Jörg Krüger
Lomo Sokol Automat
Lomo Sokol Automat with 2.8/50 Industar-70
Rangefinder camera with parallax compensation
Shutter speeds from 1/30 to 1/500 and B
Nearest focus distance: 0.8 m
Shutter priority automatic exposure and manual mode
What an amazing camera. It's big and heavy, but not as big as the Yashica Electro 35. The lens barrel is also a bit oversized (filter thread 55 mm), but it doesn't include a fast six-element lens, "only" a four-element Industar.
The Sokol was introduced in 1966, the first versions had 6 meter cells at the front, later they were reduced to 3. The camera above has the flash contacts at the body and not on the lens barrel, so it was produced in 1972 or later. In 1979 the Sokol was replaced by the Sokol-2.
The aperture of my copy didn't close correctly, somewhat sporadic. My attempt to fix it was very unsuccessful. I did not even find out if the blades just stuck together or there was a failure in the very sophisticated mechanism of the automatic exposure. But the opening of the camera body revealed some astonishing details. This camera has the most solid rangefinder mechanism I have ever seen, it is like looking into a vintage sewing machine. The viewfinder itself is also surprizingly good.
Now to the amazing part: I read in a camera blog, that the Sokol will adjust the shutter speed automatically, if the range of f-stops is not sufficient in automatic mode. I had my doubts, because this would be a kind of program mode. But is true, in automatic mode the chosen speed/f-stop pair is displayed in the viewfinder, when the shutter button is pressed halfway. I could not really test it, because the meter is also dead, but the mechanism is described here.
Notes:
The shutter speed and the f-stop can only be selected, when the shutter is cocked.
I could not find out, if the meter works in manual mode.
The camera needs a PX625 1.35V mercury cell.
Another question which remains: what was the archetype of this camera?
Lomo Sokol Automat
Lomo Sokol Automat with 2.8/50 Industar-70
Rangefinder camera with parallax compensation
Shutter speeds from 1/30 to 1/500 and B
Nearest focus distance: 0.8 m
Shutter priority automatic exposure and manual mode
What an amazing camera. It's big and heavy, but not as big as the Yashica Electro 35. The lens barrel is also a bit oversized (filter thread 55 mm), but it doesn't include a fast six-element lens, "only" a four-element Industar.
The Sokol was introduced in 1966, the first versions had 6 meter cells at the front, later they were reduced to 3. The camera above has the flash contacts at the body and not on the lens barrel, so it was produced in 1972 or later. In 1979 the Sokol was replaced by the Sokol-2.
The aperture of my copy didn't close correctly, somewhat sporadic. My attempt to fix it was very unsuccessful. I did not even find out if the blades just stuck together or there was a failure in the very sophisticated mechanism of the automatic exposure. But the opening of the camera body revealed some astonishing details. This camera has the most solid rangefinder mechanism I have ever seen, it is like looking into a vintage sewing machine. The viewfinder itself is also surprizingly good.
Now to the amazing part: I read in a camera blog, that the Sokol will adjust the shutter speed automatically, if the range of f-stops is not sufficient in automatic mode. I had my doubts, because this would be a kind of program mode. But is true, in automatic mode the chosen speed/f-stop pair is displayed in the viewfinder, when the shutter button is pressed halfway. I could not really test it, because the meter is also dead, but the mechanism is described here.
Notes:
The shutter speed and the f-stop can only be selected, when the shutter is cocked.
I could not find out, if the meter works in manual mode.
The camera needs a PX625 1.35V mercury cell.
Another question which remains: what was the archetype of this camera?