💻 Remember when going to the cinema was fun? The multiplexes of today just don’t capture the same magic. brandib knows an old cinema that still shows films — or will when the pandemic is over, anyway. Read The Athena Cinema
💻 Aly Chiarello suffers from a chronic condition that requires regular treatments. She shares a photoessay from a treatment day, with her thoughts and feelings about the experience — which has sometimes been traumatic. Read A Doctors Visit on Ilford XP2 400
📷 Roman Yarovitcyn is a photojournalist who got his start in Russia after the fall of communism. He remembers what it was like to shoot with leftover Soviet camera gear then, and shares terrific photos of life in Russia in the 1990s. Read Life as a 1990s Russian newspaper photographer, shooting on a cheap Soviet camera
📷 Dmitri writes a solid review of the Voigtländer Vitessa A, a compact 35mm camera with barn doors protecting the lens. Read Voigtländer Vitessa A
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Nice Vitessa review, and worth the read! I knew a guy in high-school with one, it was his Dads, and it was a precision instrument that took great pics, altho a little funky to use. Over the years, I’ve run across a few I wanted to buy, but all were in some form of dis-repair that no one could fix; I have to say tho, I never actively searched for a good workable copy, so they may be out there.
It’s a good looking camera. It’s one I wouldn’t mind borrowing from someone to try, but I don’t know that I need to buy one!
I logged in this morning to find that someone appears to be reading everything I’ve ever written and wondered how they found me. Now I know! Thanks for sending me new readers Jim!
Excellent! My nefarious plan is working!
Haha. I’m glad you use your powers for good and not evil!
I enjoyed the article by Roman Arovitcyn. There are a lot of great photos in the article and also on his website. I have a Zenit-E made in 1975 that my father gave to me. It’s seized up and the viewfinder is very dark, but maybe I can find a place here in Korea to clean and repair it. It’s an awful camera to use, but it might be a good idea to have it looked at before it deteriorates any further.
It’s probably worth it because of the family connection. I wonder if anybody in Russia specializes in repairing them?
I will try asking around the repair places here in Korea. If the camera just needs some lubricant and cleaning then someone here might be able to help me.
Actually, Jim, communism never ended. The Soviet Union ended, but communism had been alive and well and living in American’s college and university classrooms and faculty lounges since at least the ’60s. We are daily seeing the poisonous fruit of their teaching.
And that’s why we’re all still forced to use clunky Soviet era cameras with dark view finders and…… oh, wait.