I put in a bid on Catawiki for this Photosnaiper FS12 kit and promised myself that I would not increase the bid. For once, I kept to my promise and it was only a few hours after bidding closed that I checked and found that I had won!The kit is complete and appears fully functional. However, I can’t see me toting it, fully assembled, around Corfu Town as all the police are armed here!

The Photosnaiper FS 12 is based upon a modified Zenit 12 – the 12S which an ‘upgrade’ on the Zenit E and boasts TTL metering. The 12S has also been modified to include a second shutter release beneath the camera body. The lens is basically a modified Tair 3 F4.5/300mm and is a monster weighing in at around 1.3Kg. It is ideal for wildlife and sports photography but only if you have the strength to hold it! A solution had to be found!

The solution that those clever engineers at Krasnogorsk came up with was to provide a rail mount for both camera and lens with a pistol grip along with a ‘rifle stock’ and trigger to make shutter actuation more comfortable.

When the trigger is pulled, a pin presses up and actuates the shutter beneath the camera body. The lens has been modified to be focused by rotating a wheel beneath it which saves you from moving your hand.All of this, when disassembled, fits into a metal case with a number of accessories. Mine is complete, although I don’t think that the extension tubes are original as they are Japanese! It includes both camera and lens, a second Helios 44 50mm f/2 lens, a removable stock, a shoulder strap, a set of filters (UV, orange, 2 different yellows and a green), a rubber lens hood, an m42 lens cap and tools to tighten everything up. There are even two empty 135 film canisters for bulk loading film.