One of the thrills of shooting old cameras is stepping back in time and experiencing what a photographer likely experienced years ago before the widespread use of plastics, LCD screens, and microprocessors. Cameras were made of metal and glass, and used springs, gears, and levers to accomplish the same task…
This is a Fujica 35 Automagic, a 35mm scale focus camera made by Fuji Photo Film Co. LTD starting in 1961. Although an entry level camera, it was one of the very first Japanese made 35mm cameras with automatic exposure. Using the built in selenium “electric eye” below the lens,…
This is a Voigtländer Vitessa L, a 35mm rangefinder camera made by Voigtländer AG Braunschweig between the years of 1954 and 1957. This model was an update to the original Vitessa A from 1950 with the addition of an uncoupled selenium light meter and all new LVS (Light Value System) scale. The…
This is a Voigtländer Superb, a twin lens reflex camera made by Voigtländer AG Braunschweig between the years of 1933 and 1939. The Superb was Voigtländer’s first and what would end up being the company’s only true TLR camera they would ever make. It was designed to compete with the Franke &…
This is a Voigtländer Bessamatic Deluxe made by Voigtländer AG Braunschweig between the years of 1962 and 1967. It is a slightly improved model to the original Bessamatic from 1959 with the addition of a T-shaped “Judas window” above the exposure meter which allows both aperture and shutter speed settings to be…
This is a Voigtländer Prominent 35mm rangefinder camera made by Voigtländer AG Braunschweig between the years 1952 and 1958. At the time of it’s release, it was Voigtländer’s top of the line 35mm camera and was designed to compete with Ernst Leitz’s Leica series. It has an interchangeable bayonet lens mount, a coincident…
Aaaah, Halloween is here again! Candy, costumes, trick-or-treaters, and for the third year in a row, another “Cameras of the Dead” post! This being my 5th Cameras of the Dead article, you probably already know what to expect. Three cameras from my “camera graveyard of death” (aka my basement) that…
This is a Zenit-E 35mm SLR camera, made by Krasnogorski Mekhanicheskii Zavod (KMZ) in the former Soviet Union between the years of 1965 and 1986. The entire Zenit (Зенит) line was extremely successful and not only sold very well, but it has become an iconic camera of the Soviet Union. Millions…
This is a Smena (Смена) 4, a 35mm compact camera made by GOMZ in Leningrad, Russia and was produced between 1958 and 1960. It was the 4th in the Smena family of cameras, and the last to be produced with this body style, made entirely of Bakelite. The camera was…
Last week’s Keppler’s Vault featured two different Russian Lens articles, so this week I thought I’d include a couple articles I’ve found that talk about 1950s and 60s Soviet cameras. On a side note, it’s interesting to me that every one of these articles refers to them as “Russian”, rather…
This is a Kiev-19, a 35mm Single Lens Reflex camera made by the Arsenal Factory in Kiev, Ukraine between the years 1985 to 1994. It was a replacement to the earlier Kiev-17 which was the first Soviet camera to use Nikon’s F bayonet mount. Most Nikon F-mount lenses will work…
In the last couple of decades, Soviet era cameras and lenses have enjoyed a generally positive reputation, making lenses like the Jupiter-8 and Helios-44 sought after by people searching for cost-effective alternatives to German or Japanese models. Even the lower end Industars can be good options for people looking for acceptable…
