The Soviet Union’s camera industry was of a size and scale only surpassed by that of Japan’s.
Soviet designers created their own alternatives to Western models, from Leica-alike rangefinders (the vast FED and Zorki range) to 120 studio cameras (the Salyut), snap-happy compacts (the Lomo LC-A) and sturdy SLRs for budding beginners (the Zenit-E, amongst many others). Many cameras, like these, were produced in their hundreds of thousands, if not millions.
But there were plenty of other cameras which flew much further under the radar. Many innovative designs turned out to be too unreliable, expensive or impractical to bring into mass production and were produced in relatively small numbers before being canned. Some only made it to the prototype stage.
One Soviet camera expert got in touch with Kosmo Foto to profile one such camera that recently came into his hands – an example of a pre-series camera he had previously been completely unaware of. The camera – thought to have been built around 1970 by BelOMO in what is now Belarus – is called the Orbita and was previously thought to have only made it to the prototype stage. He has seen and handled the camera and was able to pass on some first-hand insight.
Many tens of thousands of cameras were made during the 20th Century, and tracking down rare or elusive models is part of the fun of collecting. Soviet camera collectors (and yes, Kosmo Foto is one of them) have an added factor: for much of the century, the Soviet camera industry was essentially sealed off from the rest of the world. Many designs only became known to the West in the 1990s.
BelOMO, based in Minsk in what is now Belarus was one of the the major players in the USSR’s optical industry. It didn’t just make cameras – it also made many other optical devices, many of them for the USSR’s military. This was a common situation in many Soviet photographic factories, with the consumer items often being exported to raise hard currency on the international markets.
“In the Soviet Union, the approval process for cameras produced by various factories involved rigorous testing and certification by the State Optical Institute (GOI). This procedure ensured that each camera met strict quality and performance standards before being released to the market.
“At GOI, the evaluation of prototype cameras from Soviet factories involved not only assessing technical and quality standards but also considering the complexity and production costs of each model. Their review determined whether a camera was practical and economically viable for mass production and consumption within the USSR. Cameras that were too complex or costly to produce might not receive approval, resulting in only the most feasible and efficient designs making it to the consumer market.
“Some of these camera prototypes were presented to GOI but never went anywhere. They ended up in the Moscow Polytechnical Museum and in private collections. One such camera was the BelOMO Orbita.
“The Orbita camera features an integrated light meter, with focus adjustment based on a scale on the lens. It has a direct optical viewfinder with illuminated frames. Within the viewfinder’s field of view, there’s an exposure meter needle and an aperture scale. The camera uses a central shutter and is cocked by the rewinding knob. It’s equipped with an Industar-65 lens (2.8/28). The only other time this lens shows up in BelOMO production is on another prototype, the Siluet Rapid.
“While the exact production date for the Orbita camera prototypes is unknown, the appearance of the Industar-65 lens on the Siluet Rapid in 1968 suggests that the Orbita likely emerged around 1970.
“There are two distinct versions of the Orbita camera: an early prototype and a later, more refined model. Both versions are currently housed in the Moscow Polytechnical Museum. Additionally, there is a second, more refined version that exists within a private collection. These cameras were discovered with the help of our friend Professor Erkan Umut from Istanbul..
“Uncovering models like the Orbita, previously unknown to collectors of Soviet cameras, is a true marvel, which shows us that there are still ongoing mysteries within this niche.
“Despite inquiries among BelOMO’s former and current employees, no-one could recall this specific model. This is the reality: there were cameras designed and built that are now virtually forgotten.
“Nearly four decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, there are still, potentially, new cameras waiting to be found, hidden gems from a once powerful industry.”
(Read more on USSRPhoto.com)
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
A fascinating article. It’s interesting to learn about the USSR’s camera industry. Do we have an insight to the quality of the lens used? I wonder whether it could capture good quality photos.