C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The LOMO Smena 1 is a Soviet 35mm scale-focus compact produced by LOMO (Leningradskoye Optiko-Mekhanicheskoye Obyedineniye) in Leningrad, introduced in 1953. It is the founding model of the Smena series, which would go on to become one of the highest-volume camera lines in Soviet photographic history. The Smena 1 carries the T-22 40mm f/4.5 triplet lens, a fully mechanical leaf shutter with no metering, and a Bakelite body with scale focus. No battery of any kind is required for operation. The camera's design brief was explicit: produce a robust, affordable 35mm camera accessible to Soviet amateur photographers who could not obtain imported equipment.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →C41
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Kodak UltraMax 400 is a versatile consumer-grade ISO 400 daylight-balanced color negative film with T-grain emulsion, delivering warm Kodak colors, fine-for-speed grain (PGI 46), and wide exposure latitude. Currently in production and available globally as a single-roll and multi-pack.
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Before you buy used
About this camera
The first camera in the Smena line - the original Bakelite 35mm that began a decades-long Soviet compact dynasty.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Lens | LOMO T-22 40mm f/4.5 (triplet, fixed) |
| Focus | Scale focus |
| Shutter speeds | ~1/10s, 1/25s, 1/50s, 1/100s + B |
| Flash sync | ~ |
| Meter | None |
| Modes | Manual aperture + manual shutter |
| Body material | Bakelite |
| Weight | ~200 g |
| Battery | None required |
The Smena series launched in 1953 as LOMO's answer to the demand for a domestically produced mass-market 35mm camera. Prior to the Smena, Soviet photographic production had been concentrated on rangefinder designs derived from German originals - the FED and Zorki families - which were more expensive to manufacture and purchase. The Smena 1 broke from that tradition with a simpler optical and mechanical specification intended to bring 35mm photography within reach of a far wider audience. The T-22 triplet was a three-element design, adequate for the snapshot photography the camera was designed for and inexpensive to produce at scale. The Bakelite body was durable under typical conditions and cheaper to mold than machined metal. LOMO followed the Smena 1 with a series of incrementally revised numbered models through the late 1950s and into the 1960s. The formula remained stable - Bakelite, triplet, scale focus, no meter - until the Smena 8 and Smena 8M standardized the design in the late 1960s and early 1970s and drove production into the millions.
The Smena 1 is the origin point of one of the most numerically significant camera lines in the history of photography. While the Smena 8M eventually outproduced most other Soviet camera designs and became the model associated with the brand, the Smena 1 established the parameters that the entire series would follow. Collector interest in the Smena 1 is primarily historical: it is rarer than any later Smena model, the Bakelite bodies have had seven decades to crack and degrade, and working examples are harder to source than the mid- and late-series models. The T-22 lens also offers a small point of differentiation from the T-43 that became standard later in the line - the optical signature is subtly different, and the earlier design is slower by half a stop at maximum aperture.
C41
Kodak ColorPlus 200 is an affordable, consumer-oriented daylight-balanced color negative film at ISO 200. Known for warm, slightly muted color rendition, fine grain, and wide exposure latitude, it is currently in production and widely available in Asia and select global markets.
View profile →BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →LOMO Smena 1
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