To Peace Among Nations to the Conscious Progress of the World To

We dedicate this book: To Peace among Nations To the Conscious Progress of the World To Science and Knowledge, the only source of Justice To our restless efforts towards improvements for Mankind To another 100 years of Glory! Copyright © 2014 by Luiz Antonio Paracampo Filho Editorial coordination and preparation MARCOS ROQUE Research LUIZ ANTONIO PARACAMPO FILHO Proofreading ROGER BARESEL Desktop publishing ADOLFO SAMYN Cover LUIZ ANTONIO PARACAMPO FILHO & MARCOS ROQUE The Author Luiz Antonio Paracampo Filho, is a metallurgical and special materials engineer. Since the early days he has been involved with photography and has done his own laboratory developing and enlarging, after completing the first course for developing color films in Rio de Janeiro where he lives. In those days he not only took his own pictures and developed them but also began constructing his own cameras and related equipment, as well as planning what he could not yet construct. While still in middle school, he met Hans Gaizer, a very skilled man who used to maintain the microscopes at the medical university where Luiz’ father was a professor. This contact was a skilled and important employee of a large firm which imported Zeiss equipment from Oberkochen. Soon Luiz went to the workshop of the firm which specialized in all kinds of tools such as lathes, cutters of all kinds and more specialised devices for the manufacture of lens elements for used microscope lenses, with vacuum pumps for coating the lens surfaces. To Luiz, this was Paradise! This paradise, he says, was completely unseen by ordinary people in the streets, once it found a location in the commercial sector of Rio de Janeiro, in the basement of a communal building. They used the garage of two nearby buildings to get the workshop into operation and access was via an extended corridor. This large facility also carried out guarantee and after sales service for all Zeiss (West) products, including cameras. That way, Luiz became familiar with the cameras and shutters of the famous Zeiss Ikon range. Luiz was only 13 years old! During the early 1960’s, the shop moved to Vila Isabel, slightly further from the center. In 1960, the Soviet Exhibition took place in São Cristovão, RJ. This exhibition demonstrated the great industrial power of the Soviet Union, and according to Luiz, no other exhibition since then has shown so many movie, photo, and television products. Luiz told me he was surprised by two events: The first of them was meeting a man who had taken his first pictures when he was a very little child. He was an old family friend and won the agency rights for the Foto-kino segment of Mashpriborintorg, the Russian export company. The second and most striking event was meeting a Zenit camera, which seemed to have been ―born from his mind‖, according to Luiz. He told me that this camera system had been conceived by himself, just one year before he saw the Zenit. It was love at first sight. As the World is very small, and Rio de Janeiro smaller still, the first camera to present a problem was a ―Leningrad‖ model. Luiz says that possibly due to the Zenit’s impact he didn’t notice the Leningrad at the Exhibition. This camera came into the hands of Hans Gaizer, now a competent Zeiss repairman, and consequently to Luiz’ knowledge, GOMZ (the factory in Leningrad) not only produced Lubitel and Smena cameras, whose simplicity fascinated him from the beginning, but also a fine top line range or products. As is well known and according to Luiz’ observation, Zeiss was the grandfather, not only of the Soviet camera industry but was indirectly present in the background in its early sales in Brazil. From then, a history of experience and knowledge was set in motion. The author empirically constructed the basis of an after-sales repair and maintenance service that was further extended to pre-sales checks at Artia, the firm that began importing Soviet cameras to Brazil. This general description is a patchwork of information from Luiz’ mind and several other sources, aided by a great team of co-operators mentioned in the text, of course not excluding the histories and experiences reported at the end of the book. Luiz’s obsession with Soviet cameras dates back to 1962. As a technical photography buff, the most perfect camera that he could imagine was a synthesis - a synthesis of the Contax S and the Leica screwmount rangefinder. While attending a Soviet Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, he happened upon a Zenit 3 - which pretty much matched the ideal vision in his head! At that moment, Soviet cameras captured his imagination – and they haven’t let go since! Luiz Antonio Paracampo Filho: Professional Lubitel Tester & Technical Expert A few years later, he went to work at an import company that brought Soviet cameras into Brazil. His job was to test and evaluate the cameras – so that the company would be comfortable selling them with a warranty. Each day, he broke down, rebuilt, and fully examined Soviet cameras – inside and out – to see what makes them tick and to identify any potential problems. His vast experience has given him an intimate knowledge of the technical quirks of Soviet design – and he has gained unique insight into the very special hardware that underpins their amazing results. The Lubitel was one of the best-selling cameras that he handled, and he’s a bona fide expert in the technical underpinnings of each model. Name: Luiz Antonio Paracampo Filho Job: Engineer Hometown: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1. The Lubitel’s design remained largely the same for almost 60 years, and it is one of the most widely produced Russian cameras - you feel that it holds a special place in Russian camera history? Why? Paracampo: I believe so. The Lubitel was a kind of phenomenon, a kind of boom in the photographic world. The first boom was the FED camera before the war – which continued afterwards in a stream of FED and Zorki models. Both were produced in millions of units. Both were copies of German cameras which were much less prolific with smaller production runs. These booms were due to several factors. First, the Soviet people’s interest in photography was encouraged by the government – as the Revolution called upon each citizen to become a responsible register of events and history. Secondly, a lot of money was invested in camera factories and engineering in the Soviet Union. And third – not to be forgotten – was the Socialist structure of the Soviet Union. Before the War, their cameras were of poor quality but afterwards, their attitude changed. The Lubitel began as the ―Komsomolets‖ (Young Communist) –offering a ―better‖ product to a ―better‖ class of children. Before the War, this market was filled with Maliutka cameras and Smenas (originating from the Greek ―Semen‖- New Generation or – Change). The Komsomolets boys were given this idealistic name, and idealistic product – so this camera gained a strong level of acceptance. From my experience in Brazil, I particularly recall the Lubitel 2 camera. It outsold every camera! It was really a phenomenon. At first, I hated the camera but my attitude suddenly changed when I saw the results it could produce. Regarded as a copy of the Voigtländer Brilliant, it easily beat its predecessor and proved to have much broader appeal. Both amateurs and professionals loved it. Why? Because it was unbeatable for the price: it had just the right amount of technology; its optical results were astonishingly good; resolution was fantastic; its depth of field was remarkable. 2. What do you think the Russians contributed to the international world of photography and cameras? Paracampo: In the Soviet era, the Russians contributed their expertise in large mass production of good quality and very acceptable cameras – derived from ―high class‖ foreign cameras – and priced extremely low. This expanded the worldwide market and attracted consumers. The real philosophy of ―socialism‖ applied to this market. 3. You once created a mash-up camera consisting of a Smena 8 body and a Lubitel 2 lens. How did that work? Paracampo: It was only a joke really. I never used it as a real camera! 4. When you repaired classic Lubitels, what were the most common problems that you found? Any really crazy defects? Paracampo: Lubitel 2’s (and previous models) are prone to film freezes after the 6th or 8th picture. This is because they had no axle in the feeding spool. The Lubitel 166 and 166B solved this problem, but it reared its head from time to time in the 166 Universal. Happily the Lubitel+ has once again fixed this problem, and done it one better with rewind capability. If you have a Lubitel with this problem, here’s a quick fix: paint the spool rails with a bit of Vaseline. Other common problems are stuck shutters and self-timers. Light can leak through the rear door near the tripod thread or throughout the entire rear door if the top springs that keep it closed come loose. The 166 models came with better shutters and better doors than previous models. Any light leakage is really rare with these models – and if it occurs, is probably due to the photographer more than to the camera. 5. Do you still enjoy shooting film through analog cameras? What kind of photography do you like to do? Paracampo: I hate cameras that use any kind of batteries. So I stay away from digital – unless it’s absolutely necessary – like for e-mail. Even so, I prefer to shoot film and scan my negatives.

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