Smena Symbol: Easy and Quick!

Have you found one of this but you are not so convinced? Read more about it and see some photos after the jump!

The Lomo Smena Symbol is an excellent camera from Soviet Union unpretentious but with great quality!

It’s a compact made in the 70s by the Soviet factory LOMO in St. Petersburg, and an evolution of previous Smena 8m, which have replaced the loading wheel with a lever and the shutter button placed on the side of the lens (like the Holga and Diana, for example).

The dimensions reflect that it’s quite compact and weighs nearly 300 grams, allowing it to be carried everywhere, also thanks to his case that is often standard equipment. And it is thanks to this handling that can be considered an excellent travel companion!

To purchase this machine, I relied again on the Lomography Shop and, as usual, I was pleasantly pleased.

The lens of the machine performs very well both day and night, thanks to the flash hot shoe, which has allowed me to use my beloved Colorsplash Flash!

It also has a great selection of times, coupled with an excellent lens f: 4, making it suitable for every type of lighting.

Changing the timing is very simple and intuitive. They are on a ring at the base of the lens and both are marked by numbers (1/15, 1/30…) that the symbols correspond to, like sun, sun + clouds, etc… Hence, the name SYMBOL!

It also has the bulb settings (but, of course, better to get a tripod just in case).

Unlike the other Soviet cameras I tested, there’s no need to cock the shutter before changing times, making it very fast and not too delicate to use!

I tried it with a roll of "Lomography and Earl Gray Lomography 100, and I must say I was really surprised!

Here are some sample pictures!

Specifications:

Type of roll: 35mm
Lens: Triplet 43 / 40mm, f / 4
Weight: 289g
Dimensions: 70 × 100 × 60mm
Focal Range: 1m to infinity
Shutter speeds: B, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250
Diaphragm: 8 blade
Aperture: f / 4, f/5.6, f / 8, f/11, f/16
Flash: Standard Hot-shoe, shoot at any time!
                               
The lens (sometimes) gives, especially during the day, a slight vignetting. Another advantage is its total mechanical nature that does not therefore depend on batteries and stuff!

He has nothing to be envious about with our beloved LC-A. In my opinion, it’s a machine which gives excellent results on the cheap.
Try it!

Click here to learn more about the Smena Symbol!

Lomo on!

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written by kingdjin on 2012-06-28 #gear #shop #russian #review #smena #symbol #camera-review #lomo #lomography #user-review