J.L. Princelle's visit to the makers of the Horizon-202
Unique report from Moscow
Article from CAMERABeurs No. 3, 1992
(translated from original Dutch to English by Frank Rodenburg)
50 YEARS KMZ!
In this issue the news column will be missing because we were sent a unique photo report at the last minute -- only three days before this issue had to be sent to the print! The French photographer J.L. Princelle has paid a visit to KMZ, the producer of the Horizon-202, and has been able, as one of the first journalists, to walk around and photograph freely and unhampered at their premises. On the following pages you can meet the people that invented and now produce the new Horizon-202 and you can follow part of its production process and of the assembly process of the Zenit cameras. In the next issue you'll find, as usual, on these first pages of our magazine the news column.
KMZ a new horizon...
Above: There's a substantial chance that one of these people has actually assembled your Horizon-202, because this is the specially-selected and trained team that individually assemble a complete Horizon, both lens and body.
When developing the idea of the book "300 Leica copies", P.H. Pont and J.L. Princelle were wondering on which date the KMZ factory in Moscow officially started business. The factory is known for the production of the Zorki, a development from the FED, which is a direct copy of the Leica II, and, later, the Zenit.
In spite of several trips to the USSR no answers were found by the team of FOTOSAGA 1): back in '89 the USSR still kept everything under cover of secrecy.
The preparations for the book "200 Russian cameras", that is soon to be published, made this question even more urgent...
The answer was given during the photographic exhibition in Paris in October '91. Director Alexander Goev 2), big boss of the Krasnogorsk plant, presented us there with the invitation to come and celebrate KMZ's 50th anniversary in February '92.
As Russia's (and ex-USSR'S) number one producer, KMZ will have to dedicate itself more and more to the civilian market, (where people are always eager for novelties) in these times of military budget cutbacks. During the fifty years of its existence the factory has proven its creativity by the development of equipment like the FT-2, FT-3, Horizon, Narciss, Zenit, or the miniature F-21 with an ultra-silent little motor (by order of the KGB).
Both with the invitation to come and celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of these famous Moscow firm, and because of the simultaneous official launch of their new show horse, the 35mm panoramic camera Horizon-202 — distributed worldwide by KMZ Horizon production unit's partner Manfrotto — we and some other journalists were given the opportunity to visit a factory without any barriers that, until 1991, saw 80% of its production go to the Soviet Defense and Space Agencies.
We started our tour at the foundry works. These were equipped with ultra-modern presses of 10 to 300 tons, but also with casting equipment that still required hand-pouring with molten aluminium. Next we visited the grinding stations for the lenses and the machine places, and finally we came at the conveyor belts, where the Zenit camera bodies were assembled. All of this under the slightly weary eye of Lenin.
Then Nicolay Tarasov 3), engineer, "boss" and spiritual father of the new panoramic Horizon camera, welcomed us with the warmth that is so typically Slavonic. He showed us the shops where the new Horizons, about which so much has already been written, are being assembled, adjusted and checked four times. Because of our visit, all drawing boards were carefully covered up, but we could image all sorts of beautiful new projects being worked on there. We promise our readers that they will get the scoop of these novelties!
For this Anniversary's occasion a special series of 10 Horizon-202 cameras has been made from blocks of aluminium-titanium alloy and engraved with the text "50th Anniversary of KMZ". These will surely awaken the interest of camera collectors.
J.L. Princelle
 |
| Above: At the Zenit plant, under "father" Lenin's all-seeing eye. The floor is actually made of aluminium bars! 4) |
| Right: Some die cast machines are still being hand-pouring with molten aluminium alloy for the production of the camera bodies. |
 |
 |
Left: Production department of the KMZ Horizon with in the middle (with tie) Nicolay Tarasov 3), the "boss". To his left — P.A. Tikhomirov, one of the people responsible for the Horizon's production. |
| Bottom: Every camera is being integrally assembled by just one person, and subsequently checked four times. |
 |
 |
| |
Above: Unfinished plastic casings for the Horizon awaiting assembly. |
| Bottom: Polishing of the lenses. The staff here consists mainly of women. |
|
|
 |
 |
Left: Each lens element is checked for quality and consequently either used or rejected. |
 |
Left: Each and every lens is calibrated and, if needed, repolished to perfection. |
 |
Left: KMZ's department 5) where the Zenit single lens reflex cameras are being built. |
| Right: Unfinished Zenit body castings ready for cleaning and inspection, after which they will be provided with a black coating. |
 |
 |
Left: Manufacturing of lens parts for the Zenit lenses
(photo made with Horizon-202 camera) |
| Right: The approved lenses are being prepared for multicoating. |
 |
 |
Left: KMZ assembly hall for the Zenit-122
(photo made with Horizon-202 camera) |
Right: KMZ assembly hall. Last checks of the Zenit-122
(photo made with Horizon-202 camera) |
 |
Notes:
This article was originally written by J.L. Princelle, and published in the Dutch camera magazine "CAMERABeurs" No. 3, 1992, pages: 28–31. Pages were scanned by Jannes Slot. Alexander Nickolsky did the OCR job. Text was translated from Dutch to English by Frank Rodenburg in December, 2003.
Photos: J.L. Princelle
1) — "...no answers were found by the team of FOTOSAGA" — FOTOSAGA — "300 Leica Copies" book publishers, Neuilly, 1990.
2) — Alexander Goev (Александр Гоев) name corrected.
3) — Nicolay Tarasov (Николай Тарасов) name corrected.
4) — "The floor is actually made of aluminium bars" — this is a mistake: cast-iron bars.
5) — the misunderstood name of KMZ department "PK 15-Zenit" — deleted. In the original: "Afdeling PK-15-Zenit van KMZ waar de Zenit spiegelreflexcamera's gebouwd worden." ("KMZ's department PK 15-Zenit where the Zenit single lens reflex cameras are being built."). The inscription on the one column, "PK-15", is only mean "fire-plug number 15" ("ПК" — Пожарный Кран, Pozharny Kran)...
References:
Original Dutch version of this article
KMZ cameras list
User manuals
|