A Survey (Enquete)

Among pur partners, members and contributors. I ask:
- Which Soviet camera is more fashionable, usable and/or pleasant, or fascinate you ?

The first idea is to have a common symbol for us.

After answers I will show you an interesting and perhaps unknown item.
Do not leave the question unanswered please.


Regards

What a question, dear Luiz!

For me, it would be a Fed NKVD, without hesitation, regardless of the version. But tell me if you want a second preferred camera...

Amitiйs. Jacques.

The Zenit E series. It was my first reflex camera which I still use today. It is perhaps one of the most produced camera's of all time, widely sold in the Netherlands.


The commonly sold lens with the kit the Helios-44 (Zeiss Biotar copy) is still very popular.

They made success with a camera that was not a direct copy, but a design that evolved from the Leica and Zorki. I like the simplicity reliability and straightforward design. And most of all the 'built to last' factor being service friendly and repairable.

Answers were very similar to my thoughts, as expected.
We need more answers to fulfil a research.
The second choice is also acceptable;
In answers to the first choice we should advance the next question:
Why? - The reasons of first choice.
Regards

Like Jacques, I like the FED NKVD. The best two for me are the Zorki 3 and Zorki 3M. But I also love the Zenit, my first SLR was a Zenit B from Foto-Quelle, labeled as Revueflex B. I still have it :-)

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

I'll go with the "fascinates you" part or Luiz question.

1. Zarya (no idea why, just fascinates me)
2. Kristall (childhood memories, and a cool camera, especially with a chrome Helios-44)
3. Start, Narciss - build quality
Will stop here.

But in general, what the Soviets directly copied (from Leica, Contax), like FED or Kiev - do not fascinate me. The originals do, but not the copies. I do love the FEDs and Kievs' of course, would not be on this forum otherwise.

Why the Fed NKVD as my first choice?

When I began collecting, I fell across a prewar Fed. It was in the nineties, and we did not know much about them (I had the chance it was perfectly usable). A subject of research which was accompanied, a bit later, by the Princelle and Alain Berry.
It's too, by its different versions, a "concentrate" of history. I specially think of the production during the forties: last 1d-s, so-called Berdsk, Red Flag, Fed Arsenal, very first 1f...
And it's too a real pleasure. Still now, I am moved by the second curtain overtaking the first one, at 1/20th. I usually shoot with a Canon EOS 1V: massive, heavy but perfect .That said, I regularly come back to my 1941 1d S with a wartime 2/5cm Sonnar. Magic!

As my second choice, I would say the Zorki 3 too: beautiful and innovating.

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Zorki 1 was my mother's camera which I was allowed to use and it always worked, even if your fingers almost froze off in the winter snow. Pleasant but not fascinating.

Fascinating: I go with Jacques concerning the pre-war FED, also because diving into it's history it reveals a lot of what was going on in Russia at that time. And usable too - mine stil work.
The Leningrads may not be very handy in your pocket but I like the chunk of heavy metal with it's mechanical motor drive.

My choice will be the Gomz SPORT...
Probably because this is the first reflex camera (or may be the second)...
And it is a so unusual camera.....

Fred

Thanks to all for the reply. This is to get the feeling of admirers /collectors mind I need more answers from you that compose our forum
Regards.

Hmmm,

I like the Zenit C, even though the one I owned had a shutter so unreliable that it broke twice after firing it a couple of times, and I knew I'd find loading it rather annoying. I do know, however, that their viewfinders can be cleaned so well that they look a couple of stops brighter.

I like the Zorki 4K, even though the rangefinder spots on most of those I've owned have been rather hard to see, and the edge of the viewfinder was almost impossible to see without a lot of time spent moving my eyes and head once I had to start wearing glasses. They are easy enough to load and use and the speed range is good.

I like the Fed 2, even though they can have almost invisible rangefinder spots and have a limited speed range. The viewfinder frame is easier to see than on a Zorki 4K.

I like the Fed 3A(5) that I have now, as the viewfinder frame is easier to see than a Zorki 4k, the rangefinder spot is clear and easier to see than on a Zorki 4k and without being too bright to see the real image as it sometimes is on the Fed 4. Even though the speeds only go to 1/500 as on the Fed 2, they do go up to 1 second as on the Zorki 4K, so over all the Fed 3A is like a hybrid of a Fed 2 and a Zorki 4K.

I nearly forgot to mention that I like the look of the Zenit Kristall.

Perhaps someone would like to accept the challenge of designing a symbol for all of us out of bits of every soviet camera that gets into the top 10 most liked/used cameras?

Thanks Seany for the response and explanation.
Regards
LP