International Commie Camera Day

The results are in for International Commie Camera Day 2009. Or more correctly, the film was developed and the negatives scanned.

I'm pleased with the results, considering it was my first outing with the Zorki. It's a nice camera, feels solid, looks superb, and is relatively quiet. It was almost a disaster on May 1st, as it was bucketing down with rain in the morning, and holding both a camera and an umbella proved too much for my sleep addled brain. However, the afternoon was quite sunny, and leaving 5 minutes early from work allowed me to take advantage of the light. And seeing as I'm reliant on Sunny-16 for shots with the Zorki, difficult light is best avoided if possible.

They seem to have come out alright...and I didn't forget to cock the shutter before messing with the speed.

Ebay

Isn't it a beauty? I'm sure it will be a bit more scuffed up than this pharmacy-catalogue-style image (update: camera was pretty much as new! not scuffed at all!), but I don't mind a few dings here & there (as long as they're not in the lens). I've wanted a Zorki/Fed for a while, and only recently have I managed to get into a position where I can justify the admittedly small spend. They're a good looking camera, and yes, I'm aware it's a Leica copy - but as I can't afford a Leica I'm happy to rely on the precision Soviet craft of ripping off someone else's design.

I just bought it through ebay using the buy-it-now function. Much better than the disappointment of being outbid (as always) because I have the money now, but inevitably don't when I get outbid, and hence can't afford to up my bid. Savvy?

Anyways, this is coming from the Ukraine, not sure how long it will take. With a bit of luck, it'll be here for Commie Camera Day, 1st of May 2009. If it's not, I still have the Vilia, which is a neat little beastie anyway. And I can always use it for Red Oktoberfest, the follow-up to International Commie Camera Day. Honestly, I am not making either of these celebrations of communist cameras up

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In other news, I am planning on putting the Contaflex to work doing star trails this week. It's the only camera I own which accepts the cheapie cable release I bought last year. I've never done star trails before, and I'm sure it's something that's done to death...doesn't mean I don't want to try it myself!