Steve Lodefink reports on a cute-as-a-button cold war Soviet spy camera. It's ridiculously expensive and very difficult to get the film processed, but it sure looks nifty.
Although the Soviet state may have crumbled, the bureaucracy seems to be in pretty good health, as according to LSI, it takes 6 months of paperwork to get one MF-1 camera kit out of the country. There must be a lot of palms to grease too, 'cause LSI is charging $US 1000.00 per kit.
The kit comes with complete with developing tank, cable realease, 3 film cartridges, and a little hand-cranked device that slices the sprocket holes off of a roll of 35mm film, bringing the width down to a stealthy 22mm. Unfortunately, this also renders the film unhandleable by all but a few custom film labs.
