Steve Maniscalco Photography

Burial Ground

Cemetery on tribal land.

Iskra, PanF, Thornton's 2-bath developer

Iskra

I love the idea of folding cameras…big negative, compact camera.  The reality has not always lived up to the theory.  Mainly, the problem has been finding a good working copy of one of these old cameras.  I did well with my Balda Baldax and I also got a winner with my Iskra.

Like the Baldax, the Iskra sports a fine 4 element Tessar style lens.  It is quite capable of good, sharp images with the photographer being the main limitation to quality.

Pros and cons for the Iskra.

Pros:

Good quality lens

Auto frame counting with good spacing

Solid build

Decent viewfinder/rangefinder

Cons:

Difficult to use filters (I haven’t found a good solution yet).

Finding one in good shooting condition.

If you’re looking to buy an Iskra, be aware of the fact that you’re taking a chance on a camera built no later than 1963.  A whole lot can go wrong in 45+ years.  It’s common to find Iskras for sale with an added red window for frame counting because the film counter has failed.  Working with a red window isn’t the worst thing in the world, just so you know what you’re getting.

Head on over to the Rangefinder forum and ask/search for experiences using an Iskra.  Lots of folks over there will be willing to share some great information.

 

The slide show below is from the Iskra group on flickr:

 

 

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Sunday Morning at the Bikini

 

Gran View w/75mm Super Angulon
TXP-320 in Thornton's 2-bath developer

Trunk Space

 

Iskra 6x6 Folding Camera, FP4, Thornton's 2-bath developer

Weird Garden

 

Iskra 6x6 Folding Camera, FP4, Thornton's 2-bath developer

FSU Family Picture

Some time ago, I became a bit obsessed with putting together a "complete" FSU (Former Soviet Union) camera/lens kit.  I wanted to shoot rangefinder cameras and old Soviet rip-offs (evolved, but still rip-offs) of Leica cameras seemed to be the way to go.  Yes, quality can be spotty, but it can also be very good, and the cameras are relative steals.

"Relative" is a good word for it really.  Problem cameras bought from an unknown someone half a world away in the Ukraine are hardly a sure bet.  In fact, I went through a couple of cameras, at a loss each time, before finding good copies.  I was a bit luckier with lenses.

So, here is what I ended up with...though, not what I started out with.

 

I think I'll go right to left, because that's how the story goes.

On the right, we have a FED 2.  Not the most elegant looking of the FSU cameras, but pretty high up on the list.  For my tastes, the Zorki 3 is the prettiest of them all, but a good cheap one is pretty tough to find.  The FED 2 is solid and reliable enough, once you have one that is working, and the long rangefinder baseline is a nice thing for focusing in narrow dof situations.  Of course, you miss out on some of the niceties that modern cameras offer, like a hinged film back (the whole thing comes off) and a film advance lever (uses a wind knob).  Still, it feels good in the hand, the rangefinder/viewfinder is plenty usable and it peforms the basic function of light tight box very well.

Mounted on the FED 2 is an Industar 50, a competent, if slow, standard lens.  I didn't "go after" this one, it just sort of followed me home.  Works well enough though, and they're super cheap. 

Next, headed left, is the Jupiter 8.  It's a more modern standard lens, 50mm f2.  I don't love 50mm and have no pictures to show from it.

Next in line is the Jupiter 9 (85mm f2).  This is a pretty sweet lens. Not super sharp wide open, but good and appropriate for a portrait lens.  Nice bokeh.  This is the second copy of that lens I had, the first copy was in sad shape and, I think, suffered from inexpert "repairs."  This good copy was purchased from a member of the Rangefinder Forum.  Used gear from a forum member tends to be a much better bet than a random ebay purchase.

Moving on left, and mounted on a Zorki 6, is a Jupiter 12 (35mm f2.8).  It's an awkward little thing to operate, with the aperture controls sort of inside the barrel of the lens instead of outside.  The very large back element means it won't mount on some modern Leica Thread Mount cameras without interfering with the shutter.  As hot as I was to get ahold of this lens, I'm ashamed to say I haven't actually shot anything with it.

Let's see, only two things left.  On top of that Zorki 6, is a 35-135mm zoom finder.  It doesn't actually zoom through the entire range, there is some masking involved as well.  Even so, I can put one finder on the camera and cove more lenses than I actually have.  Very handy.

That leaves the Zorki 6.  In my opinion (I won't say humble), the Zorki 6 is the underated, undervalued camera of the FSU world.  The Zorki 1 and FED 1  both have the charm of looking very much like the early Leica from which they were copied.  Others in the Zorki and FED lines are less attractive than the "1" cameras, but offer this or that modern improvement while managing to miss the mark here and there.  Still others, such as the FED 5, manage to be too butt-ugly to overcome any of their dubious technical accomplishments.  The Zorki 6 though has some of the positive esthetic qualities of the FED 2 (please ignore the cheap rivited on name plate) as well as the FED 2's nice long rangefinder baseline.  On top of those good qualities, the Zorki 6 adds an actual hinged film back, a ratcheting film advance lever, and perhaps the second best viewfinder of all the FSU cameras (behind the Zorki 3). 

The only features a Zorki 6 gives up to a modern rangefinder camera are framelines for multiple focal lengths and a meter.  Both things that can be done without just fine in many cases.  One such case is in using the camera as a second body, to avoid the need to switch lenses or to provide a different type of film ready at hand. 

Last year, I took a hike with a Bessa R3A w/21mm lens, loaded with 160VC film.  The Zorki 6 came along with a 15mm lens mounted and Ektar slide film loaded.  This made for a versitile and light weight kit for a hike in the desert hills. 

Was my pursuit of this FSU kit worth the effort?  I don't know really.  I mean, I've got about $300 in to it and I'd have a tough time putting this much stuff together for less than that.  On the other hand, working without a meter and using external finders is quite a challenge...when compared to modern alternatives.  On the other, other hand, it sure can be fun to find out how much you can do with how little.