I only have 2 of these, but they are still interesting.

1975 KIEV 4

After WW2 as part of war reparations, Russia took possession of the contents of the former Contax factory in Dresden, East Germany and moved them to Arsenal, Ukraine to continue the production of the famous Contax II/III. Early models were identical to the Contax, although the legendary build quality probably wasn’t up to the extremely high Zeiss standards. As production progressed, later examples deviated slightly from the original Contax design. Production continued until 1987 with over a million sold.

This example is mint, although the shutter failed soon after I purchased it from Etsy. The 50mm F2 Jupiter lens has a good reputation and the position of the rangefinder windows makes for accurate focussing.

LOMO LC-A

The LOMO LC-A (Lomo Kompakt – Automat) is a fixed lens, 35 mm film, leaf shutter, zone focus, compact camera introduced in 1984 and manufactured in St. Petersburg by Leningrad Optics & Mechanics Association (LOMO). The design is based on the Cosina CX-2. Some LC-As were sold badged as Zenith, this label was only a sticker underneath the lens. Production in Russia ceased in 2005, being transferred to China (the LC-A+). Thanks to Rob Tarrant for giving me this camera. LOMOs have a strong following (there is a thriving Lomographic Society International!)

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