[Konvas] Camera Clones

[Speedbirdmgh at aol.com]

"Can anyone remember which Soviet camera models were clones of what  
Western models (and, if need be, what country those models came  from?)"
 
The Moskva 32 was certainly a copy of the early Mitchell's, albeit enough  
changes were made to make the camera a Soviet design. The design teams  CKB 
,MKBK and LOOMP certainly were very busy in producing ideas to  establish Russia 
as a world leader in camera design without any help from  the West. Even their 
optics were second to none before the 1939-1945 period. Why  they decided to 
copy is still a mystery other than the fact that they were  thinking to export 
their cameras and using common parts with Mitchell made the  prospect in 
increased sales more attractive especially being half the price. The  Russian's 
were certainly capable of producing world class products but lacked  the 
'charisma' and 'charm' of the American approach to selling.  Hundreds  of rich 
Russian's bought the 'Filmo' when it came out in 1923 and probably was  in local 
production soon after that. Applying for a foreign Patent was unheard  of and 
creating employment was more important than obtaining a piece of  paper allowing 
them to legally copy.  Copying was a marketing ploy to  quickly gain 
recognition as a camera manufacturer. The problem with so many  design offices and over 
staffed government divisions, it was impossible to reach  any agreement as to 
which camera to produce in large numbers that  could be exported especially to 
countries which had no American/British/German  influence.
Making a decision was a nightmare in itself and so copying made sense. The  
Druzhba was an example being a direct copy of the Mitchell BNCR with small  
changes to appease government officials. The 'Sputnik' was also another great  
camera where all controls were in the handle to operate focusing, Iris etc. The  
drive mechanism was very similar to the British Newman Sinclair 400 which was 
 produced in large numbers many going to the USSR. The Kohbac 1KCP (Konvas) 
35mm  is similar in design to the Eclair Cameflex  but is not a copy of the  
Eclair. The Eclair is totally different and not a single part will interchange  
with the Konvas. The Cameflex is much bigger and is much more complex. It 
looks  the same from a distance but that's where it ends. The Vinten Everest and 
Rodina  have a similar mechanisn but have 'not really' copied each other. There 
are only  certain ways you can make a camera and eventually you end up 
looking at other  manufacturers products to see if your ideas have been "borrowed" 
and in most  cases they have even though the tolerences are totally different.
 
All film Producers/DP's study other peoples work in detail and 'adopt' the  
best techniques to make it their own!  Sorry,Mr  Spielberg/Kubrick/Hitchcock 
and all but that's life. If the "intent" is to copy  to make something better 
then that's good, is'nt it?  Birds do it all the  time by imitating their 
neighbours so as to put them out of business.
 
The Russian's designed many of wonderful camera's but not that many  made it 
into full production. Interesting subject for the Konvas  forum/site.  Would 
be nice to hear from someone in the motherland.
 
Rita 
 
 


 



**************   
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://konvas.org/pipermail/cinema_konvas.org/attachments/20081010/70503d3c/attachment.html>