In my country Bulgaria I worked only with Krasnogorsk. When I came two
years ago in the USA, I brought my Krasnogorsk which I bought in Sofia for
50 bucks. As a graduate student in film, I'm still using this camera and
I'm pretty happy with it. The lenses are excellent (zoom lens 1.9/17-69).
The threading is very easy, so it could be the perfect camera for beginners.
The body of the camera is similar to one of Bolex.
The only thin place of this otherwise very well done camera is the
registration of the film. In order to keep it as simple for threading, use
and maintenance as possible, they made too many compromises in the transporta-
tion and registration of the film. So it can happen some flickering of the
image to occur, or some times the film can be jammed in the camera. It never
happened to me with my camera, but as with almost all other products made in
Russia you can never be sure that if this particular device is working perfect-
ly, the next one in the same series will show the same qualities.
So if you decide to buy these cameras, my advice is to check very carefully
each one of them. The most important test is how they run the film. Usually
you can judge even by the noice whether it runs smoothly or not. Or bring
some expirienced camera guru.
If everything turns out well, it could be a terrific deal.
Wish you luck in this gambling.
 
Val Todorov
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