Sokol-Automat
Sokol-Automat is a Soviet rangefinder automatic camera manufactured at the Leningrad Optical and Mechanical Association (LOMO) from 1966 to 1978. This camera also had the names Revue Auto RS and Aurora Automat.
Sokol-Automat is a Soviet film camera with shutter priority. For the Soviet photo industry of those years, Sokol-Avtomat is quite an innovative camera, and in this article we will tell you why this is so.
Sokol-Automat Specifications
- Type: 35mm rangefinder camera
- Manufacturer: LOMO plant
- Production period: from 1966 to 1978
- Format: 24x36cm on 135 film
- Lens mount: fixed lens
- Lens: Industar-70 f2.8/50
- Rangefinder base: 67mm
- Shutter: leaf shutter with speeds from 1/30 to 1/500 sec.
- Viewfinder: optical parallax viewfinder combined with a rangefinder
- Lighmeter: built-in light meter
- Flash synchronisation: sync socket “X”
- Selftimer: none
- Weight: 945 grams
For the mid-60s, this was a very advanced camera, not only for the Soviet Union but for the whole world. If you often visit the pages of Sovietcameras.org, you know the basic rule of the Soviet industry – this state was not able to create anything advanced and reliable. Due to its high cost and low reliability, the camera did not have much popularity.
Sokol Automat was designed for 35mm film with a frame size of 36×24 mm. The camera was equipped with a non-removable Industar-70 а2,8/50 lens that was made of lanthanum glass and have a single layer coating. This lens, like most Industar lenses, was made based on the Tessar scheme.
Focusing is done using a rangefinder with a base of 67 mm. This is actually a very good rangefinder base. Focusing range from 0.8 m to infinity.
The camera was equipped with a Copal Magic central shutter with shutter speeds of 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500 sec and B. A fairly good set of shutter speeds, but at that moment Kiev and Zorki 4 cameras had a much larger set of shutter speeds.
The rewind button and frame counter are located on the bottom of the camera. When the back wall is opened, the frame counter is automatically reset. The rewind crank located on the side of the camera.
The Sokol camera has a cast aluminum alloy body. The camera looks very interesting, in the style of the 60s. The camera also has a cold shoe for attaching the flash and a connector for the shutter release cable.
CONCLUSION
As mentioned above, Sokol-Automatic was a very innovative camera for the Soviet Union.
Unlike such cameras as FED-3 or Zorki-4, which were produced in the same years, the Sokol-Automat camera has full-fledged automatics with a shutter-priority mode.
In addition, this Soviet film camera has a very stylish appearance and is equipped with a very worthy lens.
