GOMZ/LOMO Smena camera

After celebrating the princes of the Soviet camera industry and praising the GOMZ/LOMO’s outstanding products, it is time to pay tribute to the millions of blue-collar cameras in the Smena line.

GOMZ of Leningrad was the first camera maker in the Soviet Union, dating back to the 1930s Fotokor. It was temporarily named VOOMP and later LOMO, but the scope of work did not change. The company made scientific, military, and medical equipment, with photography gradually taking prominence. From the diverse photography instruments they made, I would suggest that many products were based upon at-home research, rather than reverse engineering of the prominent German brands as did the other Soviet camera makers.

The first in the Smena line was a pre-war strut-folding model that suspiciously resembled the Kodak Bantam of the same crop year. Beyond assumptions, little hard information about it exists, and it is rarely seen for sale in today’s collector’s market. WWII impeded production, so this model became an anecdote, giving way to a new post-war Smena line.

Here I have a question. Back to the Soviet economy, tightly controlled from the top, which in theory made some sense, but in practice there was an unbridged disconnect between the top political, not professional, decision-making level and the grassroots level and anywhere in between. In reality, the top-down guidelines and directives on industrial and agricultural production targets were unattainable, so the productive sector reported false production yields, so the entire economy of this giant country was based on wishful thinking, with little connection to reality.

WWII ended with a badly scarred Russia, an economy in tatters, and the loss of about 25M souls, being an eighth of the population. In the post-war years, the mandarins at the helm substituted a real danger to the state with a perceived evil, the West, and had channelled most resources into building a military might, not the least of which was drawn on the Soviet satellite states.

To summarise, the centralized economy ran on two schedules, A and B. Schedule A covered everything needed to build a deterrent military force, with most resources channelled there, and schedule B covered the welfare of the proletariat, making do with what was left. A well-documented fact is that for the working class, the second half of the last century was far worse than the first; there was a wall-to-wall shortage of basic necessities, including food, let alone “luxury” consumer goods.  The only industry segment supported and encouraged was whatever could generate hard currency, since the Ruble was worthless in the money markets.

Back to the camera world, this explains the flood of camera models, the Zorkis and the FEDs, the Kievs and the Zenits, all made in the millions, and sold in the West, generating hard currency. These models had some merit: they were capable cameras to some degree, offered at a discounted price.

This brings up the Smena. It was not an able model. The technology was long in the tooth from the start. I suspect that only a precious few were sold outside the Soviet sphere. Nonetheless, throughout the line’s 40-year run, it sold over 30 million units.

Digging into Smena’s history, I found rebrand names it was sold under, as described in the table below. But there is no information on where they were sold. Further, online notes say they were sold in Western Europe and in English-speaking countries, which narrows it a bit. Another note said that they tried to enter the international market, accent on the ‘tried’.

Adding to that, I wonder what incentive there was for a user in the West to buy such a camera, even more so with the 8 and 8M, which sold over 25 million units in the 1970s, with technology and specifications dating back to the late 1950s. Even factoring in the price, it should have been dirt cheap, leaving little to bring back to Mother Russia.

At the same time, I found notes that in the USSR the Smena camera was a household feature, akin to the Polaroid/Kodak regulatory models in the US or Ferrania/Bencini in Italy. This may explain the large sales numbers. But when the public had to line up for bread and anything beyond the basics was sought on the black market, who had the resources and the mindset to buy a camera?  Suggestions are welcome.

The Smena camera line was made by GOMZ in Leningrad, a pioneer in the industry and the major maker in Russia proper. KMZ followed in 1942 near Moscow, and Arsenal and FED were made in Ukraine; MMZ, later BELOMO, was in Belarus. East German industry was indirectly controlled by the Soviets, so it fits well in this cluster.

In most articles, the Smena name is translated as “Young Generation” or “Relay,” hinting at continuity. Google Translate returns “Shift”. Given that this line has run for four decades, the Young Generation has reached middle age, and the ‘relay’ or ‘shift’ terms have become redundant.

Over the years, MMZ/BELOMO made several Smena models; some were sold under the GOMZ/LOMO brand, and some under MMZ. See the table below.

The Smena

The Smena line is clearly divided into five style generations. The manufacturers had mercy on future historians and collectors and devotedly named/numbered each model, so unlike with Kodak, Zeiss and others, it is easy to see which is which.

• The early Strout folding, 1938, a one-model with no following.
• Smena 1-4, 1952-1958, bulky Bakelite bodies, shape inspired by the Sport, made of Bakelite, in several body colours.
• Smena 5-9, 1961-1969, modern, restyled plastic body.
• Smena 11- 14, Smena Rapid & SL, Smena 8M and Symbol, 1967-1971, slightly different variation of a brick style.
• Smena 18 – 20, 35, 1984-1990, when the designers got artistic freedom and stepped out of the conservative boundaries, offering a fresh take on how a current camera should look.
• Regrettably, with the last model launch, the Soviet Union had ceased to exist, and the new regime opened the floodgates to private entrepreneurship, while selling the Soviet industrial assets piecemeal. By then, GOMZ/LOMO had dipped its toes into digital technology and got burned, so the company is no longer associated with photography.
• There are several stereo cameras based on the Smena. I don’t know whether they were factory conversions or tinkered with by an eager craftsman. Some images at the end of this page.

I cannot recall another camera dynasty that ran for 40 years under the same model name. The name wasn’t the only thread connecting the lineage; the technical specifications were, too. The company dropped the ball by keeping the same mechanics under the hood and offering only basic lens variations. Selling a new camera with 40-year-old technology could fly only in a closed market like the post-war USSR, but once the door opened even a crack, this brand was dead.

Note that various Smena model generations were sold alongside each other. Also, this line didn’t follow the Soviet numbering convention where the first two digits of the serial number are the production year, so all dates mentioned here are estimates.

On the flip side of that simplicity, some photography enthusiasts fell in love with the LOMO LC and 135 characteristics, which grew into the Lomography cult, with cameras and film still made by the Lomography Society of Austria.

I have two cameras from the Smena line, both landed in a parcel I bought long ago, and were doomed to rest on the shelf till the end of days. As noted above, I salvaged them as a tribute to the innovative GOMZ/LOMO I wrote about earlier.

For the collector, it is a safe pass. That said, so many were made that they are still widely available for peanuts.  But because of the initial poor quality, hunting down a functional unit may be challenging.

Cosmic 35 / Smena 8

I wrote the above saga while the camera was on my desk, but did not toy with it, which I’ve done now.  Despite all the negative online write-ups, I do like this little camera. The best way to describe it is that it is so crude and basic that it is cute.  It is a plain, unpretentious camera that doesn’t try to punch above its weight, so I now understand why it sold in such numbers.  The camera on my desk is marked Cosmic 35; a rebrand of the Smena 8, with another rebrand as Global 35. The Cosmic and Global were meant for export markets, which may explain how it made its way to Canada, but I see no detailed indication as to which markets it was sold.

• The camera is tiny compared to other mid-past-century models. Not as small as the Rollei 35 or the Olympus XA, but it will fit well in small hands. It is ultralight and mostly plastic, but feels solid and is nicely finished. There are no fancy settings, dials or levers, just the bare minimum required. No manual needed.
• The top carries the trigger, a ring that doubles as a frame counter and film speed memo in DIN and ASA, no GOST. The frame counter is manually reset and is easy to use. Next is a cold accessory shoe and a smallish pull-up rewind knob. There is no rewind release control.
• At the top back is a thumb winder wheel, finger-friendly, and a large and clear viewer window. The winder does just that; it does not cock the shutter.
• The back cover is fully removable, released by a mushroom head tab at the side. A metal pressure plate is mounted on the back cover.
• Inside is bare, all plastic, film path flanked by two film bays. A cog on the top film perforation activates the frame counter and initiates the frame stop. At the bottom is a “68” stamp mark, which could be the production year.
• The front lens assembly is easy to use, dials are easy to purchase, and markings are large and clear. A stark contrast to other European camera makers of the time, which had no mercy on users with poor eyesight.
  • Closest to the body is the shutter speed dial. All Smena models offered a scant speed selection; here it is B. 15-250.
  • On the same dial, at 10 o’clock, is the shutter cocking lever, which can be pulled with no regard to the winder.
  • The front dial is for zone focusing; on my camera, it is marked in feet, which, together with the DIN/ASA values, points to an export market. A quick search shows that Technical & Optical Equipment (TOE) sold the Cosmic 35 in the UK. The Smena 8 was launched in 1969, and the UK transition to metric was over a decade, from 1965 onwards, so it fits.
  • The aperture setting is a serrated ring within the front of the assembly, just close enough to the lens so that touching the glass is almost unavoidable. It appeared on other cameras as well, which I guess was a lazy way to position the aperture ring.

Smena Symbol

The Smena symbol was the fourth generation of this line,  with the boxy style also used as a base for the following models, with slight cosmetic variations. The designers chose the brick form and abandoned the curves of the earlier models, but adhered to the classic golden ratio, which made the camera pleasing to the eye.  The body measures 12 x 7.5 cm, giving a textbook ratio of 1.6. Moreover, the lens circle touches the line of the square made from the camera height. See here. 

Camera sales figures vary by source, but all agree it was over 5 million units. German giant Quelle also approved it, selling it as Revue 135. Some other Smena models were co-produced by MMZ and later named BELOMO, which sold this model under its own brand, Villia. The UK version was the Cosmic Symbol, and a model with a light meter was on the plans but never reached production. A version of the Symbol was available with Latin lettering only, along with an English user manual, meaning it was sold or intended to be sold in far-and-wide markets.

The Russian name Символ translates to Symbol, with the same meaning and ring. I would guess it comes from the symbols galore that adorn the lens assembly, both in lieu of shutter speeds and alongside the focusing distance.  The shutter speed values are printed at the bottom of the lens barrel.

• As its predecessors, the camera body is all plastic and lightweight. Other than being sized to the golden ratio, I cannot find anything to complement the design; it is practical to a fault.
• The top has a hot accessory shoe and a folding rewind lever. The lever/knob doesn’t pull up like in other cameras; instead, a groove at the bottom of the feeding spool bay to accept the cartridge’s proud pivot.
• The back fascia has the viewer window of a decent size and is clear. The frame counter is hidden under the accessory shoe, hard to read, and I assume it self-resets. The winder lever is embedded in the body.
• At the back’s middle is an exposure calculator disk, using DIN, ASA, and GOST. The calculator’s values are to be set against icons showing shade, sun, and an inverted triangle, which are on a need-to-know-only basis, as otherwise markings are invisible. The calculator uses the film speed and the weather icon to point to the aperture setting. It is an awkward way of calculating. Just in case the user is devoid of free thinking, the user manual specifies the dates and the hours of the calculator’s use.
• The hinged back opens by a latch at the side, exposing an all-plastic film path. Two cogs match the film perforation to keep the film on track and to control the frame stop and count. Four screw heads on the film track hold the lens assembly attached to the body. A metal pressure plate is mounted on the back door.
• The bottom has a prominent rewind release button.
• The front has a mighty trigger release lever, as big as a construction crane. I could suggest the position and size hint at the use of Russian winter gloves, but the hard-to-grab winder lever defeats this idea. An earlier model used a thumb wheel instead of the lever.
• The lens barrel has some oddities.
  • Closest to the body is the shutter speed dial, here marked with weather icons, with a square diminutive window next to each icon. Turning the serrated dial in front of it, a white background travels into the respective window. Similar icons were seen on other cameras, but not to this extent. The actual shutter speeds are marked at the bottom of the lens barrel.
  • Next is the focusing dial, marked in feet, meters, and cute, self-explanatory icons.
  • At the front end is a disk printed with the aperture and film speed values, corresponding to the exposure calculator on the camera’s back. To set the f-value, you turn an evasive dial within the disk, trying to keep your finger from slipping into the glass.

Camera passport

Smena camera family list

	Model	Brand	Year	Format	aka	Notes
	Vilia	Belomo	1973	35mm
	Revue 135 Symbol	Foto Quelle	1970	35mm	LOMO Smena Symbol
	Cosmic 35	GOMZ	1980	35mm
	Cosmic Symbol	GOMZ	1971	35mm	Smena
	Global 35	GOMZ	1971	35mm	Smena 6
	Smena 1	GOMZ	1952	35mm		Bakelite, cartridge to cartridge film path. Three generation with slight cosmetic changes. Not marked as 1, it is a common naming convention.
	Smena strut-folding	GOMZ	1938	35mm		The first Smena. Based on the Kodak Bantam. Made in black and several other colours. Hardly seen, little information available.
	Smena 11	GOMZ	1967	35mm		Full and half 35mm format. Only prototypes seen, did not get to production. Winder lever at bottom.
	Smena 18	GOMZ	1984	35mm		Similar to the LOMO LC-A - Lomo Compact A. Modern design, same old specs, manual mode only.
	Smena 19	GOMZ	1985	35mm		Redesigned Smena Symbol.
	Smena 2	GOMZ	1953	35mm		As the Smena 1, added sync and self timer.1.6 million made. Five slight cosmetic variations.
	Smena 20	GOMZ	1990	35mm		A late attempt to modernize the Smena line. Prototypes only seen. Same specs as earlier Smena models; other than the looks, it didn't bring any fresh vibe. Two colours were seen: gray or white bodies.
	Smena 3	GOMZ	1958	35mm		As the Smena 2, winder changed to lever. Two variants.
	Smena 35 --1963--	GOMZ	1963	35mm	Cosmic	A name variant of the Smena
	Smena 4	GOMZ	1958	35mm		As the Smena 3, restyled top. Some with sync and self timer, some without. Smena-4 was the last Smena camera with Bakelite body.
	Smena 5	GOMZ	1961	35mm		modernized design, dropped the Bakelite in favour of plastic body. Short run only.
	Smena 6	GOMZ	1961	35mm	Global 35	Identical to Smena-5 but with synchronized flash and self timer, additional shutter speed 1/15. No strap lugs. Three versions.
	Smena 7	GOMZ	1969	35mm		Dressed down version of the Smena 6, no self timer, two versions. Under the same name a model with light meter did not make to production.
	Smena 8	GOMZ	1969	35mm	Cosmic 35 LOMO, Cosmic 35 LOOMP, Global 35, Revue	Similar to the Smena 6, film path changed to take off spool, so rewind mechanism added. Together with the 8M was the most popular Smena.
	Smena 8 M	GOMZ	1970	35mm		Restyled Smena 8, over 20 million made over 25 years.
	Smena 9	GOMZ	1969	35mm		Dressed down Smena 8, no self timer.
	Smena M	GOMZ	1961	35mm		Same as the Smena 4, made by MMZ (BELOMO) in Minsk.
	Smena Rapid	GOMZ	1968	Rapid		Entry level model, Rapid cartridges. Short run only. Made for the Soviet version of the Rapid film.
	Smena SL	GOMZ	1968	Rapid		Similar to the Smena Rapid, slightly restyled, aimed at the German market. Three variants.
	Smena Symbol Simvol	GOMZ	1971	35mm	Revue 135 Symbol Cosmic Symbol	Body and specs similar to the SL, back to 35mm. Two models, one with a front dial winder wheel and a year later with a front mounted winding lever. Over 4 million made.
	Symbol 136	GOMZ	1971	35mm		Body and specs similar to the SL, back to 35mm. Two models, one with a front dial winder wheel and a year later with a winding lever. Over 4 million made.
	Smena 12 Automat	GOMZ	1967	35mm		As the 11, with light meter lens astound the lens. Auto and manual. Did not get to production.
	Smena 14 Automat	GOMZ	1967	35mm		As the 12, restyled body, did not get to production.
	Smena 2M	GOMZ	1961	35mm
	Smena E Automat	GOMZ	1970	35mm		As the Symbol, with CdS meter. Didn’t make to production.
	Smena 35 --1990	GOMZ	1990	35mm		Entry into the 1990s with specs of the 1970s. Redesigned body of the Smena 8m, same tech specifications. Hot shoe added.

Back

Back

Smena 8 / Cosmic 35 images

Smena Symbol images

Smena stereo conversions