I was perusing eBay this afternoon, something I do fairly often as I'm always looking for good deals on photography gear, when I came across this 1970s era, Made in the USSR, Photo Sniper kit, aka the Photo-Kalashnikov.
Wow! I want one! The Photo Sniper adds a whole new dimension to shooting pretty girls. You say the model is pissing you off? No problem. Relieve your angst by shooting her with your Photo Kalashnikov.
Apparently, the Photo Sniper, aka Photo Kalashnikov, was manufactured and sold specifically for the bird photography crowd as a way of eliminating tripods. Hey! I shoot birds! Well, I shoot birds in the British slang version of the word, "birds."
The Photo Sniper kit was made during the Cold War by KMZ Krasnogorsk-Moscow, and comes with the case, the faux-rifle mount, a Zenit E3 full-mechanical 35mm SLR camera body, a Taïr 300mm f/4.5 M42 screw-mount lens, and a few other accessories. The current bid is $50 U.S. but there's more than five days left in the auction so who knows where the price might go. Also, the seller resides in the Netherlands and wants almost $80 for shipping and handling to the US.
Obviously, the winning bid may end up being considerably more than fifty bucks. Plus that shipping cost ain't cheap. Still, I put it on my "Watch List" just in case people don't get stupid with their bidding and I can end up purchasing it for a decent price... you know, just to have it.
Below is a pretty girl pic I snapped of a model named Alexis a while back. (Click to enlarge.) Alexis was lots of fun to work with so I didn't feel I needed a Photo Kalashnikov for angst and stress relief while shooting her.
P.S. If you haven't already done so, check out Ed Verosky's new ebook, DSLR: The Basics.
4 comments:
Funny. I actually own one of these spy cameras. I bought back in 1986. I saw one in the International Spy Museum in DC just two years ago.
Good luck. I won't bid against you.
The rifle stock brings up a point. It was used to help steady the camera. Now I see small cameras on the market with no viewfinder and people are holding them at arms length to see the image on the back of the camera. I can't do this, it drives me nuts. I want a viewfinder that I can see through.
Bill-- I'm surprised Hoodman hasn't come up with something that attaches to the LCD screen and acts like a viewfinder, perhaps with some minor optical element in its design. Hey! Waitaminute! I better patent that idea! :-)
Zacuto has the Z-Finder line for shooting video with DSLR cameras.It took me a while to remember the name.
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