Amateur Photographer (2019-05-31)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 25 May 2019 53

TheLeningrad:
anunusual
clockworkmotor
drivecamera
from Russia

The Leningrad

TheLeningradwasmadebythe
GOMZfactory,basedin thecity
fromwhichthecameratookits
name.It’sbigandit’ssturdy,
measuring14.5x9x7cmand
weighing900g.Thecamera
cameaboutfroma desirebythe
Russianstoshowtheycoulddoas
wellas– orperhaps,evenbetter
than– Germancamerasof the
timewhichweremoreoften
copiedbyRussianmanufacturers.
Assuch,it wasa true,one-off
design,albeitonewhosebody
showeda certaininfluencefrom
theContaxII anda screwlens
mountthatit sharedwithLeica.
Thebasicspecificationis what
mightbeexpectedfroma 35mm
camera of the day plus a bit more

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Tech Talk

John Wade gets wound up about an unusual Russian rangefi nder camera

Viewfromabove,

showingthemotor

windingknob

on the right

ontop:shutterspeedsof

1-1/1000sec;standard50mm

Jupiter-8lensinterchangeable

witha vastrangeof otherlenses,

bothRussianandGerman;

indicatingframesin theviewfinder

for50mm,85mmand135mm

focallengths;andanunusual

coupledrangefinderthatuses

prismsin placeof theusualbeam

splitters toshowanextra-bright

combinedimagein

theviewfinderas

anaidtofocusing.

Whatactually

setstheLeningrad

apartfromits

contemporaries

is a built-in

clockworkmotor

drive.Turninga

largeknobon

thetopplate

whereyouwould

normallyexpectto

fi nd the fi lm wind

knob,windsthemotorand

thereafterthefilmautomatically

advancesoneframeat a timeas

eachexposureis made.It shoots

about 20 exposurestoeachwind.

In 1967,a modifiedversion

wasusedin theRussianspace

programme,wheretheadvantage

of nothavingtowindthefilm

manuallyprovedusefulfor

cosmonautsin spacesuitswearing

clumsy,over-sizedgloves.

What’sgoodSturdybuild,

good-qualityimagesfromJupiter

lenses,abilitytoaccepta wide

rangeof Leicalenses for even

betterquality.

What’sbadThewind

mechanismignoresthefilm’s

sprocketholesandsimplywinds

thefilmontoa fattake-upspool,

resultingin increasinglywidegaps

betweenframesthe more the

fi l m a d v a n c e s.

TheLeningradhasanextra-largetake-upspooland

was designed without a film advance sprocket wheel

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Passionateaboutphotographysince 188

Saturday 6 January 2018

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