Written by Jean Loup Princelle after having done extensive research into cameras and lenses from the USSR, this is the most comprehensive and authoritative book ever produced on cameras and lenses from the old USSR. Not only does it contain detailed information on both known and relatively unknown cameras and lenses, it also contains a great deal of historical data of the products and their factories in a very readable bibliographical form. This book is much sought after by those who have an interest in the wide-ranging photographic history of the USSR and collectible cameras.
It contains 200 cameras listed with exhausting attention to detail---right down to nuances such as the variations in the Kiev rangefinder (Contax copies) cameras. It comes complete with family tree graphs and other related charts, illustrations and definitions to aid in the exploration of this wonderfully exciting world.
Chapters cover the 35mm cameras (spearhead of the Soviet photographic industry), the medium formats 6x6, 6x9, and finally, the miniatures and special formats. Within each chapter, families of cameras are listed in chronological order of production beginning with the launch of the first model of each family, for example: Zorki 1 (1947) to Zorki 12 (1968), then Zenit (1952) to Zenit 15M (1990).
We at Kiev/USA cannot recommend this book highly enough for those whose interests lie in this area. Your questions will be answered within these 200 pages which include over 550 equipment illustrations and the well-presented compendium of specs, year(s) of production and quantities of production.
At around ten dollars, this pamphlet is a real bargain as an aid for navigating through the Russian camera terrain. This edition, by Y. Ryshkov, is a brief historical and technical reference about Russian and Soviet cameras, as well as a chronology of manufacturing and the volume of production of these cameras. The first part is devoted to cameras constructed by Russian craftsmen and engineers in 1840-1914 (Russian period) and the second part is about the cameras manufactured by Soviet enterprises in 1929-1991 (Soviet period).
