batteries not included...

Recently I was advised that my Leningrad 4 light meter needed a battery to run. I was surprised, but as the person who mentioned this is well versed in Soviet photographics (and pointed out the small "hatch" on the back where he indicated the battery should go), I just assumed that as mine is working okay then the battery mustn't need replacing anyway...so why check the veracity of this statement?

On a whim, I was checking out the manual for this light meter on Butkus' website, and there we are: no batteries required. The selenium cell in the light meter basically receives a charge from any light, so it's quite self contained. Nifty.

I have no idea if selenium cells lose sensitivity over time. We'll see, I guess.

Just thought I'd share my discovery.

Latest arrivals

From ebay: 5 rolls of Svema FN 64, expired 2004. Svema were one of the major film manufacturers in the Soviet-era, however I'm lead to believe that these days the film's more than likely just re-branded Foma. Even if it's not "proper" FSU film, the boxes are worth it alone.


And to something more useful - my new Leningrad 4 light meter, direct from the Ukraine. Terribly useful, particularly considering I've recently acquired a few meter-less cameras. I checked it against the meter in the Minolta, and they seem to more or less agree, so I assume it works correctly.

Bakelite Beauty, Petrograd & old Ukrainian film...

Today's purchase ($10) was that bakelite beauty, the Kodak Brownie 127. The 127 refers to the type of film these cameras take, which I believe Kodak stopped producing in 1995. Thankfully, I'm lead to believe some Eastern European film manufacturers still make the stuff (how I will navigate online ordering in any language other than English is another matter), and if you're keen (but not keen enough to buy 127 film & then argue with your local camera chain about developing it) you can slot in some 135.

I'm not a huge fan of "toy" cameras. I do own both a Fisheye 2 and a Holga, however with me the novelty wears off eventually. The Holga has had about 6 films through it in my 7 years of owning it, and the Fisheye is still nursing a roll of expired film that I started at Christmas. So I guess it's more a using them thing. I like the look of the Brownie 127, it reminds me of a radio (c. 1950s) I once saw at the family shack. So it's worth the relatively small outlay for that alone.

WHilst in the shop that lead to the purchase of the Brownie, I took a squizz at a pair of folding cameras they also had for sale. One was a Penguin (? never heard of it until today), the other was a something I had heard of (UK brand?), but can't for the life of me remember now. Both were in pretty poor condition. The second seemed to be functioning okay, but $50 for something that is more rust that camera is a bit much.

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Yesterday I was so close to buying a Moskva 5, but in the end decided that I still haven't seen results from the Contaflex & Isolette, and only one roll from the Zorki - so perhaps it wasn't a wise idea to compound this by adding another camera to the pool. What I did decide is that a light meter would drastically increase the chances of getting good results (or at least well exposed) from those cameras. So, thanks to confdntart, I have a Leningrad 4 light meter on the way.

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Oh, and I ordered some Svema 64 film as well, expired in 2004. I figured it would be good to get into the spirit of Red Oktober by shooting film from a former Soviet Union manufacturer, in a camera made in the USSR.