A surgeon from Semenov has assembled a collection of rare Soviet cameras.

      20 August 2025 18:40

      [243]

      Society

      A surgeon from the town of Semenov in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Sergey Zamorin, has been collecting and restoring film cameras for three decades. His collection already includes more than forty specimens produced in different years, and all of them are in working condition. The unusual hobby of the Nizhny Novgorod doctor was reported by pravda-nn.ru.

      The hobby began when a relative brought him a Moskva-3 camera, produced shortly after the war. Zamorin repaired the device — and since then cameras have become his true passion.

      He has collected virtually all the models produced in the USSR: from Zenit, Zorkiy and FED to Kiev models and equipment from LOMO. Once he even found himself in the office of the general director of the Leningrad Optical-Mechanical Association, where he ended up by chance.

      A particular pride of the collector is a German Zeiss camera that is over a hundred years old. It is a plate camera on a tripod, similar to those used by photographer Andrey Karelin. Although photographic plates for it have not yet been found, all the other equipment works. Zamorin adapted Soviet lenses to digital cameras using adapters and notes that the image quality exceeds expectations.

      Sergey Zamorin was born in Gorky in 1965. He moved to Semenov by assignment 36 years ago together with his wife. He chose the medical profession back in eighth grade and considers that decision correct. He now works as a surgeon in a district hospital and holds additional certificates in endoscopy, urology and organizational work.

      Medicine is a family affair: his wife also works as a doctor, and his eldest daughter chose the profession as well.

      After work Sergey Vasilyevich relaxes with music. He has about a thousand vinyl records that he listens to on a turntable. Musical talent was passed on to his younger daughter as well — Elizaveta studies at the Moscow Conservatory's Faculty of Performance and has already won prestigious competitions.

      The doctor has also tried his hand at filmmaking. He has written screenplays and filmed everyday sketches and travel chronicles on a movie camera. Zamorin admits that when watching films he often imagines how he would have shot a particular scene differently.

      Another hobby is reading. He particularly values the books of Alexey Ivanov and Daniil Granin. The latter became his favorite author after reading "The Picture."

      The surgeon also writes poetry, but does not publish yet — he is too demanding of himself, as he is in his profession.

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