Last 2 weeks I bought my second lomography camera from a seller in Facebook for a very reasonable price. Waiting anxiously for about two days and finally Mr. Poslaju arrived at my home with the package...
As stated in the seller's page, the camera will come with a roll of film which is free of charge. And one roll of Fujicolor Superia 200 was included in the package. I wish for a slide film but did not get it. Anyway, I am happy for what I got with the great price I pay for... :D
The camera is a second hand one, looks quite antique and feels good when you hold it. It was a bit dirty and after cleaning it, I am proudly present to you...
The word "Smena" (Cmeha) is roughly translated into "Young Generation" in English. True to its name, the Smena line of cameras were designed to provide inexpensive, accessible, and excellent photography tools to the hard-working young Soviets of the time. Manfactured by the legendary LOMO production house of St. Petersburg (home of Lomo LC-A), the first Smena model rolled out of assembly in 1952. The popularity of this line was so enduring, that Smenas continued to be produced until the late 1980's. Many a famous and infamous* photographer, both inside and outside of the USSR, have first cut their chops on a Smena's full manual controls. The 8M model is the late 70's to early 80's incarnation of the Smena lineage. Its look is classic Russian design. Largely crafted in lightweight plastic, the Smena has a brushed aluminum nameplate and lens housing, striking a somewhat bizarre mixture of materials. It feels toy like in your hands, yet offers surprisingly robust controls and funky, icon-based exposure calculation. Wild looks aside, the Smena shines most brightly through its lens. Take a walk through Smena 8m sample gallery and soak in the colors, saturation, and contrast of Smena's three-element, coated "Triplet" lens. Devastating. Creation of an image is fully up to your whim and fancy, courtesy of manual aperture, shutter speed, and focal distance controls. Far from a toy, the Smena a true LOMO - a quirky little hombre that begs you to have fun, be spontaneous, and shoot the hell out of everything around you. Give Smena a bit of attention and practice, and it will produce incredible images that cannot be duplicated by any other camera. Such is the way. (Source: Lomography.com)
Film Type: All standard 35mm
Lens: Triplet 43 / 40mm, f/4
Weight: 289g
Size: 70 x 100 x 60mm
Focal Range: 1m to infinity
Shutter Speeds: Bulb, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250
Aperture Ring: 8 blades
Apertures: f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11,f/16
Flash: PC connection only
What I love about this camera is that it is a fully manual camera. Which means I can have total control of aperture and shutter speed setting and exposures on single frame on this camera. This is my dream lomography camera. From now on I can take lomo photos at night and also mutiple exposures photos... :D
The mechanical shutter cock function (preparing the shutter for immediate release) is done manually and is not connected to the film advance function. With this, I can cock and fire the shutter as many times as I like on the same frame, which allowing for limitless multiple-exposure mayhem...
The manually variable aperture and shutter speed allow me to adjust the quantity of light entering through the lens and with this, I can take day and night lomo photos easily...
Following are some other photos of the camera...
p/s: Sorry for the dust on the camera. Did not clean it properly... :D
After received and cleaned the camera, I loaded it with Fujicolor Superia 200 film and start shooting around. Below are some of the photos taken by the camera. I don't really like the photos from this film because most photos are over exposed as I'm still not really familiar with the setting... :D
