Newbe Question about Lenses and Zenit E

Hi Everyone !!

I just joined this site because I love the imformation here !!! It looks like a great place to learn photography hints!!

My questions are most likely going to sound stupid, but, I honestly am confused.

I have always loved photography and I actually grew up with a father who was a photographer/journalist. I have been around cameras and darkrooms all my life. But I never really became interested in it until about a year ago.

I just bought my first film SLR camera. I have been using digital point and shoot ( yes, I know, I can hear the gasps...lol)...

It is a Zenit E camera, and from the research I did on it, it seems to be a good camera to start learning with. I bought from ebay.ca. It comes with a HELIOS-44-2 58mm f2.0 ( which I understand is an alright lens). It also comes with FLASH STARBLITZ 2800DFM for CANON and LENS VIVITAR 135mm f2.8 and two yashica lenses. Plus a Kodak color snap camera and a kodak folding Jr camera.

Is the Flash Starblitz compatiable with the Zent E?
Are the Canon lenses compatiable with the Zenit E?
Is the Vivitar 135mm F2.8 lens compatiable and is it a macro lens?

is this the right place for these questions???

I tried my best to research all these questions, but , have wound up even more confused than when i started. I can not ask my father as he is terminally ill and would not remember anything about this anyway.

If anyone can help me understand this, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you,
Tammy Angela

tammy-angela said:

My questions are most likely going to sound stupid, but, I honestly am confused.

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Don't worry. The people here don't bite. Another place with non-biting people who may be able to help you with your Zenit is the Yahoo Dead Link Removed The ZCG is less active than APUG, but there's lots of Zenit-specific know-how there.

I just bought my first film SLR camera. I have been using digital point and shoot ( yes, I know, I can hear the gasps...lol)...

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Actually, converts from digital show up here fairly regularly.

It is a Zenit E camera, and from the research I did on it, it seems to be a good camera to start learning with.

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I'd agree with that, although some might not. It has the advantage of being a simple all-manual camera, which therefore forces you to learn about things like focus, exposure, etc. Automatic cameras can let you get by without learning these things, although the better ones at least let you turn off the automation. Zenits have the downside of having a reputation for unreliability (although if yours works it's likely to be fairly rugged). They're also a bit limited -- you've only got shutter speeds from 1/30s to 1/500s, for instance. (Most modern cameras give a range of at least 1/2s to 1/1000s.) One caveat specific to the Zenit E is that their light meters are based on selenium, and given the age of the model, the meter may be dead by now. Thus, you might need to buy a hand-held light meter, or just guesstimate exposures. If the meter works, though, it won't require a battery, so you'll never be annoyed by having your batteries die mid-roll!

It comes with a HELIOS-44-2 58mm f2.0 ( which I understand is an alright lens).

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I've been reasonably impressed with the Helios 44-series lenses I've seen. I generally use mine (or my Zenitar 50mm) rather than my Pentax or Chinon 50mm lenses when I want a lens of this focal length.

It also comes with FLASH STARBLITZ 2800DFM for CANON and LENS VIVITAR 135mm f2.8 and two yashica lenses. Plus a Kodak color snap camera and a kodak folding Jr camera.

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The big folding camera in your photo is probably a medium format (MF) camera of some variety, although I'm not familiar enough with Kodak folders to identify its features more precisely. MF negatives are bigger than the 35mm negatives that your Zenit E produces, so you can get sharper photos even with a lesser lens. You might want to set it aside for a while and come back to it a bit later when you want to broaden your photographic horizons.

Is the Flash Starblitz compatiable with the Zent E?

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The Zenit E in your photo has no hot shoe -- this is a fixture atop the prism housing into which you slide a flash, and the Starblitz flash appears to work via a hot shoe. The Zenit E does have a PC cord socket, though -- this is a circular connector to which you can attach a cable from a flash. Unfortunately, it's unclear from your photo whether the Starblitz flash has a PC cable, but my guess is it does not have one. If so, there are adapters available, but of course that'll be more money, and I can't point you to a specific product offhand. New, they'd probably cost more than your whole photographic kit, but you can probably find something used for a reasonable sum.

Are the Canon lenses compatiable with the Zenit E?

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Probably not, but I'm not sure of that. The Zenit E uses manual M42 (aka Pentax screw mount or Praktica screw mount) lenses. Most Canon lenses use some variety of Canon's own bayonet mount, and as such can't be easily mounted to a Zenit E. I don't know if Canon ever made M42 lenses, though; if they did, it's conceivable you've got an M42 Canon lens that would work with the Zenit.

Is the Vivitar 135mm F2.8 lens compatiable and is it a macro lens?

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I'm afraid I don't know; Vivitar's made lenses for all sorts of mounts, including M42 and others. If you look at the back end of the lens, you'll see its mount. If it's a simple threaded mount, it might fit the Zenit. You can also try unmounting the Zenit's lens (it unscrews counterclockwise) and compare its mount to the Vivitar's mount. If they look similar, try mounting the Vivitar to the Zenit.

One extra "twist" on this is that M42 lenses were made in both "manual" and "automatic" styles. In this context, an automatic lens is one that stays at its maximum aperture until you take a photo, whereupon it stops down to the aperture you've set. A manual lens's aperture adjusts at the moment you set it, though. Automatic lenses can be identified by a pin/rod that sticks out of the bottom of the lens mount; when you press this, the aperture stops down. The Zenit E requires manual lenses, and won't work with automatic lenses unless you jury-rig them to act like manual lenses. Some lenses have "A/M" switches to enable them to work on both automatic and manual cameras.

M42 lenses are plentiful and inexpensive on the used market, although I gather that prices have gone up a bit recently as digital owners have started buying them up as cheap substitutes for the new zooms that manufacturers are selling for digital cameras. Thus, if you can't use what you've got, you can probably sell what you don't want and get replacements that will work for little expenditure of cash.

is this the right place for these questions???

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Yup!

Best of luck with your purchase, too!

Thank you So much

Thank you so much for the wonderful information !!! It was very informative !!!

Hello Tammy,
You have gotten good information already and you can rest assured you shall continue to get good information on this newsgroup. To the best of my knowledge, no Canon lens was ever made for the M-42. You may find that you can trade the Canon lens for something compatible with your Zenit. Ditto for the Vivitar if it is not compatible; but as SRS said, it may be compatible, if it has the proper screw thread.
Because the Zenit is completely manual, you will have to master it in order to exploit it. If you learn it, it will give you good results. Have fun; and welcome.

Not much to add, except for a bit of historical background - the Helios-44 lens is a Soviet/Russian variant of the "Sonnar" lens family designed by Carl Zeiss. A lot of people like these types of lenses, as they tend to not be as "sharp" as other designs (but not fuzzy by any stretch - kind of hard to describe if you haven't seen it yourself) and are therefore nice for portraits of people in particular (but are just fine for any other photography you want to do).

Also, this lens design tends to have what the Japanese call nice "bokeh" - again, a bit hard to describe, but it relates to how the out-of-focus areas in a picture look - pleasant and not distracting. You get a lot of "bokeh" by shooting at more open apertures (toward the f/2.8 end of the scale) - this relates to "depth of field", one of the key concepts in photography.

Finally, just to note, another great Soviet/Russian lens in M42 mount that's also a Sonnar design is the Jupiter-9 - 85mm, f/2. Really nice for portraits.

I hope you have better luck with the Zenit E than I did - I picked one up that was supposedly "working" for about $20, and the first time I cocked the lever the whole shutter mechanism froze up, and then the plastic bits on the lever itself fell off. Add to that the Helios-44 it came with looked like it had been cleaned with sandpaper, and thus gave halos anywhere near a light source. I got what I paid for, I guess

Hi there!
I actually started with (and have one) Zenit-E. Nice, light all-in-one camera (my light meter goes +/-1 ev, quite reliable), really good choice for few first shots, I think. In fact there is no straight way to mount flash on it (I have something that slides in the "eye-hole" part, I can mount flash to it, but there is no cable or connection there). Kodak Jr - I had Kodak Junior 620 - 6x9 camera for old 620 rolls. Film is exactly the same as 120, but the spool is just thinner, and 120 won't fit there. My camera's interior was in fatal condition, made lots of fog, speckles and scratches, so I exchanged it (got microphen for the camera). If your Kodak needs to be feed with 620 rolls (100% if it is Kodak Junior 620) - simply switch it with someone to Pentacon Auto or Sonnar (whatever) M42 lenses (or light meter, tripod, whatever you need). Or sell it and buy the lenses.
Later, If you would like to change your camera, there are lot of tools converting M42 into other mounting systems (even fitting newest digital bodies, eg. Pentax). And there is a host of much better M42 cameras too.
Cheers,
Luke

mabman said:

I hope you have better luck with the Zenit E than I did - I picked one up that was supposedly "working" for about $20, and the first time I cocked the lever the whole shutter mechanism froze up, and then the plastic bits on the lever itself fell off. Add to that the Helios-44 it came with looked like it had been cleaned with sandpaper, and thus gave halos anywhere near a light source. I got what I paid for, I guess

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Ouch! Talk about entropy! When something literally falls apart, you know it's in bad shape!

FWIW, I've got a Zenit E that's in pretty good shape, both cosmetically and mechanically. In fact, I shot a roll of Velvia 50 in it just last weekend. I suspect a couple of shots had uneven shutter movement, but I'm not positive of that -- it could have been uneven lighting in the scene. I don't use this camera a lot, though, since I prefer my K-mount cameras, for which I have more lenses.

Thank you everything for all the great info !!! It really has helped.

I did get my camera package and everything looks great ! My Zenit E is wonderful ( and is in very good condition and best of all, it works !). Now I just have to figure out all the gadgets on it.

The Vivitar lens does fit as it is a M42 mount. However, it has an apeture pin and is automatic. So , I will try to do some research on how to adjust it to make it manual so that I can use it. As I am just starting out in photography, I want to experiment with this before I invest alot of money into it. I have always loved photography ( my father was a Canadian photographer/journalist and I guess it is in my blood...lol) and I want to practice the skill.

I do thank everyone for all their information !!! You are all so great and knowledgable...I hope to one day be as good as you guys/girls...lol

A Web search turned up several online Zenit E manuals:

• The Dead Link Removed on Yahoo has one in the files section. (You'll need to register to get at this one, though.)
• This site has one in low-res but legible scans.
• Alfred Klompf's site has scans of a Dutch manual with his own translations into English.
• The manufacturer's Web site has Dead Link Removed

Between these, I think you'll be able to find what you need concerning "all the gadgets on it."

Concerning your Vivitar lens, look for an automatic/manual switch. It might be a ring near the aperture ring labelled "A/M." I'm not sure if they take other forms (I've only seen one lens like this). If you can't find an A/M switch, you might be able to non-permanently jam the pin in using some paper -- fold over the paper a few times, push the pin in by hand, and jam the paper in with the pin so that the pin is stuck. I suppose you could try gluing the pin in, but that would make the lens harder to use on an automatic M42 camera, should you ever buy one.

Best of luck using your camera!

just need some tips =]

hi i just recently bought a Zenit-E for just £7!!! what a bargain, everything seems to be great apart from a slightly sticky shutter but nothing irrepairable. I was wondering if anybody could give me an idea of what spool to use, i know it is a 35mm so i was thinking of starting off with a 35mm ISO 100 any suggestions?
thanks =]
cameron

Hi
You can use any standard 35 mm film roll. ISO 100 will give you nice results, I use it often.
Sticky shutter : try to clean the curtain rails removing dust & rust that might be there. 1) Remove the lens. Fire the shutter with the camera in "B" mode and keep it pressed to keep the curtains open. 2) Clean the rails (the narrow space where the curtains move) with a toothpick or a small hard brush. I advise those small conic or cylinder shaped brushes used for dental care. Carefully blow the dust that you may have displaced 3) Place a small amount of oil in the rails 4) Keep cocking and firing the shutter repeatedly for a while.
This may be enough to help you. If it doesn't, maybe some curtain re-tensioning may be needed.
Regards
Joao