So I just got my Zenit C in the mail from a seller based in Ukraine. I got a very good price for it and it came in great shape. I still haven't developed a roll, so I'm unsure whether the shutter needs to be calibrated, but from what I can see firing it from the front with the mirror unlatched, the speeds look decently accurate, it's certainly not lagging or capping, and I don't think it's tapering off, so I'm pretty sure I've got a good body. The only thing I haven't tried is flash sync.
The lens on the other hand-- well, let's say that the little KMZ-badged Industar-50 5cm/3.5 they made for these cameras was never great. I mean, yeah, it's basically a pancake lens and it is a coated Tessar, but it's far from the best Soviet Tessar I've seen. The bokeh is decent, though it's not exactly fast enough to always get bokeh when you want it.
The lens on mine is unscratched and the coating looks intact, so there's that. There's little corrosion on the outside, and the focus is smooth and the aperture is functional, so generally it's in good shape. However, the lens seems to be improperly assembled or something: it doesn't quite focus to infinity. It's close enough that, at f/8, infinity sharpens up to a very usable extent, so it's possible to shoot normally with this camera. However, it seems like this is a very simple lens that I could probably recalibrate myself. Does anyone have advice or a link to a tutorial for disassembling and properly reassembling this lens?
The lens on the other hand-- well, let's say that the little KMZ-badged Industar-50 5cm/3.5 they made for these cameras was never great. I mean, yeah, it's basically a pancake lens and it is a coated Tessar, but it's far from the best Soviet Tessar I've seen. The bokeh is decent, though it's not exactly fast enough to always get bokeh when you want it.
The lens on mine is unscratched and the coating looks intact, so there's that. There's little corrosion on the outside, and the focus is smooth and the aperture is functional, so generally it's in good shape. However, the lens seems to be improperly assembled or something: it doesn't quite focus to infinity. It's close enough that, at f/8, infinity sharpens up to a very usable extent, so it's possible to shoot normally with this camera. However, it seems like this is a very simple lens that I could probably recalibrate myself. Does anyone have advice or a link to a tutorial for disassembling and properly reassembling this lens?
