Professional Documents
Culture Documents
halfframe cameras
made by
p.blind
Introduction
Origin of the Camera`s name
the CHAIKA types
the CHAIKA II types
the CHAIKA 3 types
the CHAIKA 2M types
special and rare CHAIKA items
one lens only ? - no, many !!!
mysteries
repair
this and that and manuals
references
When we come to speak about the great CHAIKA camera we first have to give some
background information on the situation of the former soviet camera industries.
There was a big company named GOMZ ( ) .- meaning: Gosudarstvennyi OptikoMekhanicheskii Zavod ( - ), This is one of the
eldest opto-mechanical companies from Soviet times founded in Leningrad in 1932 as a
follow-up to the VOOMP factory union. World famous products are: Fotokor , Reporter ,
Komsomolets , Leningrad , Lubitel and Smena - just to name some well known cameras.
The factory logo looks like this:
In 1962 GOMZ became a part the Leningrad Optical and Mechanical Association of
Enterprises (LOOMP), (= -
, ).
In 1965 the name changed again as Leningrad Optical-Mechanical Union. (LOMO), (=
O-M O, c). The factory logo is here:
In 1957 there was a company found: MMZ - Minsk Mechanical Factory ( Minskiy
Mechanichesckiy Zavod imeni S.I. Vavilova ).; located in Minsk, Belarus, ca. 450 Km west of
Moscow. Apart from optical production they gave birth to the Chaika and Smena cameras.
The factory logo looks like this:
In early 1970 Vilejka Zavod (OM RUP "ZENIT" better known as: Vileiskiy Zavod Zenit)
was found as a joint venture factory between KMZ and MMZ settled in Vilejka near Minsk.
It`s main purpose was to produce cameras of the zenit brand. Many of Vilejka produced
cameras are said to be of poor quality. The factory logo looks like this:
In 1971 MMZ, Vileijka and Peleng ( they produce the wonderful MC Peleng 3.5/8 Fisheye
Lens ): became BelOMO (Belorussian Optical and Mechanical Association). A merged
association which kept using their own brands beside the Belomo signet. Factory logo is:
Now, to put it right: There is a company called LOMO and a company called BeLomo !
The one that we are talking about when reflecting on the CHAIKA camera is: BeLomo.
Other cameras that were produced by BeLomo are:
(source: www.kremlin.ru )
Type 1.0 - A
This is the box of the first version as sold in `65:
Despite from the pre-series the version 1 cameras ( all 1965 ) came with different leatherette:
Type 1.0 B
Later this was changed into industar-69 2.8/69 and the leatherette was a bit smoother on the
surface.
Type 1.0 - C
A third item I found on the internet has green (grey) leatherette and looks like this:
Type 1.0 D
There are also items with white leatherette.
From more than 171-thousand produced units it seems that most that survived are from 1966
according to serials of cameras offered for sale.
Type 1.1
Many of the 1966 production has inscription "made in USSR" in kyrillic on the backside!
Type 1.2
has film speed marker with DIN markings:
Type 1.3
without "made in USSR"
Type 1.4
with GOST and DIN markings
with zip-case, flash-attachement, straps, lens cap, manual, passport, camera, spool, box
Type 2.0
Somewhen in 1966 the rewind-switch knob was made of plastic instead of the former used
metal one.
Type 2.1
in 1967 there appeared cameras with additional made in USSR in different letter-style
Model
1965
1966
1967
Chaika ( 1 )
25000
131000
16000
nopped
soft nopped
green
from on 1966
unsettled black
smooth white
There are also grey and red variants I`ve seen, but not shure if original or fake.