Sokol Automat type 4 (1976-78) image by Alexander Komarov
Sokol Automat is a 35mm film rangefinder camera made by LOMO in Leningrad, former USSR and produced between 1966-78 with quantity of 226.600.
It is also known as Sokol-1. Сокол Автомат = Sokol Automat, Sokol means Falcon.
The Sokol is an automatic camera with a range finder. The original model had six CdS cells mounted above the lens. The 1969 model has 3 CdS cells.
Existing also very uncommon variant under name Aurora Automat (can be found in UK market) and still very rare Revue Auto RS (in Germany).
Sokol Automat is very interesting camera to collect. A lot of types of the particular camera are known to exist.
Its successor Sokol-2 was launched by LOMO in 1979. The only differences between Sokol-2 and Sokol-1 are the addition of a hot shoe and deletion of flash PC socket.
There are 15 types of the camera. [1]
Specifications[]
- Lightmeter: CdS cells shutter priority automatic exposure controlled
- Film speed range: 16-250 ASA/GOST, setting: ring and window on front of the lens
- Exposure setting:
- Auto: set the aperture ring to A, in this mode shutter not works on inappropriate light conditions
- Manual: there are 5 luminescent arrows in the finder, (you have to try combinations until the middle arrow shows ?)
- Lens: Industar-70 (ИНДУСТАР) 50mm f/2.8 filter thread 55mm
- Aperture: up to f/16
- Setting:
- Auto: set the aperture ring to A
- Manual: press the small silver lever on the lens-shutter barrel, then turn the aperture ring with scale
- Shutter: leaf shutter with speeds 1/30-1/500 + B.
- Viewfinder: coupled bright frame viewfinder / rangefinder, w/ parallax correction lines
- Battery: one PX 625 1.5V
- Battery chamber: on the top plate and opens by unscrewing the film reminder
- The camera appears to operate without the battery but it does not operate correctly.
- Two flash PC sockets on front of the camera
- Cold-shoe
- Serial no. first two digits show the producing year; beneath the lens-shutter barrel
Notes and references[]
- ↑ As to Alexander Komarov