I grew up during the end of the cold war. In the 80’s we were all afraid that Russia was going to nuke us, invade us and take our women. We had visions of dark wood paneled board rooms with vodka drinking Comrades formulating elaborate plans to take over the Western world with their missiles and tanks. Turns out we were a little off, and they were actually broke, none of that stuff worked, and they eventually just gave up on it and splintered into a few little states. They tried for 10 years to break Afghanistan’s will and we did it in time for tea. The U.S.S.R. as we knew it was over.

Back then anything Russian was taboo in the states. We even banned stuff from Cuba, as my arrest at the Canadian Border with two cases of Cuban cigars will attest to. But then something amazing happened. The Berlin wall fell, the borders opened up and people seemed to forget about who was from where, and just started being people for a little while. Even Germany, where I spent my youth became one country again.

During all this Communism, Russia had some pretty impressive technology. Sputnik, MIG fighters, Vodka, and a few good cameras. The Smena came out of that Russia, so in the spirit of international relations, I thought I would get one and test it out. I wanted to see what the kids where using when I was using my old Asahi Pentax that my Father got in Hong Kong. I noticed a few sites like Lomo had them for sale, but why spend $90 on one? I wasn’t even sure if I would like this thing. I had a better plan: email some guy in Russia and made a deal with him. Russians weren’t always easy to deal with, but now capitalism has taken a firm hold, and procuring a box of assorted Smenas wasn’t that hard at all. Of course I had to buy a dozen of them, but at least they got here well packed and arrived in a timely manner.

As I inspected the Cameras, testing shutters and lenses, I noticed something on the bottom of the lens- “made in the U.S.S.R” when was the last time you saw that on something? My LCA-RL says “lens made in Russia” but the old CCCP? I hardly remember it. I loved it already. I suddenly had visions of Russian propaganda posters and Vodka. They may have been Commies, but damn did they did have some great graphic design.

So I tossed one in my bag and headed into the studio. One of the folks that I work with has an encyclopedic knowledge of old cameras, so the Smena was quickly out of the bag and being closely examined. A few things that you will notice right away- you have to cock the shutter before you fire, with a lever much like the one on a Diana. Not a big fan of the extra step, but you get used to it pretty fast. Then we went on to deciphering the focus and aperture. This is where the little bits of irony started to come out…

Much like the Holga, the Smena uses icons to represent the distance from the camera to the subject. But the Smena’s are a little different. Close up on a Holga is a clean icon of a person, from the shoulders up. Smena has what we called ‘KGB mugshot’ a little man with that iconic Russian hat. It got worse from there.. what to shoot a group shot? Slide the lens over to ‘people in the line for toilet paper.’ Looking to take a shot of that building? ‘Comrade housing tower’ will get you right in focus. The apertures were no different… with the dark setting or ‘industrial revolution coal cloud’ all the way up to the wide-open ‘Chernobyl.’ It seems that even with the cold war over, the visions are still there. By the end time we loaded the film, we were literally laughing in hysterics.

Offensive? Well, yes. But that’s what us Americans do best. The irony is that when the Wall went down, the Communists realized something interesting- capitalism worked for them too. Soon there were Russian billionaires buying Premiership Football teams, Russian Billionaires buying car companies (TVR, Spyker…) Russian products were being snatched up by big corporations and imported into the States. To us, things like Lomo were exotic; if they were Russian they must be cool right?

Not really. But I have to give Lomo credit, they were at the right place at the right time- secured rights to the cameras and sold them to the masses. Capitalism at work. They also tried to sue anyone who stood in their way- steamrolling the little people for the greater good. Wait, isn’t that Communism, or Fascism? I get them confused anymore. But regardless, we bought into it. I admit I was first in line. Super Samplers, Super-Ultramega-Samplers. 9 Shot samplers. Point and shoot cameras with a color filter over the flash… how could we Americans never have thought of this before? A few college kids from Austria had gone to Russian on a trip, and through a stroke of luck, gave film photography the shot in the arm it needed.

But at what cost? Smena’s are all over Russia. They literally fall from the sky and the rivers flow with them. So are LCA’s. I refuse to pay $90 for something I can get for a fraction of that, and get it from an actual guy sitting in his house in Russia. Free trade. Capitalism. No big corporations, just two guys on opposite sides of the world who want to trade cameras. Funny thing is, to them it’s just a utilitarian camera. To us it’s a wonder. They may not have been able to make enough toilet paper, but they sure did make some damn nice cameras.

Times change, and with any luck will soon lift the embargo on Cuban products too. So as I sit at my desk, cleaning my Smena with my dark wool overcoat sipping Vodka with my big black furry hat, I can also puff on that genuine Cohiba Rubusto. You never know, they elected a president that was a Sambo and Judo champion, and we elected a Socialist. 30 years later and its us who are waiting in line for gasoline, while Ferrari and Lamborghini are opening dealerships in Moscow. Ironic, isn’t it?

But politics aside, what did I think of the Smena? I like it. Honestly, it’s nothing special. It’s a 35mm cam with some limited functions and a pretty decent lens. But for some reason it’s provenance charms me. It makes me wonder who had it before I did, and what images passed through it? Were they the crowded streets of Moscow? The snowy exile of Siberia? Or was it just some kid who picked it up for a few rubles to capture the precious moments of his daily life? In the end, it’s the journey my little Smena has taken that will keep me enamored with it, and the image’s aren’t half bad either.

Want it? If you shoot Toy Cams, this is one to round the collection out.

Need it? If you already have a trusty 35, then No.