Soviet lens test

A few years ago I bought a used Soviet medium format camera. I still have it but haven't really don't much with it. Sure, I took it out occasionally but nothing major. Not trips with me to Iraq or Afghanistan. It was used toying around at parties or even out on the street. 

Flowers in my front yard, April 19, 2014.

Soviet cameras had a much deserved reputation for clunky mechanics, bad form or general unreliability. The optics weren't any better. My first Soviet-built camera was a bad Leica/Contax copy. I might've used it for a year or two and a dozen rolls of Tri-X, then chucked it. 

I like medium format. The size of the negs. How the cameras, especially this one in particular, feel in my hand. This one isn't like my other cameras where the shutter button is on the right. This one is on the left. Until a couple of weeks ago I had no way to shoot this lens digitally. The lenses are made with a Pentacan mount originally developed in East Germany and copied in the Soviet Union. I found a Pentacon-to-Canon EF adapter at Fotodiox and ordered it. 

I really lucked out with this camera and lens set. This camera is a beauty. The optics are great. And here's proof. I shot this in my front yard. The lens is a ВЕГА-12б (Vega-12b) 90mm f2.8. 

I plan on shooting with this bad boy a lot more.