Russian-made cameras

(I use the term loosely -- many cameras are also made in the Ukraine, so please accept my apologies if you are from Kiev.)

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Fed 5C -- A friend picked this nice rangefinder camera up in St. Petersburg, Russia for me, and it only cost him $15.Good, solid camera with working non-coupled selenium light meter. L-39mm lens mount, but not all lenses from same mounts will work.

[photo1] [photo2] [photo3]

Zenit EM - A later version of the Zenit E (below) that has a cold shoe for the flash, a black finish, and has auto-stopdown for the lenses. This camera originally had a Kalimar badge over the Zenit label. I originally purchased this on ebay with a Zeiss Tessar 2.8 50mm lens. Photo1 was taken with it. Photo 2 was taken with a Fujinon 55mm 1.8 lens.

[Photo1] [Photo2] [Photo3]

Zenit E - This USSR-made camera dates from the 1970s, and has a non-TTL selenium meter. No batteries required, which was probably a good thing in its country of origin. The cloth focal-plane shutter has a range of B to 1/500th sec. I have shot several rolls of film with this camera, and it works pretty well. The lens is a 42mm universal screw-mount 44mm Helios.

[photo1] [photo2 -with extension tube & flash]

KIEV 35A -- This little marvel is, as far as I know, an exact copy of the Minox 35. About the same size as a Rollei 35, too. It features an aperture-priority exposure system, 35mm lens, hot shoe for flash, and a fairly rugged plastic body. Some people have reported problems with theirs, but my particular camera has worked just fine.
Zorki 4 -- This clone of early Leicas is pretty common on eBay. It features a cloth focal-plane shutter, speeds from B to 1/500 sec., adjustable eye-correction for the viewfinder, pc flash connector, and of course, takes 39mm thread-mount lenses. Mine has a problem with the slow shutter speeds, so I have only run a single roll of film through it.
 

August 10, 2004