The Smena 35 or Смена-35 is a 35mm viewfinder camera. It was built by Lomo in the early nineties. Unlike the Smena SL, it can use 35mm film in a normal cartridge.
Its functionality is very similar to the Smena 8M. Unlike it, however, it has a more modern plastic design. There are several versions of the 35, which differ slightly from each other.
It has a 40mm fixed focal length, Lomo T-43 (triplet), with a maximum aperture of f/4. Focusing is manual by estimating from 1 meter to infinity.
Exposure time must be estimated either with the scale on the camera or determined with an external meter. In fact, a light meter is not built into it, so the camera does not need batteries. The ISO setting is intended more as a reminder and the exposure scale and has no direct influence on the exposure time, as in cameras with an automatic light meter.
The possible exposure times range from 1/15 s to 1/250 s. The Smena 35 also has a bulb mode. Since the shutter is not connected to the film transport, it can be operated multiple times, e.g. for multiple exposures.
A flash can be connected to the camera via hot shoe. If you are looking for a manual lomo camera the Smena 35 is certainly not a bad choice.
Films for the Smena 35
What film format is the Smena 35 designed for? The camera exposes 35mm format films. 35mm films are still offered by various manufacturers. For black and white images, you can go for the Kodak T-Max 400*. For color images, the Kodak Gold 200* is an option.
Color negative film is developed using the C-41 development process. The C-41 process is standardized and offered by most developing labs. You can drop off your films at most drugstore chains in Germany, for example.
