Gearing up for the Crappy Commie Camera Party (Part IV): The Pentacon Electra 2, An Automatic Camera For SL Film

Anyone who has read this blog will know that I’ve really tumbled down the Rapid film system rabbit hole. It all started late in 2024, when I picked up a couple of Agfa’s Iso-Rapid IF cameras and the Welta Penti II (the ‘Golden Wonder’) for the Frugal Film Project. Since then, I’ve added several more Rapid film cameras to my collection, from a 1940s Agfa Karat — the original version of Agfa’s Rapid system — to 1960s Rapid cameras like the Voigtländer Vitoret Rapid D.

Although the Rapid film system was developed by the West German film company Agfa, in response to the launch of Kodak’s instamatic film system, East German camera companies soon developed their own version of Rapid film, known as the SL, or Schnell Lade (‘Speed Loading’) system. Eastern Bloc SL cameras used exactly the same format canisters as the Agfa Rapid system, the films are interchangeable, except that the SL canisters were made of plastic, not metal, like in the West.

I already have two SL format cameras, my beloved Smena SL, with its classic Triplet T-43 4/40 lens, and the ‘Golden Wonder’, which I think of as a Rapid camera but it was actually made in East Germany, and I had this ‘need’ for a couple more. I started my search with the SL System page on Wikipedia, which quite handily gives a list of SL format cameras at the bottom. I mentally crossed off the Smena SL and the Penti II, and started searching down the list on eBay. 

In the end, I settled on a Pentacon Electra 2, an aperture priority automatic camera from the late 1960s, from a German seller. In the eBay post it was described as, ‘fully functional condition with age-appropriate signs of wear’, but what really convinced me to go with this model was a YouTube video about the camera which featured a close-up of the lens and its wonderful 60s style pictograms for the focusing distance markers.

The Pentacon Electra 2 is a camera that screams the 60s, from the amazing pictograms mentioned above to its Eastern Bloc brick-like shape — almost utilitarian. What is unusual about this camera is that it’s an automatic camera. Well, aperture priority — you set the exposure, sunny, hazy, or cloudy — and the camera sets the shutter speed. It’s powered by two AA batteries, and the CdS sensor is situated behind a little round window above the lens.

Being an SL format camera, there’s no rewind knob, and the top of the camera is plain apart from a hot shoe and a little window for the film counter. The camera actually came with a flash, but that flash is anything but portable. It’s huge, for one thing, and instead of taking batteries the flash is powered by a mains lead! On the bottom of the camera is a thread for a tripod and a cover for the battery compartment. Handily, the cover has a guide to the aperture settings and conditions. 

On the front, to the right of the lens, is a little toggle switch that you can set the ISO of the film. There are two options, ISO 50 or 100. To the left of the lens is another toggle switch to set how the camera functions. This can be set to three options: Automatic (actually aperture priority), flash sync (1/125s), or flash sync for bulbs (1/30s). Below this toggle switch is the shutter lever. 

Focus distance is presented in metres and feet around the lens. There are also those wonderful pictograms for distances for portraits, groups and landscapes. The aperture can be set to f2.8, f4.8, f8, and f13.5 with a lever on the bottom of the lens. You can see these as little icons through a window on the top of the lens for ‘tripod’ (fully open), cloudy, hazy and sunny conditions. If you turn the lens upside-down the lens has the f-numbers printed out. They are also on the battery cover.

On the back of the Electra is a wind-on knob with a large arrow showing the direction of travel of the film. This is important since the direction is right to left, instead of the customary left to right. When the film is wound on, the shutter is cocked with a satisfying ‘click’ 

https://flic.kr/p/2raDP66

I was keen to try out the Pentacon Electra 2, and loaded it with a roll of Harman Phoenix film that I have laying around (nowadays I always have some Phoenix, or Harman Red, decanted into Rapid canisters for the Frugal Film Project). Besides, it’s the Crappy Commie Camera Party, and I want to use the Pentacon for this, too. In my rush to get out, I was half way through the roll before I remembered that the box speed of Phoenix is actually ISO 100, so the film was underexposed by 1 stop. However, I came across a YouTube video where someone exposed Phoenix at ISO 100, so I’m hoping that I might have got away with it.

https://flic.kr/p/2raDP7D

The results came out great! I needn’t have worried about rating the film at ISO 100 instead of the box speed of ISO 200. There were some light leaks, but I’m increasingly convinced that these are because of the lab loading these into the developing machine rather than leaks within the camera or SL canister. Instead of transferring the film to a 35mm cassette, this film was loaded straight from the SL canister, and there were still light leaks. On the frames thatdid not show light leaks, the exposure was spot on, and I reckon these are the best results I have had from Harman Phoenix. 

https://flic.kr/p/2raDP97

I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr, light leaks and all, if you want to see the rest of the images.

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#Agfa #AgfaRapid #CrappyCommieCameraParty #Experimental #Lomo #Pentacon #Rapid #RapidFilm #Retro #Shittycamerachallenge #SL #Soviet #SovietCamera #Vintage

Gearing Up For The Crappy Commie Camera Party, Part III: The Zorki-6 Rangefinder Camera

I’d never imagined needing another Soviet era camera for the Crappy Commie Camera Party (CCCP). After all, I have the Zenit 11 SLR and it’s collection of lenses, the Chaika II Half-frame, umpteen Smenas to play with, and the supremely dodgy KMZ Horizont panoramic camera. Surely that’s enough? But then a mutual on BlueSky posted about his Zorki-6, and, well, I’m sure that you can guess the rest.

Actually finding a Zorki-6 wasn’t that difficult. There are certainly a lot available on the ‘Bay. Eventually, I whittled my selection down to one reasonably priced model from Poland, and the deed was done. The item was described as follows, ‘I’m offering for sale a set consisting of a ZORKI-6 camera and an INDUSTAR-50 50mm f3.5 Tessar type lens. This is a “swirl bokeh” lens and it can be used with a mirrorless camera using an adapter.’ Well that was a plus point from the start. I have an LTM39/M43 adapter that I’d love to try with my mirrorless cameras. 

The description of the condition of the camera was promising, ‘a nice looking camera with some traces of use [and] no major scratches or dents on the camera body.’ It continued, ‘The camera seems to be fully functional — shutter cocking and release work fine as do all the knobs and controls.’ So that was good. The condition of the lens was good, with ‘no visible scratches on the lenses. No fungus nor fog inside, maybe a few particles of dust …  the aperture ring works properly, the focusing ring works a bit unevenly but no problems with focusing.’ So, all in all a decent enough cameras and, for that matter, my first rangefinder.

The Zorki-6 is a Soviet-era 35mm rangefinder camera, made by KMZ between 1959 and 1966. According to the serial number of the camera (620045286), the year of manufacture can be found from the first two numbers, which dates this one to 1962. The early Zorki models were based on the design of the Leica cameras, but by the time of the Zorki-6 they were a more ‘standalone’ design. The Zorki-6 will allow changing the shutter speeds before or after cocking the shutter, which is good because this always catches me out with older Soviet-era cameras like the KMZ Horizont. The shutter speeds are 30, 60, 125, 250, 500 (+B). The frame counter must be reset manually when changing films, so I know that’s going to catch me out.

The standard lens that came with the Zorki-6 was the Industar-50. This model was fitted with a silver M39-mount Industar 50mm f3.5 lens, serial number 5762482, which dates it at 1957. Focusing is achieved through a rangefinder, and as this is my first rangefinder camera I really expected to have problems. I needn’t have worried, though. After setting the diopter adjustment under the rewind knob it was quite clear to see the ‘ghost’ image in the viewfinder,  and lining these up suggested the rangefinder was perfectly aligned.

Eager to test the camera, I loaded it with what I thought was an offcut of a roll of Harman Red film. After decanting some Harman Red into Rapid canisters, it seemed like a good idea to leave the rest in the 35mm cassette and use that to test out a new camera. However, instead of the 8—12 exposures I expected, I ended up getting around 22 exposures from the roll. Rewinding the film was a little awkward, you hold in the little button between the shutter button and the shutter speed selector, and turn the rewind knob.

For exposure I used the Camera Meter app and rated the film at ISO 125, which is the box speed of Harman Red. In the event, the exposure was fine. Harman Red kept its high contrast tonality, and some of the images came out really well. What I did notice, though, were the marks over many of the frames. I wasn’t sure what these were caused by, I did wonder if they were artefacts caused by the shutter curtains starting to fail.

https://flic.kr/p/2r6bWDY

https://flic.kr/p/2r6bWDs

https://flic.kr/p/2r6hptw

All in all, though, I was delighted with how this roll came out. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr, light leaks and all, if you want to see the rest of the images.

https://flic.kr/p/2r6gssS

https://flic.kr/p/2r6hEkp

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#CrappyCommieCameraParty #Industar #M39MountVintageCamera #Rangefinder #Retro #Shittycamerachallenge #SovietCamera #Zorki #Zorki6

Another Contender for The Crappy Commie Camera Challenge: The Chaika II Half-frame Camera

I came across this one by accident (if ever anything is ‘accidental’ when I’m browsing the Kamerastore website), and as it’s a half-frame camera there was instant appeal. It also has a lovely little 28mm pancake lens and I was immediately wanting to try this M39-mount lens on my micro four-thirds cameras, but more on that later.

The Chaika II is a heavy beast, weighing over 300g and made of metal with plastic innards. It features shutter speeds of 1/30s, 1/60s, 1/125s, 1/250s and B, and the interchangeable 28mm lens has apertures from f2.8 to f16. The Chaika II was made by Belomo in Minsk, then in the Soviet Union, between 1967 and 1972. It was called Chaika, meaning ‘seagull’ after the call-sign of cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space.

My model was in the ‘Not Passed’ category on the Kamerastore website and has ‘flaws that will affect typical use’. In this case, there ‘is fungus on the inner lens elements’, though the camera body itself is fully functional. I was interested in this model for two reasons: It was made in the Soviet Union, which is ideal for the upcoming Crappy Commie Camera Party (CCCP), and it’s a half-frame camera, and I’m really getting into half-frame at the moment with the Welta Penti II (which itself is fully CCCP compliant).

The camera body is fully functional, and is in nice condition. Like any Soviet era camera that I’ve ever had it has some unique features that make it an interesting user experience. For a start, the shutter button is on the front of the camera, just above the lens assembly. This is actually quite good, as when you are holding the camera your fingers are automatically directed away from the lens. The shutter speed is set from a little dial on the back of the camera, near the viewfinder,  and the speed is visible through a little window on the top plate.

Like other Soviet cameras I have, like the Smena 8M, and the KMZ Horizont, the rewind knob is tucked away. In this case on the bottom of the camera combined with the film speed dial. If you pull on the knob and turn it clockwise it locks open. Then you can twist the knob to rewind the film.

Because it’s a half-frame camera, and I don’t really have the patience to use 72 frames on a 36 exposure roll, I used an ‘off-cut’ of Harman Phoenix film after respooling some film into Rapid canisters. This gave me a length of film equivalent to about 15 frames, which for me was ideal to test the camera, and a technique that I might use in the future.

For a camera that was supposed to be filled with fungus the images came out great! I will certainly have to get out the lens spanner and see if I can clean the elements, and the Harman Phoenix gave some strange colour shifts, but I really liked the results.

Oh, and about that business of wanting to use the M39 lens from the Chaika II with my micro four-thirds mirrorless cameras. That looks like it’s a non-starter, unfortunately. Apparently, the camera/lens combination was designed to be used with an Belomo enlarger that never actually materialised. So it’s not really an interchangeable lens camera but a dedicated half-frame lens that was could be removed and mounted in an enlarger. From what I gather, you can hack the lens so that it will focus to infinity on micro four-thirds cameras, but that means that the lens won’t then function properly on the Chaika II. So that’s not really something I want to do.

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#Belomo #CCCP #Chaika #Chaika2 #CrappyCommieCameraParty #HalfFrame #M39 #MadeInUSSR #Seagull #SovietCamera

Gearing up for the Crappy Commie Camera Party, Part 2: Testing The Zenit 11, a Soviet-era Single Lens Reflex Camera

At the beginning of March I picked up a Zenit 11 single lens reflex (SLR) camera for the Crappy Commie Camera Party (CCCP). In the first post, ‘Gearing up for the Crappy Commie Camera Party’, I introduced the camera and ran through some of its … features. In this post, I managed to take the camera out on a rare sunny day and put it through its paces. 

Although it was in the ‘Not Passed’ category of the Kamerastore website, with ‘flaws that will affect typical use’, in this case it was just the ‘light meter doesn’t work properly … Otherwise it is in good working condition!’ I also picked up two extra lenses, a CCCP compliant Industar-50-2, and a Cosina 50mm f1.8 lens, since the aperture on my Pentacon 50mm f1.8 lens is stuck at the widest aperture position and it turned out that even at its fastest shutter speed the camera would overexpose most films.

To test the camera I found an old roll of Lomochrome Metropolis that I’ve had sitting around for a few years now. I reckon this expired around 2022, but it’s new enough that I didn’t really think it needed much exposure adjustment so I exposed it at ISO 100, at the low end of the ISO 100-400 range of this film. To measure the exposure I used the smartphone app Light Meter.

Images taken with the Cosina 50mm f1.8 lens came out really well. I set the aperture on ‘auto’ mode, and the app suggested an exposure of 1/125s at f16. Looking at the final images, I think that the app is overexposing by around 1 stop, which I have noticed before and always seem to forget, so next time I might try adjusting the exposure accordingly. 

Along with the Zenit 11 I bought an M42 lens reverse ring for macro photography. On one side is the M42 thread that screws into the camera, on the other side is a 49mm filter thread that fits the Pentacon and the Cosina. With the Cosina mounted on the reversing ring, I set the aperture to f16 in manual mode and tried some close up photography.  Again this came out really well, and the macro photographs showed some really nice detail in the images. With a 50mm lens, the macro scale is roughly life-size, so I think I’m going to get some nice close ups with these during the CCCP challenge. 

Finally,  I wondered if I could use my homemade Deakinizer with the Zenit 11. If you’re not familiar with the Deakinizer, it was a lens invented by cinematographer Roger Deakins that creates an image with a clear centre to the frame and blurred edges. A cheap way to make a Deakinizer is to hold a wide-angle converter reversed in front of a camera lens, and I have a Panavision wide-angle converter just for this purpose. 

The filter thread of the Panavision is 67mm, so I created a 49-67mm step up attachment to fix the Deakinizer to the front of the Cosina lens. At the full aperture the image looked great, with a fairly sharp centre and blurred edges. However, when the aperture was stopped down to f16, the image was restricted to the centre of the frame. It did work, though, and I really liked how these came out. What I have done is to order a 6-stop neutral density filter that should allow me to use a 50mm lens fully open at f1.8 with the Deakinizer. One of the benefits of this arrangement is that I’ll be able to use the Zenit with the CCCP-compliant Pentacon lens, and not the Cosina.

In conclusion, I was really happy with how the Zenit 11 performed and it’s certainly a camera to be used with the CCCP.  I have recently obtained another Soviet made camera, the half-frame Chaika II, and I’ll be  posting how this performed shortly. 

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#CrappyCommieCameraParty #Deakinizer #M42MountVintageCamera #Macro #Pentacon #Retro #Shittycamerachallenge #SovietCamera #Zenit11

Gearing up for the Crappy Commie Camera Party, Part 1: The Zenit 11

Starting in June 2025 is the next iteration of the Shitty Camera Challenge, the Crappy Commie Camera Party (or CCCP for short). It’s intended to be a celebration of all things Soviet made, so Soviet-era cameras up to the fall of the Berlin Wall, about 1989.

Now I have plenty of Soviet era cameras, more in fact than I had thought. There’s the stereo Lomo Sputnik with its single working shutter speed, the wonderful Smena 8M, the (still untried) Cosmic Symbol, the panoramic Horizont, and a couple of Lomo LC-As. Oh, and not forgetting the Rapid format Lomo Smena SL. So I have plenty of options to choose from. But then, as always happens, chance intervened.

Just recently, Harman Technology released a new emulsion, Harman Red. This is a redscaled version of Harman Phoenix, and I was lucky enough to get my hands on a few rolls of pre-production Harman Red thanks to their Marketing department, who had seen and liked some of my own attempts at redscaling Phoenix. After its release, a user on Bluesky posted some wonderful macro images with Harman Red, and I was really taken with these as I had previously thought about trying to do something similar. The snag is, I don’t have any analogue cameras that can make decent macro images. 

Coincidentally, one of my mutuals on BlueSky posted about her experiments with freelensing using redscale film, and of course that I really wanted to try. I’ve attempted freelensing before, where you disengage the camera lens from the body and hold it a couple of cm, or less, away from the camera. I’d even tried reversing the lens, which can result in some lovely dreamy looking macro images. The snag is that these have always been digital, and I’m really scared of getting dust on my digital sensors. 

I had already considered combining the CCCP with a bit of freelensing, but dismissed it as I already have enough old Soviet era cameras to play with. But then my mutual friend played her ‘ace’ card: ‘I think it would really suit your experimental approach’, she wrote, and of course after laying down that challenge I just had to reconsider. I turned to the Kamerastore website, the source of all my crappy cameras, and searched for Zenit. Several options popped up, but this jet black Zenit 11, with Cyrillic writing really caught my eye. 

It was in the ‘Not Passed’ category, with ‘flaws that will affect typical use’, but in this case it was that the ‘light meter doesn’t work properly and the light seals should be changed. Otherwise it is in good working condition!’ Well, then, that was perfect. I should add that back in the day, when I was looking for my first ‘real’ film camera (an SLR in those days, without the ‘D’), I would scour the adverts in Amateur Photographer looking for the best deal. There were loads of options for Zenits and Prakticas, but I dismissed those out of hand, and went for a Canon instead. What would my 20-something-year-old me think of that today?

At nearly 700g, the Zenit 11 is a heavyweight. Indeed, it’s been likened to a Russian tank in many a YouTube review. It’s a manual focus 35mm SLR camera produced in the Soviet Union from 1981 to 1990. The Zenit features shutter speeds from 1/30s-1/500s (+ B, and 1/30s is also the flash sync speed) and the meter can be dialled in for film speeds from ISO 25-400. The actual production date of the camera can be determined from the first two numbers of the serial number, and mine was made in 1986.

Like most Soviet cameras it has its little foibles, in this case how the exposure is measured through the selenium cell window on the front of the pentagram, and the means of disengaging the wind-on to rewind the film once it’s fully exposed. Other than that it’s a fairly straightforward single lens reflex camera. It uses the common M42 screw thread, and at the time it came with a Helios-44M f/2 58mm lens. These are quite highly sought after nowadays, mainly because the front or rear lenses can be flipped for spectacular bokeh effects.

My Zenit 11 didn’t come with a lens, but I have a Pentacon 50mm f1.8 lens that since it was made in East Germany, is also ‘CCCP compliant’. This lens was also from the ‘Not Passed’ category on the Kamerastore website — the aperture is stuck at the widest aperture position — and though I thought this wasn’t an obstacle, it turned out that even at its fastest shutter speed the camera would be over exposing most films. I therefore needed a ‘Plan B’.

I turned back to the Kamerastore website and found two contenders: A Cosina 50mm f1.8 Cosinon Auto lens, and an Industar 50-2, a 50mm f3.5 lens. The Cosina lens was in the ‘Not Passed’ category,  with ‘some scratches on the outer elements and may affect the image quality … [and the] focusing is a tad bit dry’. In contrast, the Industar-50-2 was in lovely condition.

The Cosina, of course, is Japanese made, so I won’t have a complete CCCP camera/lens combination for close-up work, but the Industar-50-2 was made in Soviet factories like KMZ, so it’s perfect. It’s also so tiny! It’s really similar looking to the Tessar-style lenses in the Smena range, and I reckon at some stage that I’ll try it out with the M42-mount adapter on the Olympus Pen mirrorless cameras. 

Along with the Zenit 11, at the same time I bought an M42 lens reverse ring. One side is the M42 thread that screws into the camera. On the other side is a 49mm filter thread that fits most (that I’ve seen) 50mm M42 lenses, including my Pentacon and the Cosina. Reversing the lens is ideal for macro photography, and I’ve tested it out and the macro effect works nicely with both. A reversed 50mm lens should give a roughly life-size image on the film.

This post was supposed to be an introduction and a test of the Zenit 11, but the weather has decided not to cooperate … again. So, instead I hope this short post will serve as an indication of my direction and intentions for the CCCP. when the weather improves, I’ll be out with a roll of film, Practising with the Zenit 11 and accessories. 

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#CrappyCommieCameraParty #Freelensing #M42MountVintageCamera #Macro #Pentacon #Retro #Shittycamerachallenge #SovietCamera #Zenit11

So I met this garage sale...

#zenit-e #SovietCamera

Miracle...en fouinant dans mon stock de vieux matériel argentique, j'ai réussi à faire rentrer parfaitement mon Zorki 1, avec son posemètre moderne, dans l'étui d'un Zenit 1...Je peux même laisser l'objectif ouvert...Ça doit probablement marcher pour les autres copies du Leica...(et pourquoi pas le Leica lui-même, dans un étui de Zenith...😅)
#zorkicamera #zorki #industar22 #sovietcamera #argentique #believeinfilm #filmisnotdead #rangefinder #telemetre #zenithcamera #camerahacks

Mon Leicaski...Un Zorki 1d que j'ai réussi a réparer, l'entraînement du film patinait ...J'y ai collé l'Industar 22 qui était fait pour lui...un appareil russe, copie a 99% d'un boîtier allemand des années 30...pillage des trésors industriels allemands.
Mais un boîtier attachant et robuste, et qui se glisse facilement dans une poche.
Avec un posemètre moderne et une Foma 200 dedans...
#zorkicamera #zorki #industar22 #sovietcamera #argentique #believeinfilm #filmisnotdead #rangefinder #telemetre

A rumor had it that there was an "old Soviet camera" in the attic.

Three expeditions later, and after some cleaning, here we are.

KMZ Zenit-B, Industar-50-2 3.5/50.

The camera is in good condition, seemingly fully working, and only needed some exterior cleaning done—I might still try some film.

#Photography #Vintage #SovietCamera #Zenit