Photoclubalpha

I just received this letter from Arax-Arsenal factory from Kiev, Ukraine:

Kiev, Ukraine [Russian KOI-8R is below]
>
> Dear friends and kievaholiks.
>
> It is pity to inform that after 245 year the ARSENAL factory (Zavod
> ARSENAL in Russian) is lost. After many judicial proceedings now we
> have the Special Construction Department (SKTB in Russian) instead of
> ARSENAL factory. The factory management, including the director of
> factory, are totally changed. The workers are discharges, all
> manufacturing is stopped, the factory storehouse is empty.
>
> The good news is that we have bought the medium format cameras and
> parts for several years of works and we'll keep our business running
> at least 4-5 years more. So, you'll have ability to buy ARAX cameras
> as usually with our one year worldwide warranty. In any case, you
> will never be left alone with a problem from your ARAX cameras many
> many many years.
>
> Sincerely
> Gevorg Vartanyan,
> http://araxfoto.com/

That's very sad considering the output of the works over the years. I did not know it was 245 years old though!

The director looks as if he could have come from Armenia or close by - all the '-yans' or '-ians' I have known have been Armenian!

David

David Kilpatrick wrote:That's very sad considering the output of the works over the years. I did not know it was 245 years old though!

The director looks as if he could have come from Armenia or close by - all the '-yans' or '-ians' I have known have been Armenian!

David

Yes, Gevorg Vartanyan is Armenian.
Have you ever tried their lenses? They have some nice ones.

I have an 80mm ARSAT lens on my tilt-shift adaptor for the A900. It came from a Kiev 66 rollfilm SLR. It's optically excellent but the aperture is a bit sticky, I have to operate it carefully to make sure it stops down.

David