Was photography frowned upon in soviet states ?

[egonkrenz]

I know camera equipment was widely available. The film was cheap and plenty but could you freely take pictures or would officials bother you over it ? does anyone know any soviet or east block camera makers apart from Zorki ? the subject fascinates me.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

There were limitations only in general on pictures of militarily/politically sensitive things. This generally applied quite widely and included the Soviet Railways, but judging by the prevalence of Soviet era photography of said railways, in practice this seems to have been quite lax outside of actual military facilities.

[Blake's Baby]

Zenit cameras, made in Russia/Belorus:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenit_%28camera%29

Prakticas, made in East Germany

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praktica

I feel old. These were among the best-known camera brands of my youth. In fact I probably still have a Praktica in my loft.

I've heard stories (unverified) of militiamen (and even sometimes civilians) taking cameras from western tourists in the Soviet Bloc and ripping the film out (and in the case of the militia, sometimes confiscating them). But whether this was widespread... I dunno.