Will We See Russian Digital Cameras?

It may be a dumb question to ask but I for one will love to see a digital serious compact done by Russian camera makers. Fact is, the former USSR had a long history of camera making. At least the books say so. From 1932 to 1990, there had been quite a number of camera brands in USSR. Their logos are displayed in the following image.

Russia may not need to build back its consumer-camera industry from scratch. OEM products are not a new thing. If Ricoh can buy Sony's sensors and Nikon supplies its camera bodies to others, Russian cameras can follow this beaten track of development.

Why Russian cameras? I think the mysterious fanciful history of the former USSR will arouse a great deal of interest in Russia's cameras. There are just too many cool USSR cameras with sort of a sexy period outlook. If the right amount of investment is made in buying the right sensors and optics, the Russian makers can revive the glorious past of the USSR in, well, the cameras.

Or will the Chinese chew up the Russian brand names and produce Russian cameras with a Made in China tag? Some of the sexy USSR cameras:

Chaika-3, 1971-1973. Feature: Settings are made on the top plate--

KIEV-35M, c1990. Feature: Front cover folds down to switch the camera on -

KIEV-5, c 1967 – 1973. Feature: This one is equipped with the extraordinarily rare ultra high speed REKORD-4 f0.9/52mm lens -

Oh, or are they ugly to you?

Comments

Anonymous said…

Wow, I'm late..
I would love to see a digital Russian camera as I do collect a few Soviet era film jobs, I was on line now looking to see if a digital model exists, guess you answered my question lol

30 December 2016 at 05:29

Nevin said…

Wish you all the luck in your search!

4 January 2017 at 01:33

A Real Hero

(Grip On Reality: This photo was taken on my way to work. I was walking past trucks parking on a cul-de-sac when the ropes caught my attention. The light was right, the colour was right and the criss-crossing pattern was perfect and I held up my GX200. People passing by checked me out and wondered what could be made out of such a boring scene. To me, the fun in photography is that the photographer makes something interesting out of what is not obvious to most at the scene. The ropes tied in knots somehow reminded people I know who are in the grip of the recession) You must have also known a friend or two, or even yourself, being baffled by the spiral downturn of the economy. Bank went bankrupt and the rich was faced with a shrinking wealth. A friend of mine has just had his salary cut by over 10% and some of his colleagues started to be shed. But, wait. Was this done really for the sake of continuing the business? Or is there a factor or greed in it? I wonder whether the

New Low Prices

The window shopping some hours ago has almost provoked my AgIDS illness. Just in case you’re in Hong Kong or are coming here, and have the money to burn (All in HK$/ body only): GX200 = $3,280 GRD2 = $3,380 LX3 = $3,180 G10 = $3,280 Prices are available form a gear shop on the 1st floor of the Mongkok Computer Centre. Besides these new low prices, I found that Wing Shing Photo (55-57Sai Yeung Choi St., MK Tel: 2396 6886/ 91-95 Fa Yuen St., MK Tel: 2396 6885) is offering a Sony A700 + Carl Zeiss Lens package for HK$9,980 (hopefully, a bargain will make it some hundreds cheaper).

Eye Contact

(Leica D-lux 5) The digital era may make it easier to end up with fave shots. Even lousy photos may be turned likable after a few clicks in the post-processing workflow. But if digital advancement or amendments have any bearing on the cultivation of personal style, no photographers will need to discover his or her own photographer’s eye. Undoutedly, this is out of the question. Only with a trained photographer’s eye can we give a thinking gaze and capture an eternal moment, in our unique style. Style is the soul of a great photo. A few posts have been written in GXG to touch on the topic of photographer’s eye. Instead of finding an answer, which would require academic discussions, the posts are intended to give my general reflections and spark interests in moving towards further exploration of the topic. The posts can be viewed after the links: 1) Photographer's Eye: Storytelling 2) Photographer's Eye: Little Show of Observing 3) Photographer's Eye: Sight-Worthy 4

GX GARNERINGS

Search This Blog