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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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 Posted - Sep 20 2013 : 10:33:20 AM
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Dear USSRPhoto.com members, as you all know our dear friend, collector, our favorite seller, and "brother-in-arms" Alexandr Komarov is currently facing 7 years in prison for possessing an F-21 camera in Ukraine. A lot of us are currently working hard to help him out of this situation, his court hearing is on Tuesday, Sept. 24th in Uzhgorod, Ukraine and I would like to create an official USSRPhoto.com document for him, stating with our collective opinion that F-21 only represents a collectible value and cannot be possibly used for active clandestine activities and is not a secret camera currently used by government agencies.
What I need from you are your electronic signatures (names) that I will list in the end of the letter.
If you would like to be on that list please send me an email to ussrphoto@gmail.com with your:
1. Name
2. How many years collecting/studying the Soviet photographic equipment subject
3. your email
4. your city and country
Thank you,
Vlad. |
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S.H.
France
28 Posts |
Posted - Sep 20 2013 : 12:43:52 PM
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| I just forwarded this to a French repairman, who signed on and also forwarded this to his network. Hope this helps. |
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Sep 20 2013 : 1:21:10 PM
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Thank you, S.H. I got an email from the French repairman, I didn't get one from you, if you would like your name to be added, please send me your info in email.
Cheers,
Vlad. |
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Guido Studer
Guido
Switzerland
362 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Sep 20 2013 : 3:11:07 PM
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Hello Vlad
I sent to you a mail with my address for the list.
quote:
Originally posted by Vlad
(...) I would like to create an official USSRPhoto.com document for him, stating with our collective opinion that F-21 only represents a collectible value and cannot be possibly used for active clandestine activities and is not a secret camera currently used by government agencies.
It would be nice to show us your text prior to sending it.
Best wishes - Guido
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Sep 20 2013 : 3:29:00 PM
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yes absolutely, this is something approved by Alex, it's in Russian so please run it through google, as I am at work right now I can't translate it right away but I will do so later on.
Уважаемый суд, Ваша честь!
Мы хотели бы к вам обратиться от единственного существующего всемирного общества коллекционеров и историков Советской Фотоаппаратуры, штаб-квартира которого находится в городе Чикаго, США.
Мы услышали о деле Александра Комарова и были шокированы обвинениями! Фотоаппарат Ф-21, который был выпущен пол века назад, уже давно не представляет никакого секрета и никакого интереса для практического применения с целью срытого получения информации, а только коллекционную ценность. Это просто потрясающе интересный аппарат и шедевр технической мысли и механического исполнения того времени, который имеется в коллекции почти каждого коллекционера. Но сейчас никто не будет возиться, снимая им на нестандартную плёнку, когда за буквально гроши можно купить любой миниатюрности цифровую камеру! Зенит МФ-1, выпущенный Красногорским Механическим Заводом для продажи, абсолютно технически одинаковый с Ф-21/АЯКС-12, и в данный момент свободно продаётся по всему миру известным Ломографическим обществом за $800. Единственная разница в этих двух аппаратах это надпись “ЗЕНИТ” и логотип КМЗ на последнем.
Мы просим суд освободить Александра Комарова от всех обвинений, его самое большое преступление это любовь к истории своего Отечества, сохранение исторических предметов и знаний для грядущих поколений.
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Jacques M.
France
2584 Posts |
Posted - Sep 20 2013 : 4:15:36 PM
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Done for me.
I have just posted an alert on summilux.net, the main site for collectors of Leicas in France.
Amitiés. Jacques. |
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Jacques M.
France
2584 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2013 : 11:06:08 AM
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Vlad,
I insist on the necessity to have an English translation of the text.
A necessity if we want to have it signed.
Sorry for the work...
Jacques. |
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Sep 21 2013 : 11:49:35 AM
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Hi Jacques, oh absolutely, that's a given! I just posted a first draft that Alex approved in Russian for now, unfortunately I was a bit busy with work and overwhelmed by the positive response of collectors around the world and didn't have time to translate it yet. I am still collecting the signatures, we have a little bit of time until the case goes to court, IF the case goes to court. The letter will eventually contain both languages on official USSRPhoto.com letterhead. Let me try to roughly translate it now so at least majority can read it:
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Most respected members of the court, Your Honor!
We collectively write this letter from the only international society of Soviet photographic equipment collectors of in existence, headquarters of which is located in Chicago, USA.
When we have heard about the the case of Alexandr Komarov we were shocked by the accusations. Camera F-21 which was made half a century ago does not present itself as any kind of secret and does not have any practical applications with purpose of clandestine information gathering, but only has collector's value. This is an amazingly interesting camera and a pinnacle of technical thought and mechanical realization for that time. Almost every collector has it in their collections. But now no one would bother using it in real world, taking pictures on a non-standard film, when basically for pennies one can buy any miniature digital camera for the same purpose. Zenit MF-1, made by KMZ is absolutely technically identical to F-21/Ajax-12 and at this time is sold freely around the world by Lomographic Society for $800. The only difference between these two cameras are writing "Zenit" and the KMZ logo on the latter.
We ask the court to drop the charges against Alexandr Komarov, his biggest crime is the love for history of his birth-country (fatherland) and the intent to keep the items of historical significance (will probably rephrase in English better later, it sounds good in Russian  ) and knowledge for the coming generations.
----
In a nutshell this is roughly the translation for now, will work out the quirks later, but Russian version is pretty much phrased correctly already. Sorry for the delay.
Cheers,
Vlad. |
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xya
France
154 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2013 : 5:51:56 PM
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| signed it and put a message on www.polaroid-passion.com (a french forum). hope it helps. |
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Sep 21 2013 : 6:48:38 PM
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Every bit helps, thanks so much!
Best regards,
Vlad |
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Sep 21 2013 : 6:50:33 PM
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| xya, would you mind linking to the exact thread? thank you! |
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Alexander K.
AlexanderK
Germany
584 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2013 : 12:23:10 PM
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Vlad,
I would try to contact some German collector clubs and to give this information further.
Regards, Alexander |
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xya
France
154 Posts |
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Sep 22 2013 : 2:51:39 PM
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Thank you very much everyone, and thank you for the suggestions I will try to follow up on these! So far I've sent to Alex what I posted here with all the signatures I've collected since he is leaving in the morning. I will keep collecting signatures if you're still haven't sent it to me, since it may be needed for court itself in 2-3 weeks, if the case goes to court.
As a side note, I will not disclose any names or emails anywhere or to anyone that were emailed to me, they will be kept in strict confidentiality and only be used to help in Alex's case.
Best regards,
Vlad. |
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Sep 25 2013 : 08:59:31 AM
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Another update - received a note from Alex in Uzhgorod, good news so far, now that the story is public with your great help, it helped them put pressure on the system and the fact that he also discovered that F-21 is considered "Special equipment" on a list that is from Soviet Union and not Ukraine, now his attorney is now very optimistic that they can now win the case with acquittal! Let's hope it is so!
Best regards,
Vlad. |
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Yuri Boguslavsky
fedka
USA
240 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Oct 04 2013 : 10:55:19 PM
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These are all interesting clips. Incredibly, they talk about F-21 but show just about any Soviet camera BUT the F-21. It almost looks like they (Ukrainian media) are afraid to touch it.
And I really do not blame them. I guess if you hold one in your hands you are breaking the law.
And like with any YouTube clip it is quite interesting to read the comments.
Unreal stuff.
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Oct 05 2013 : 10:42:43 AM
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Hi Yuri,
I guess main reason F-21 is not in any of these segments because they were confiscated from Alex's possession. And the museum curator doesn't have one for the obvious reason you stated.
Vlad. |
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Nov 03 2013 : 10:10:36 AM
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Dear friends,
Alex's court date is approaching on November 19th, if you haven't yet sent me your signature to be on the official petition for the court please do so by sending me an email to ussrphoto@gmail.com with your:
1. Name
2. How many years collecting/studying the Soviet photographic equipment subject
3. your email
4. your city and country
This document will play a large role in court's decision, thank you for your support! And obviously the confidentiality of the information is guaranteed in such that it will not be disclosed to anyone except to exist on the hard copy of the court document.
Best regards,
Vlad |
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Robert Vonk
Fotohuis
Netherlands
100 Posts
My Collection
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Nov 19 2013 : 12:39:25 PM
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No not yet, I have not heard anything yet, he's probably not back yet, will check tomorrow, if I don't hear from Alex, will check with his lawyer.
Cheers,
Vlad. |
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David Tomlinson
RCCCUK
United Kingdom
208 Posts |
Posted - Nov 24 2013 : 04:52:02 AM
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I have heard from Alex today. Apparently, after his 1500km journey to the court, his appearance lasted just 5 minutes and he was told to appear again on the 29th November. I am sure that we all wish him the very best of luck and that common sense will prevail in the end.
David. |
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Robert Vonk
Fotohuis
Netherlands
100 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Nov 24 2013 : 3:51:34 PM
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OK, thanks for the update. At the moment there is a lot of tension in Ukraine due to the fact the government rejected an offer for the EU for close cooperation. And there is still the case Timochencko not solved. So over 100.000 people were demonstrating in Kiev today pro European Union. The same in other Ukraine cities. Lets hope common sense will survive. Russia put Ukraine under big political and economical pressure like they have done with Georgia, Moldova and the Baltic States too.
So you can see it is not easy to survive in Ukraine for a lot of things.
Robert
"De enige beperking in je fotografie ben je zelf"
http://gallery.fotohuisrovo.nl/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotohuisrovo/ |
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Nov 24 2013 : 9:45:24 PM
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Hello all, sorry I've been busy with all this website hosting nonsense and work, I also talked to Alex, it seems like he will have to appear on court a few more times, but his lawyer is somewhat discouraged as he thinks that Alex can indeed get a big fine if not worse.. Alex is in quite depressed mood since he's running out of funds to pay for the lawyer, expensive travel to court and back and any kind of fine that court may impose.. I'm thinking of setting up a page for him for people to donate via paypal, even $5 will help if they wish to do so, also he will be selling a lot of his cameras from his personal collection to pay for all this, so I'll be posting a price list on this forum with the items he'll have for sale so if anyone wishes to purchase anything from him.
Best regards,
Vlad |
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David Tomlinson
RCCCUK
United Kingdom
208 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2013 : 02:47:04 AM
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I have heard from Alex again, and he tells me that his next court appearance is on Tuesday 17th December. It is absolutely crazy that the judicial system of the Ukraine should waste so much time pursuing a case that on the face of it should never have gone to court in the first place.
David. |
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Vladislav Kern
Vlad
USA
4247 Posts
My Collection
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Posted - Dec 17 2013 : 4:09:15 PM
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So another update, just heard from Alex, he went all the way to Uzhgorod, which takes about a day and a half for a court hearing and his defense attourney didn't show up(!!!), so he had to go home with no results, they rescheduled the court to January 20th... meanwhile please sign the petition I posted in another thread.
Thanks!
Vlad. |
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Topic |
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YOUR HELP NEEDED IN ALEX KOMAROV'S CASE!!
