Just bought a Zorki IV

Came with a Jupiter 50mm F2 lens. In primo shape, I'm so excited! I wonder if the LTM lenses I use on my Bessa will work?? Ummm....

Today I will shoot a roll of b&w 400 asa thru it and see what type of "look" I get with this lens. I hear it's not the greatest by todays standards, but then again, that's not what I'm looking for. Heck I could put a to small lens shade on it and pretend I have a Holga.

It's a fun camera.

There are a few minor variants of the Zorki 4. The best are the oldest ones from the 1950s and early 1960s, with engraved shutter speeds and a vulcanite body covering. Mine is silkscreened and vinyl, but it's still fun.

Eric Rose said:

I wonder if the LTM lenses I use on my Bessa will work?.

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Yes they will. The 50/2 Jupiter varies enormously in quality: I once had one that rattled, as an internal element flopped to and from (you could see the reflection move). The best are surprisingly good.

Have fun!

Cheers,

R. (author of 'Rangefinder...')

I very much enjoy my Zorki 1 with it's collapsable Elmar copy lens. It's a joy to use, feels wonderful in my hand, and fits easily into just about any pocket you can find. I don't shoot a lot of 35mm film these days, but I still use it from time to time and certainly wouldn't get rid of it for anything.

- Randy

Yes, you can interchange lenses between the Voigtlander Bessas and the Zorki's (except the Jupiter 12, which interferes with the meter on the Bessa).

The Jupiter 8 can be very good. I remember developing some shots I took with one on a Kiev 4a. I was shooting wide open from across a conference room. When I developed the negs I could count the hairs on the speaker's hand where he was writing on a whiteboard. I also use one in LTM and don't notice an obvious difference in quality when switching between it and the 35/2.5 Skopar.

DBP said:

I also use one in LTM and don't notice an obvious difference in quality when switching between it and the 35/2.5 Skopar.

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Wow that says a lot! I have been very impressed with the Skopar. It's snowing today so my shooting might have to wait a bit. We will see.

I have I zorki 4 also with a jupiter 8 also 12 made in 1977 sounds a a little rough but I get good results. These lenses seem to work fine with my leica 3f as well

Snow

Eric Rose said:

Wow that says a lot! I have been very impressed with the Skopar. It's snowing today so my shooting might have to wait a bit. We will see.

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Sounds like perfect weather for a Russian camera.

I wonder if there s a way to find out the age of the camera using the serial number?

Eric,

I believe that the first two digits of the serial number is the year of manufacture. 66=1966, 71=1971, etc.

Wayne

I don't have a Zorki, but (there was a url link here which no longer exists) was shot with a FED2 and a FED 50/3.5 collapsible Elmar clone. Hand held at 1/10 second in poor light...

Eric,
I don't have much to say about quality of jupiter lenses, cause I have "industar 50". But, here's one advice; never change shutter's speed settings on your Zorki before you advance the film.
Snjesko

Ole,

Fantastic timing! His expression is just great.

- Randy

Just posted two shots taken with the new Zorkie. They are in the Standard gallery. My Nikon film scanner sucks with grainy b&w so pardon the lousy scans please. Beyond that I am quite impressed!

I took a chance and bought a working Zorki-4 with a Jupiter 8 (like your setup) off of a nice man from RFF a while back. I lucked out in that it was a reasonable price, and it's a 1959 model with the engraved numerical markings.

I love the thing.. It's heavy, lunky, and removed all sadness I was experiencing since killing two Argus c-four cameras of mine.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/luketrash/sets/72157594385349116/

Here's my set of Z4 photos. The lens is very nice, if you ask me.. Especially for the money.. I've been meaning to try it on my Voigtlander R3A...

To be honest. The quality of the Jupiter 50mm is pretty good. Unfortunately, I don't get to use it much as the advance mechanisms on the Zorki4s keep jamming up after I rewind the film. The little dohickey that is set to make the rewind function work just never comes out. I have two Zorki4 paperweights.

Now I have a Zorki 1 I like an awful lot, but I keep the Industar 50 on it and I have a Jupiter 85mm that takes fine pictures on a Fujinon SM body.

Anyhow, the quality does vary so good luck with your camera.

tim in san jose

Just Got a 1972 Zorki 4

It was a gift, along with a number of other cameras including a mint Zenit -B and a Rolliecord ((there was a url link here which no longer exists))

The Zorki is in mint condition with a black Jupiter 8 lens. It came with the original warranty card and factory certification and original owner's manual and what looks like the original sales reciept (all in Russian). The camera was purchased new in Russia in 1972 and the pressure plate has no marks, so little, if any, film went through the camera.

Too bad the shutter was jammed , so up on the 'collector shelf' it went.

Well, I have about 20 cameras, but no 'Leica-style' rangefinders. So, today, I thought this Zorki would be cool to use.

Turns out these later Zorki 4s only go for about $40 or less on e-bay, and I found a web site of a fellow in Russia that fixes Zorki 4's for about $45 with about $30 shipping (all USD). Mine is worth, perhaps 50 cents more because of the original case, caps and documentation .

So...there is nothing like tearing into a broken camera that has almost no value; you really can't make it any less valuable. Turns out I WAS able to get it un-jammed. The rangefinder arm was also stuck, but I cleaned this up and now it functions perfectly.

Wow, that shutter speed mechanism seems awfully fragile. After getting it fixed I felt like just leaving it at 1/250 or something. Every time you adjust it if feels like you are breaking it. Thanks to a PDF English owner's manual from the net, I read that they warn the user it will feel like that and it is normal. Also, the shutter speed knob sticks up more when set on the slower speeds (again normal )

I also got a Rolliecord with this 'package' and it specifically demands 1/500 be set BEFORE cocking the shutter. Of course, the savvy Zorki user will know that the Zorki demands shutter speed setting AFTER cocking the shutter .

Now that it is fixed I need to try it out with some film!