Svema
Svema (Russian: Свема, Светочувствительные Материалы) is a registered trade mark and former name ("NPO "Svema") of the Shostka Chemical Plant, located in Shostka, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. It was founded in 1931 in then Ukrainian SSR.
"Svema" used to be the major photographic film manufacturer in the USSR, but their film lost market share in former Soviet countries to imported products during the late 1990s. They made black-and-white photographic film, photographic paper, B&W/colour cine film and magnetic tapes until 2000.[1] Colour film was made with equipment dismantled from the Agfa-Wolfen Factory after World War II. Svema products were known among enthusiasts as an easy and sturdy product for beginners in home film development and printing.
Their black-and-white photographic films were:
Type 1981
(old GOST speed scale)
- Svema FN 32; 32 GOST, ISO 40/17°
- Svema FN 64; 64 GOST, ISO 80/20°; sheet films 6.5×9 cm - 30×40 cm, KB, 6×9", bulk
- Svema FN 125; 125 GOST, ISO 160/23°; KB, bulk
- Svema FN 250; 250 GOST, ISO 320/26°; KB, bulk
- Svema Reporter 200 GOST, ISO 200/24° (actually cinematographic filmstock); KB, bulk
around the late 1980s:
- Svema Foto 32
- Svema Foto 65 (80 ASA)
- Svema Foto 130
- Svema Foto 250
Type 1990
(new GOST speed scale, same as ASA)
- Svema Foto 50; ISO 50/18°
- Svema Foto 100; ISO 100/21°; KB, 6×9", bulk
- Svema Foto 200; ISO 200/24°; KB, bulk
- Svema Foto 400; ISO 400/27°; KB, bulk
The plant's production of photographic products slowed through the 1990s and ceased entirely in 2000. Svema shut down completely in 2006, having served only as a district heating source for the town of Shostka in the intervening years.[2]
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Notes
- ↑ Kronke, Claus: "'Finished!' The Decline of the Svema Film Works", "Smallformat", 01 2007
- ↑ Kronke, Claus: "'Finished!' The Decline of the Svema Film Works", "Smallformat", 01 2007