Soviet Cameras 6 - Siluet / Smena / Orion / Vilia

[Cameras - 35mm - Direct View]

The following cameras are the low end of the former USSR cameras. They're plastic, simple, very cheap and they use the same lens.

Some are even cool to use.

Lomo Vilia

Lomo Vilia

Vilias are plastic, very cheap and fiddly, but interesting cameras. It's a direct view camera with an Albada type viewfinder, all mechanic and without any electronics.

If you don't have an exposure meter, don't worry. This camera was built with this in mind. Actually, it has a fairly good implementation of the sunny 16 rule. Just set the film speed (actually the film speed control is the same as the shutter speed control but with slightly different values).

This ring has SPEEDS marked on top: B, 30, 60, 125 and 250 but also has GOST, the old Soviet standard for film sensibility marked on the same ring, but at the bottom side. Both settings are set with the same control.

GOST scale: 32 - 65 -130 - 250

SPEED scale: 30 - 60 - 125 - 250

Since the old ASA (now ISO) and GOST are roughly the same, just set it to the nearest GOST value to your film sensibility in ASA (ISO). For example, if you're using an ISO 100 film, just choose GOST 125 and don't bother.

Then, adjust the small aperture lever at the lens side until the proper "weather symbol" on the viewfinder is according to what you see in the sky. From left to right, the symbols are: bright sun, diffuse sun, partially clouded sky, overcast and heavy weather. Those symbols can be translated into the following aperture values: F16, F11, F8, F5.6 and F4. It just works, believe me.

Of course, if you have a handheld light meter, you can just adjust the proper speed and aperture and forget the symbols and GOST setting.

The lens is a very simple 40mm F4 TRIPLET 69-3, and it can be very sharp at F8 and F11, but with awfully blurry corners at F4. Well, you get what you pay.

There is no other focusing aid besides a neat depth of field scale (green scale on foto). Basic but works.

Special note about all this camera family is the fact of the terrible quality control. All the cameras I had were with a very badly aligned (collimated) lens, making one or more corners completely out of focus even at mid apertures. Even Kodak Instamatics are usually better at this. 

Smena 8M Type 1 (C) Fotoua.com (Alexandr Komarov)

A very crude camera, the worst pick of all. No double exposure prevention, shutter cocking is not linked to the film transport and the viewfinder has absolutely no optics, just two plastic windows. Handling is awful, especially for aperture setting.

The SMENA family is quite large with 150 types/subtypes.

Vilia Auto (C) Fotoua.com (Alexandr Komarov)

Same as the Vilia, but with fully automatic exposure and a selenium light meter. You just set the film sensibility. Like the Orion, it also has the aperture control for flash photography.  The viewfinder has a scale and a needle for aperture indication. Not bad at all.

If you find a Vilia Auto with a working light meter, it's a fun camera to use.

The lens is the same Vilia's Triplet-69-3 40mm F4

It’s a Vilia with electronic shutter priority and a reasonably good light meter. In case of flash photography, an aperture lever like the Vilia’s provides control to the aperture. You’ll find the same F4-F16 settings for manual flash use (1/30s shutter) plus an “A” for automatic aperture setting depending on the selected speed.

It’s the rarest model. There are two alert lamps on the viewfinder, a yellow one for shake alert that lights if the speed drops under 1/30s and a red one for overexposure alert. 

Siluet Elektro

Also rare but not like the Orion. It’s basically the same camera but with aperture priority instead of shutter priority. It remembers a very spartan and a very cheap version of the Yashica-35 Electro.

Note that those cameras are not on par with any of the Japanese compacts of the ‘70s, but still fun to use

Some tips:

• Filter size is 46mm screw-in
• Use a lens hood if possible, flare is a real issue
• Use small apertures if possible
• Pay attention to the focus zone

To my taste, the best picks are the Vilia due to having no electronics and the Vilia-Auto (if working). Neither one uses batteries and are cheaper than the Orion or Siluet but has the same optics.

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