Jag börjar bli orolig. Är dessa tullar bara en snedmanöver inför något värre som är i görningen? #CCCP

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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Excellent video from YouTube channel revolutionaryth0t on the successes and failures of women's liberation in the USSR, with takeaways for future liberation efforts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnTlejH-WzQ

One crucial rule: don't target the average when designing, legislating, etc; instead, get as close to end-to-end coverage of the spectrum as you can.

Make #USSR Great Again.

#US #CCCP #Trump #Putin #RussianAsset #PoliticalCartoon #MAGA

#Shooty @NaozajstnyShooty

Today is the 145th Birth Anniversary of Joseph Stalin.

This was a song made specifically for Stalin's 70th birthday, composed in 1949 by Vano Muradeli, and written by A. Salnikov, titled, "A Happy Song to Stalin."

#JosephStalin #Stalin #SovietUnion #USSR #CCCP #socialism #communism

https://youtu.be/9JobynKrCg0

Saudades daquilo que a gente não viveu!

Du bist es leid, als KIFFER beschimpft zu werden und möchtest in Ruhe konsumieren? Wir haben hier im Norden ab 17.07.24 eine Lösung. Das #SPLIFF des #CCCP ist ein Club, in dem Cannabis ERLAUBT ist. Members only! https://420.tc

A rare selection of vintage gelatin-silver prints by pioneers of Soviet photography (…) These photographers left an indelible mark on the history of their medium, shaping the narrative of their nascent country through striking new visual forms and introducing fresh perspectives and bold compositions. [Monovosions] #photography #photographers #photoexhibition #newyork #NailyaAlexanderGallery #urss #sovietphotography #socialistrevolution #cccp

https://monovisions.com/masterpieces-of-socialist-realist-photography/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

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НОЧНОЙ ПРОСПЕКТ | Acids

https://invidious.privacyredirect.com/watch?v=7UIs2R7qfOA

Viva i sogni con la schiumaaa!

Ma che roba bella non èèè

Felicitaziooooooni !

CCCP – Fedeli Alla Linea - Onde
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LC6kWJkm44

@filippodb @GualTRex

"...in fedeltà la linea c'è!"

#fedeliallalinea
#live
#cccp
#concerto
#melpignano