A Look at Today Through Vintage Soviet Lens and Camera

 

A fine gentleman, after visiting my photography blog decided to donate his 1954 Zeiss Ikon Contaflex to my collection of vintage mechanical cameras. He was surprised and happy to find someone who still uses film, and I promised to take photos soon since he had not used it for decades,

As I was making room for the new camera on my selves, I came across a 1950s Soviet FED lens in Leica 39 mount. It is called Industar and a humble lens in performance and it was attached to a delightful FED-2 camera I bought many, many moons ago. I had never used the lens knowing its limitations, but decided to give it a chance after all these years sitting in the back row to lenses that have made my love of B&W photography so intimate.

So, I put the FED 26M on the FED-2 camera, loaded 10 frames of film (yes, I still load my canisters so I can decide on how many frames to load depending on the purpose) and took it with me for my dog’s morning walk at a nearby lake.

Here is the camera and the lens I had never used. Both are Soviet made in the early 1950s.

Of course using a 65 years old Soviet rangefinder camera while having a 95 pound Akita pulling you on the trail is a formidable task! But I managed to take one shot in contre-jour when he jumped atop a 10 meter boulder and pulled his tongue at me! I just wanted to see how the lens behaves in various light situations.

Well, it did poorly, of course. But it does have that feel only vintage glass can give. Technically deplorable, but full of that character folks like me pursue through the use of old lenses and mechanical cameras.

Then, as he was rushing to the lake for a drink, I tried to stop him long enough to focus and shoot one other frame. It is the one at the outset of this posting. The couple provided much character in their posture. The woman was using binoculars for birdwatching, and he seemed patiently waiting for her explanations about ducks and geese…

I like this vintage-feel photo. The corners are soft, the contrast is minimal, and the sharpness is non-existent, but somehow the composition benefited from this old Soviet lens the design of which is a variant of the 1930s German Tessar lens configuration.

…Then, my dog walked into the lake the shores of which are deep and black mud given the lack of rain this summer. When I pulled him back, his legs were already halfway black and he looked like a different dog. I tried to take a quick shot. When I developed the film, I could see under the loupe how uneven the focusing was – his eyes were in focus but his back and tail were not! That is a major flaw of the lens of course, but if used with that limitation in mind, could produce some creative photos…

Anyhow, here is that shot:

 

Needless to say I returned the Industar to the end of the shelf and made space for the Contaflex.

 

October 11, 2020

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2020