Komsomolets

image by Sim Vahur

The Komsomolets („Комсомолец“) was a sophisticated pseudo TLR, almost like the German pre-war Brillant. It was named "комсомолец", meaning member of the Komsomol, the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, the youth organization of the former USSR. Its plastic body design was taken over for the Lubitel, a real TLR.

The "комсомолец" was produced from 1946 to 1951 by GOMZ. Frame size was 6x6cm, but the first Komsomolets cameras had a red window for 6x9cm frame size since early Soviet 120 film had just 6x9 frame markings on the backing paper. The camera had a Triplet-21 6.3/80 lens and a shutter with speeds 1/25, 1/50, 1/100 + B.