Cosmic 35M Questions

[BADGER.BRAD]

Hello all,
I have a couple of questions regarding my inherited Cosmic 35M Camera. As kids my dad brought us all cameras at some point mine was a Cosmic but earlier than the 35m which unfortunatley got broke at some point by my kids. Has anyone any idea of the rough age of the Cosmic 35m ? My dad would most likley have brought them secondhand in the late 70's and I do remember him buying one of them from Dixons in Wolverhampton UK. I have also seen this camera listed under different names so who was the actual maker ? I was going to run some black and white film through it for general Photography (most likley of old buildings and vintage stuff) What would you surgest as a film speed ? Would a more modern battery operated flash work on this camera ? As there is no electronics what activates the flash ? (The flash questions are theoretical as I have no intention at this point of using one !) Here is a photo thanks all.

 

[AgX]

1970-1995

 

[AgX]

As there is no electronics what activates the flash ?

The flash is activated by an electrical switch inside the shutter. You see a stud at that photo in 4 o'clock position.
It is called a PC-connector and is connected by a respective cable to the electric/electronic flash.

As pointed out by others you really should get you some used textbook on analog photography. Maybe you still have a used-books store around you. (Here such books were taken off the shelves of public libraries years ago...)

 

[AgX]

I have also seen this camera listed under different names so who was the actual maker ?

The manufacturer is shown on the frontplate of your camera.
It is Lomo, located in Leningrade, USSR.

The original name of your camera is Svema 8M.

Built in many millions. (But I only came across one sample...)

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

Svema 8M is what I've seen it listed as on youtube when I did a search, I didn't know if it was a badge enginneered Camera sold by many people (much like a lot of the Chinese stuff is today) I'm surprised the production run of the camera was so long ! I have been looking when I am out and about in charity shops for Photography books but since I began my interest I have seen none , before that I seemed to see plenty which is always the way. Youtube seems a big help as is this forum.
It make sense that the camera flash is just a switch ! Now days it would have to have have loads of sensors. I'm beginning to like these cameras more and more for thier simplicty.I tried to take a picture earlier using my digi camera whilst out on my travels only for the battery to die as I pushed the button that would not have happened with the Cosmic !

 

[AgX]

The trouble with my sample is the aperture/film-speed dial. Check at your sample if it always sets the aperture right.
If I remember right at my sample the dial "jumps over" some times. (I forgot your sample has got broken anyway.)

A simple switch was the technique employed even with cameras with a lot of electronics. Only in the 80s when cameras started to communicate with the flash for through-the-lens flash metering that switch changed into an electronic switch. The same time these cameras, rather their switch, got sensitive to old style electronic flashes, something you better keep in mind with future cameras of yours.

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

I'll keep an eye on the dial but as you mentioned it when I had a look I noticed the film speed speed does't correspond exactly to commonly availables speeds ie: ASA 20/40/80/160/320 are the speeds shown on the camera if I were to choose 100 ASA film would I just set the dial just over the 80 mark ?

 

[AgX]

Yes. But actually the film speed setting has not the function it has with most other cameras, as this camera does not yield automatic exposure, not even has a light meter.

The idea of that setting is to set simultaneously an aperture. And then one can combine a shutter speed to that aperture, following the sunny-16 rule or an exposure table.

With a light meter at hand one would just set the aperture and shutter speed adviced by the meter and forget about those film-speed markings at the camera.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

The original idea of this camera was to make growing new and young photographers to understand how exposure worked. But it was also made to be usable without knowledge of exposure. Why not to take the side where those who wanted to understand are? Your camera allows to do it. I call it as mini LF camera. It has everything separate. Even shutter and film advance.
So, here is the hint. If you were to choose 100 ASA film, you could also choose correct aperture and shutter speed. This camera has indexes for aperture and shutter speed. You could use mobile phone exposure meter free application. Set the app to ASA 100 and aperture to f8. It will show you which shutter speed to choose.
Or use Sunny 16 rule. It is most easy to use with ASA 100 film.

Here is the link to picture of M. Jagger with earlier version of this camera. Smena 8 a.k.a. Cosmic 35.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/558094578796774798/

Manual:
https://microsites.lomography.com/smena/smena8m/download/SmenaManual.pdf

Here is my recent print (2017) from negative taken with camera as yours.

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

Thanks very much for the link to the Manual ,much appreciated. The Cosmic 35 was the one I used as a young child. I have a couple of light meters and am just waiting for a battery to arive for one of them so should be able to set the camera for different amounts of light.

Thanks again

Brad

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

Hello,
I have finally put some film into my Cosmic but am totally confused by it's settings , The film I am using is 200 ASA if I set this to as near as possible just over the 160ASA mark (next setting is 320 ASA) this gives me an aperture of 13 to 14 then using the cameras Symbols for sunny (it is a bright sunny day ) this give me a shutter speed of 250 this seems to break the the sunny 16 calculators rules I have looked at. In the case of this camera do I just ignore the ASA or is it best to ignore the aperture setting and set the ASA correctly.

 

[Wallendo]

Hello,
I have finally put some film into my Cosmic but am totally confused by it's settings , The film I am using is 200 ASA if I set this to as near as possible just over the 160ASA mark (next setting is 320 ASA) this gives me an aperture of 13 to 14 then using the cameras Symbols for sunny (it is a bright sunny day ) this give me a shutter speed of 250 this seems to break the the sunny 16 calculators rules I have looked at. In the case of this camera do I just ignore the ASA or is it best to ignore the aperture setting and set the ASA correctly.

13 to 14 isn't that far off from 16, so there shouldn't be a problem. Also, many photographers find that areas far from the equator require a little more exposure and will use "Sunny 11"