Hi Guys,

I don't know if you saw my auction, which closed yesterday for $322:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220461638921

The camera was bought by a well-known German collector, who has written a
book, compilation of all film cameras ever made, which I also sell in my web
site.

The second bidder (in the UK) wrote to tell me the following (see below, I
am not sure I can make sense of this, may be you can)

-- George


Here is a little history of the camera.

I already have one of them which took me 21 years to find because all of the
pundits told me it did not exist. I have had communication with the Lomo
company, but they are not the same company that made it. They put me in
touch with a lady in Kiev who sent me some interesting details. The camera
was shown at the 1958 Camera Fair in Brussels, but because of a lack of
interest it was decided NOT to market it.

Only 83 were ever produced and fifteen are still in a facility that has
every camera Lomo produced. I assume it is a kind of museum belonging to the
makers. The remaining cameras were all taken up by "senior members" of
staff.

Knowing the old Communist system, these would have been elderly men and
women and the likelyhood is that they are all dead by now.

What has happened to the "heavy" Bakelite cameras after they died, is
anyones guess. Five are known - including yours.

Thanks George. I thought there was something special about it. It's a bit confusing though. I believe that GOMZ is the parent company of LOMO. LOMO was founded in 1962, several years after the Sputnik was in production. I'm wondering if that should be 1968 instead of 58 since the stereo craze was slowing down and so was Sputnik production. Maybe sales were slowing down and GOMZ thought LOMO could do better marketing it. Especially since it is Sputnik 2.

Rod S

--- In MF3D-group@yahoogroups.com, "DrT \(George Themelis\)" wrote:
>
> Hi Guys,
>
> I don't know if you saw my auction, which closed yesterday for $322:
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220461638921
>
> The camera was bought by a well-known German collector, who has written a
> book, compilation of all film cameras ever made, which I also sell in my web
> site.
>
> The second bidder (in the UK) wrote to tell me the following (see below, I
> am not sure I can make sense of this, may be you can)
>
> -- George
>
>
> Here is a little history of the camera.
>
> I already have one of them which took me 21 years to find because all of the
> pundits told me it did not exist. I have had communication with the Lomo
> company, but they are not the same company that made it. They put me in
> touch with a lady in Kiev who sent me some interesting details. The camera
> was shown at the 1958 Camera Fair in Brussels, but because of a lack of
> interest it was decided NOT to market it.
>
> Only 83 were ever produced and fifteen are still in a facility that has
> every camera Lomo produced. I assume it is a kind of museum belonging to the
> makers. The remaining cameras were all taken up by "senior members" of
> staff.
>
> Knowing the old Communist system, these would have been elderly men and
> women and the likelyhood is that they are all dead by now.
>
> What has happened to the "heavy" Bakelite cameras after they died, is
> anyones guess. Five are known - including yours.
>

does anyone know the differences between Type I, II, and III sputnicks?



roderickdsage wrote:

> Thanks George. I thought there was something special about it. It's a bit confusing though. I believe that GOMZ is the parent company of LOMO. LOMO was founded in 1962, several years after the Sputnik was in production. I'm wondering if that should be 1968 instead of 58 since the stereo craze was slowing down and so was Sputnik production. Maybe sales were slowing down and GOMZ thought LOMO could do better marketing it. Especially since it is Sputnik 2.
>
> Rod S
>
>
> --- In MF3D-group@yahoogroups.com, "DrT \(George Themelis\)" wrote:
>
>> Hi Guys,
>>
>> I don't know if you saw my auction, which closed yesterday for $322:
>> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220461638921
>>
>> The camera was bought by a well-known German collector, who has written a
>> book, compilation of all film cameras ever made, which I also sell in my web
>> site.
>>
>> The second bidder (in the UK) wrote to tell me the following (see below, I
>> am not sure I can make sense of this, may be you can)
>>
>> -- George
>>
>>
>> Here is a little history of the camera.
>>
>> I already have one of them which took me 21 years to find because all of the
>> pundits told me it did not exist. I have had communication with the Lomo
>> company, but they are not the same company that made it. They put me in
>> touch with a lady in Kiev who sent me some interesting details. The camera
>> was shown at the 1958 Camera Fair in Brussels, but because of a lack of
>> interest it was decided NOT to market it.
>>
>> Only 83 were ever produced and fifteen are still in a facility that has
>> every camera Lomo produced. I assume it is a kind of museum belonging to the
>> makers. The remaining cameras were all taken up by "senior members" of
>> staff.
>>
>> Knowing the old Communist system, these would have been elderly men and
>> women and the likelyhood is that they are all dead by now.
>>
>> What has happened to the "heavy" Bakelite cameras after they died, is
>> anyones guess. Five are known - including yours.
>>
>>
>
>
>
>

--- In MF3D-group@yahoogroups.com, "roderickdsage" wrote:

>
> Thanks George. I thought there was something special about it. It's a bit confusing though. I believe that GOMZ is the parent company of LOMO. LOMO was founded in 1962, several years after the Sputnik was in production. I'm wondering if that should be 1968 instead of 58 since the stereo craze was slowing down and so was Sputnik production. Maybe sales were slowing down and GOMZ thought LOMO could do better marketing it. Especially since it is Sputnik 2.
>
> Rod S

Unfortunately, I did not visit the MF3D forum in the last two weeks and missed George's auction of the Sputnik 2. I wanted to see his pictures of it on the listing but they had already been removed by the time I looked it up.

I believe I first found out about the Sputnik 2 on eBay. Indeed, this is not the first time this model turns up on eBay. I made a record of all the ones that did show up in the past and took down the serial numbers on the lenses. Indeed they matched very closely and were all low numbers. The sellers also claimed no more than a hundred of this model had been made.

I wonder if George could repost his pictures of the Sputnik 2 that were on his listing in the photos section of this group ? I am sure that many members who missed his auction would be very interested in seeing this somewhat different version of the classic Sputnik we all know.

Francois

I put the pictures back up:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220461638921

When I was writing the description, I thought I was selling a common Sputnik
(on commission). I had no idea that this "Sputnik 2" was something special.

So, what are the differences between the common Sputnik and this Sputnik 2?

George

"DrT (George Themelis)" Wrote:

> I put the pictures back up:
>

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220461638921

>
> When I was writing the description, I thought I was

selling a common Sputnik

> (on commission). I had no idea that this "Sputnik 2" was

something special.

>
> So, what are the differences between the common Sputnik

and this Sputnik 2?

>

Other than the cosmetic differences I believe I see MC
written on the lens ring. MC = Multi Coated? Anyway the
lenses are different than those on the Sputnik (1) even
though they have the same aperture and FL.

Chuck Holzner

--- In MF3D-group@yahoogroups.com, "DrT \(George Themelis\)" wrote:

>
> I put the pictures back up:
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220461638921
>
> When I was writing the description, I thought I was selling a common Sputnik
> (on commission). I had no idea that this "Sputnik 2" was something special.
>
> So, what are the differences between the common Sputnik and this Sputnik 2?
>
> George

Hi George,

Thanks for putting the pictures back up.

I have this habit of downloading all the pictures of unusual cameras I come across and filing them in my "virtual 3D camera encyclopedia". I just checked what I had on the Sputnik 2 and it turns out I came across four of them on eBay. They all have very close serial numbers and they were all offered by the same dealer over a period of a few months in the spring of 2007. The serial numbers are: 77000007, 77000010, 77000013, 77000015.

I just checked your pictures and see that the one you offered is the first one of the four that were previoulsy offered by this dealer. Since the buyer has opted to resell it, I gather he may have expected this model to be better than the original Sputnik and it turned out not being the case ?

In respect to any improvements on this camera over the original Sputnik, I can't add much to what Chuck has already stated. I notice that the knobs are knurled and have a nice little silver line at the top - very fashionable ! And it does say "MC" which indeed should mean "multi-coating"... I suspect you have already noticed these details.

One other detail I believe Chulk may not have mentioned is that the filter rings are much wider than on the original Sputnik.

None of these characteristics contitute vast improvements - certainly not anything significant enough for your seller to have wanted to hang on to his "rare item" !

I believe the original seller had a starting price of $400. so he did not even get his full money back on the resale.

Francois

> I just checked your pictures and see that the one you offered is the first
> one of the four that were previoulsy offered by this dealer. Since the
> buyer has opted to resell it, I gather he may have expected this model to
> be better than the original Sputnik and it turned out not being the case ?

He told me that he never had time to even use the camera. He is a person
who buys a lot of items and every year sends me most of the stuff that he
bought to sell back in ebay. This might be called "curiosity buying". I do
this constantly myself.

> I believe the original seller had a starting price of $400. so he did not
> even get his full money back on the resale.

Yes, this happens often. Some of the items he bought from me via ebay, so I
know what he paid. He does not seem to care. Things he does not use just
take up space. He trades them for money so he can buy more.

George

As I recall the camera said "made in USSR", which would place it at the latest in the '80s, maybe early '90s. The last Lubitels produced say "made in Russia". This one says "MC", which I haven't seen on a Lubitel. The lens formula is a T-23, which is different than the earlier T-22. Again, I've never seen a T-23 lens on a Lubitel. Whether it's better in any way could only be determined though use. The earlier Lubitel 2s are more valued than the later Lubitel 166Us amongst Lubitel users. When I first bought my Sputnik, in the '90s there were rumors that they were still being produced. The Lubitel was certainly still being produced in the '90s. LOMO is the name you'll see on most Lubitels. These were Russian cameras, not Ukranian.
Steve