... Not interesting... (for example: Ofort-ID is camcorder+stand+PC+software)
Journalist -- was a night viewer with a camera. See http://www.zenitcamera.com/archive/zenit-12/index.html#zenit-312m (ZENIT-312m with NV-400) for example (this is not the "Journalist").