Found this camera at a flea market in Romania — the only souvenir I brought home from the trip. The best part was the haggling: I talked the seller down from 120 RON to 50 RON (about $12 US). It’s a Soviet-era box camera, made in Belarus between 1969 and 1984. The guy kept repeating, “Ruskie — for kid.”
It shoots 120 film, square 6×6 frames, with a fixed-focus plastic lens and a single shutter speed: 1/60. That’s it. No frills. Just point, guess, and click. It even has a cold shoe — but no sync port, so… good luck with that. Built from featherweight plastic, probably meant for beginners.
I don’t know if it works yet, but I love that someone once used it to document their side of the world — the same way I try to document mine. A simple Soviet time machine with a purpose.
tr/trp