Soviet

To Jupiter-8 and Back on a Rainbow of FEDs
2000 1125 Connor Brustofski

As a collector of colorful FED rangefinders, Connor weighs the advantages of cost against the risks of unpredictable results.

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  • Connor Brustofski
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Praktica MTL 5B SLR Camera Review
2000 1125 Jeb Inge

No one wants to be the person with the obvious schtick. But after volunteering to review a rangefinder, an SLR, and then a medium format and even half-frame cameras from the Soviet Union, I’m starting…

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The Great Joys and Many Compromises of Shooting a Minox Spy Camera
3000 1688 James Tocchio

The Minox spy camera is a near-perfect analog to the romantic myth of the charming spy. The idea of this tiny film camera is one of sophistication and luxurious style. But like the fictitious spooks…

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Rubinar 1000mm Mirror Lens Review
2400 1350 James Tocchio

In MotoGP, the world’s highest level of professional motorcycle racing, the bikes that riders ride are called liter bikes because their motors have an engine displacement of 1,000 cubic centimeters (cc). Since cubic centimeters are…

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Helios 44M 58mm F/2 Lens Review – Another Round of Russian Roulette
2400 1350 Josh Solomon

Our frequent coverage of lenses and cameras from the former Soviet Union might make us seem like ardent fans of the subgenre, but I can assure you it’s not the case (true at least for…

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Industar 61 L/D 55mm F/2.8 Soviet Rangefinder Lens Review
2400 1350 Josh Solomon

Writing for a photography website comes with some interesting side-effects. Aside from getting to shoot and own some of film photography’s greatest machines, you also end up with a few that leave you scratching your…

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One Roll, Five Countries, With the Half-Frame Agat 18K Film Camera
2000 1125 Jeb Inge

“I brought you a gift.” my friend said simply upon arriving in Europe, and I knew that the gift would be one of two sorts; either it’s one of the many small things I miss…

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FED 5b – The Joys and Pains of Shooting the Soviet Union’s Beer Can Rangefinder
1956 1100 Jeb Inge

For those who argue that the third part of a trilogy is typically the worst, The Godfather Part III is People’s Exhibit A. The political intrigue of financial malfeasance in Vatican City was destined to disappoint…

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We Shoot the Kiev 60 TTL, a Medium Format Monster from the Soviet Union
1970 1108 Jeb Inge

How many times have we heard the tired cliché, “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.”? Often it’s uttered in reaction to some change with which the bereaved doesn’t agree. And just as often, businesses…

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Jupiter-12 35mm F/2.8 Lens Review – Playing Russian Roulette with a Zeiss Copy
2000 1119 Josh Solomon

There is perhaps no more controversial, polarizing, and confusing subject in vintage photography than Russian lenses. For as many articles and forum threads that lionize the Russian lenses as dirt cheap Zeiss-killers there are just…

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Five Great Soviet Cameras – Guest Post by Colonel Troskovoynicovsky
2000 1125 James Tocchio

Greetings, Western imperialist sow. I am Colonel Troskovoynicovsky writing from within the great Soviet Republic. Your days are numbered, but be joyful temporarily, for while we design your inevitable collapse and political re-education you may…

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Seizing the Means of Production with the Soviet Zenit-E 35mm Film Camera
2000 1125 Jeb Inge

I spent the better part of a recent Saturday traveling and photographing a number of towns in central Virginia. In the town of Orange it was a vintage Coca Cola advertisement painted on the side…

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