Horizon - Kiev - C1966

That was a gift from co-workers. There is nothing written on this camera ! I got the name in a web site (Classic Cameras in my links list) and assumed that Kiev is the producer due to the symbol (prism with beam of light) that is the same we can find on the Kiev's lenses. But in fact it is not: check the note below.

Well this is a rotating lens panoramic camera. The film is shaped to be curved around the rotation axis. It means no focus settings as the radio must be constant to get a circle right ? It covers 120° and makes 24 x 58 mm negatives. Very convenient for those having an 6x6 enlarger. The viewfinder shows a bubble lever because if you shoot with the rotating axe out of a perfect vertical position the horizon gets curved and it is kind of annoying most of the times. About the rotation while shooting, surprisingly, it is not hard to hold still. A set back is that the lowest speed is 1/30 and highest 1/125 because the scanning speed constant (or almost) and I believe it is the size of the slit riding the film that changes as we set one of these three speeds. This is limitative for night panoramic shots. But overall it is a camera very nice to have. If you want serious panoramic talk go to   International Association of Panoramic Photographers  

Here is a contribution of one visitor: Tim Illyuk. He clarifies about place of production of this panoramic and the real meaning of the logo on it. Thanks Tim.
"The only thing I'd like to mention is about your panoramic Horizon camera. I don't think it was made in Kiev (Arsenal plant). As far as I know all the Russian Horizons were (and are) made in the city of Krasnogorsk, ("Krasnogorsk Mechanical Plant" or "KMZ") where all Moskva folders, Zorki rangefingers, Zenit SLRs were also made. The logo you found on your Horizon is in fact KMZ's logo, you can check it on the front page of their website at   www.zenit-foto.ru   The reason why you also can see this logo on your Kiev's lens is that KMZ did produced lenses for Arsenal. So your Kiev lens is from Krasnogorsk as well!"




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