Lubitel Cameras

In Soviet times, a huge number of cameras were created, and many of them were copies of German cameras. And the Lubitel cameras are no exception.

The Lubitel cameras were produced at the LOMO (Leningrad Optical and Mechanical Association) plant from 1950 to 1996.

For all the years of production, a small number of innovations were added to the appearance and technical characteristics of the camera, and each innovation gave rise to a new index for the camera.

The Lubitel cameras come from Komsomolets cameras, which were pretty exact replicas of the German pseudo-twin-lens Voigtländer Brillant cameras.

The Komsomolets, like the original Voigtländer Brillant, was also a pseudo-twin-lens reflex camera, that is, it did not have ground glass, and focusing was carried out using the distance scale. But the first Lubitel (Amateur) was a full-fledged twin-lens reflex camera.

All Komsomolets and Lubitel cameras were made of bakelite of sufficient quality and were equipped with Triplet lenses. Due to their structure, these lenses give very cool classic photographs.

The Lubitel cameras were, and remain to this day, an entrance ticket to the world of medium format photography. For a very small amount of money, you could and still can buy a real medium format camera.

Of course, this camera did not have any advanced technologies or chips. You had at your disposal the simplest camera with a very simple lens, a small set of shutter speeds and a focusing system.

But despite their simplicity and cheapness, these cameras can provide a very interesting user experience and help their owner to create really interesting photos.