"As Du Volant" (skuhnphoto)
11/25/2014 at 08:44 • Filed to: cameralopnik
1
5|
"As Du Volant" (skuhnphoto)
11/25/2014 at 08:44 • Filed to: cameralopnik | 1
| 5 |
Since we've got a Soviet limo on NPOCP today I thought it'd be a good time to share my latest acquisition to my vintage camera collection. It's a Zenit 12XP, from the USSR.
This one was built in Belarus (it's stamped "Made in USSR"), was bought new in France about 30 years ago by my stepmother's stepfather, went with him to Germany when he moved there with my stepmom's mom, and when he passed away my stepmother put it in her suitcase and brought it back to Kentucky with her. And yesterday it finally made its way to me in Pennsylvania.
It's a clunky old beast, big and heavy and very deliberate in its operation yet very simply built, according to the Soviet philosophy of "what isn't there can't break."
Bonus: Cyrillic lettering.
I still use and develop my own film, so I'm looking forward to taking this thing out and using it.
While reading about these cameras online I learned that the Zenit company made a really oddball type of camera called the Fotosniper.
I want one! You can pick them up on eBay for about $200-300.
Cé hé sin
> As Du Volant
11/25/2014 at 10:10 |
|
Gost?
|
As Du Volant
> Cé hé sin
11/25/2014 at 10:24 |
|
I don't know what the Cyrillic text actually translates to, but that dial is for setting the film sensitivity aka speed.
You know, 200 speed film, 400 speed film, etc.
MarquetteLa
> As Du Volant
11/25/2014 at 12:21 |
|
Awesome! I have a small collection of 6-7 old SLRs and rangefinders. Nothing super noteworthy, but they're fun little cameras.
Nikon EM
Canon AE-1 (I use this the most. Love this camera.)
Argus C3
Minolta Maxxum 7000
Yashica Electro 35 GSN
|
As Du Volant
> MarquetteLa
11/25/2014 at 13:13 |
|
Heh, I've got one of those C3's too. I've heard them referred to as the "brick" and when you hold it it's easy to see why.
I've got close to a dozen old cameras now, seems like once you get one or two of them more of them keep finding you. Off the top of my head:
Pentax K1000
Pentax K1000 SE
Olympus OM-2
2 Olympus OM-10's
Argus C3
Argus C44
Yashica Lynx
Rolleiflex, can't remember the model
Zenit 12XP
A couple of little fold-up Agfas, can't remember the model
The K1000 SE is my favorite and the one I use the most, but I use the Olympus ones a decent bit too. Not only do I like the functionality of the SE, it also looks really cool. It's got brown trim instead of the usual black, and paired with a vintage camera strap it's really eye-catching.
Estate sales are great for cameras but it's definitely a game of nice price or crack pipe. Seems like they're always under $20 or over $100.
|
MarquetteLa
> As Du Volant
11/26/2014 at 11:02 |
|
Yes, you're absolutely right about the pricing on old cameras.
The brown on the K1000 is great! Haven't seen anything like that before. I really want to replace my Nikon D3100 with a Nikon Df; it seems like the perfect digital SLR.