Zenit: someone use them?

Zorkiphoto · Jun 21, 2016

I have a bunch...

Zenit 3M
Zenit 6
Zenit 16
Zenit 19
Zenit E
Zenit TTL

In short, there can be any number of frustrations with the bodies because of quality control. Find a working example now, though, and they should be pretty reliable. Most that didn't work didn't work out of the factory.

My £4 Zenit E has worked without a single fault for 13 years.

Dead Link Removed

If you don't mind using pre-set lenses, the Zenit 3M is a lovely camera.

The 19 is an excellent late-model M42 camera. Took one with me across the Trans-Siberian and got some great pics with it.

S

John51 · Jun 21, 2016

Arrived yesterday, a Zenith enlarger.

Had one back in the 70s. Cost me £20 brand new, which was a tidy sum but way cheaper than a Durst or even a Gnome.

trythis · Jun 22, 2016

Antigen said:
But an EOS with the m42 adapter don't lose the infinity focus?

Nope. Works perfect!

AgX · Jun 23, 2016

Do you people prefer the kyrillic lettered ones over the latin ones over the rebranded ones ?

foc · Jun 23, 2016

John51 said:
Arrived yesterday, a Zenith enlarger.

Had one back in the 70s. Cost me £20 brand new, which was a tidy sum but way cheaper than a Durst or even a Gnome.

This Zenit enlarger was my 1st enlarger. I bought it in 1977 for IR£35, trade price, as I had just got a job in photo retail. The whole thing could be dismantled and it fitted into the case which acted as the baseboard. The case was a bright green. The lens was ok once it was stopped down atlease 2 stops. Unfortunitly I sold it a year later to buy a durst enlarger (I sold it for IR£45) but I wish I still had it now all these years later.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50664634@N08/5884956222/in/dateposted-public/

Links_147 · Jun 23, 2016

foc said:
This Zenit enlarger was my 1st enlarger. I bought it in 1977 for IR£35, trade price, as I had just got a job in photo retail. The whole thing could be dismantled and it fitted into the case which acted as the baseboard. The case was a bright green. The lens was ok once it was stopped down atlease 2 stops. Unfortunitly I sold it a year later to buy a durst enlarger (I sold it for IR£45) but I wish I still had it now all these years later.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50664634@N08/5884956222/in/dateposted-public/

Oh my goodness i have this very enlarger and couldn't figure out the brand! I have just set my darkroom up again and have been using my durst but I was going to set this one up so that I have one for a friend to use. Thank you foc!

Ricardo Miranda · Jun 30, 2016

Well, I found I had a recent shot of a lady using a Zenit.
She seemed to be enjoying it!

5-30-2016_016 by Ricardo Miranda, on Flickr

blockend · Jul 1, 2016

John51 said:
Arrived yesterday, a Zenith enlarger.

Had one back in the 70s. Cost me £20 brand new, which was a tidy sum but way cheaper than a Durst or even a Gnome.

The Czech Axomat/Meopta enlargers cost little more than Zenit, and were more solid. I started out with one in a corner of my bedroom, and have returned to one 40 years later via Durst, Beseler and De Vere!

Soeren · Jul 1, 2016

blockend said:
The Czech Axomat/Meopta enlargers cost little more than Zenit, and were more solid. I started out with one in a corner of my bedroom, and have returned to one 40 years later via Durst, Beseler and De Vere!

I wouldn't know since I don't recall having to pay for any of mine (maybe played a small sum for one many years ago) not even the Durst M70 Im using now. The Omega D3 is the only one I have ever played more than a symbolic sum for.

blockend · Jul 1, 2016

Soeren said:
I wouldn't know since I don't recall having to pay for any of mine (maybe played a small sum for one many years ago) not even the Durst M70 Im using now. The Omega D3 is the only one I have ever played more than a symbolic sum for.

It's a long time ago, but my recollection as an impoverished teenager was the Zenit enlarger cost £27 and the Axomat £32, including lens. If you could raise a £100 (a lot of money back then but do-able with a part time job), you could get a camera, enlarger, trays, chemicals, safe light and all the necessary to begin printing. I turned out 10 x 8" prints with that kit that would stand scrutiny now. Happy days!

cuthbert · Jul 1, 2016

Ricardo Miranda said:
Well, I found I had a recent shot of a lady using a Zenit.
She seemed to be enjoying it!

5-30-2016_016 by Ricardo Miranda, on Flickr

That's a cool pic!

AgX · Jul 5, 2016

TOE (UK importer) explicitely warned against using any 135-cassette from Fuji as it would jam the film transport of the camera.

What was the cause for this statement?

benjiboy · Jul 6, 2016

Soviet cameras were sold by the U.S.S.R. at a financial loss because they were desperately short of foreign currency to buy grain from Canada after the Russian grain crop failed and also other goods from the West.

benjiboy · Jul 6, 2016

AgX said:
TOE (UIK importer) explicitely warned against using any 135-cassette from Fuji as it would jam the film transport of the camera.

What was the cause for this statement?

It was because they didn't work properly. and would jam due to the dimensions of the cassette I had many customers complain about this, and used to warn customers about it, TOE indeed put a slip of paper in the instruction book to that effect.

cuthbert · Jul 6, 2016

benjiboy said:
Soviet cameras were sold by the U.S.S.R. at a financial loss because they were desperately short of foreign currency to buy grain from Canada after the Russian grain crop failed and also other goods from the West.

That was 1984.

Generally speaking Zenits were always lucrative as they invested in the hard tooling for the magic die cast chassis in the mid 60s and kept in production until the 2000s...I think they made ten of milions of cameras.

Also the shutter is the same as the Zorki, besides little things like TTL and the screens the camera was a relic from the mid 60s...special models (16, 18, 19, Avtomat) nothwithstanding.

Gerald C Koch · Jul 6, 2016

I bought a Zenit 12XP some years ago. Within six months the silvering on the prism was discoloring and flaking off. This rendered the camera unusable. Worst piece of crap I have ever seen.

foc · Jul 6, 2016

I posted this reply in the Zenit TTL thread

"I got a Zenit 11 seven years ago on ebay in the UK for €15. The camera was manufactured in 1984 and is still working perfectly. I checked with the seller and he had it from new. That meant that it had been imported by T&OE (Technical and Optical Equipment) in London and they had very good quality control checks on all their Russian cameras. They repaired any that were defective so all cameras sold through T&OE were in perfect condition.
Five years ago I had my Zorki 4 and Fed 4b serviced by Roger Lean in London UK. I spoke on the phone to Roger and during our conversation he told me he had worked for T&OE as a service engineer. He explained that the Zenit, Zorki and Fed were very good, reliable cameras but unfortunately a lot were poorly assembled in the USSR. His job was to fix their (the Soviet's) mistakes and poor quality control.

My Zenit 11 is proof of this, even the selenium cell still works and is only one stop out. It may be built like a tank but it was built to last."

onre · Jul 7, 2016

cuthbert said:
That was 1984.

Generally speaking Zenits were always lucrative as they invested in the hard tooling for the magic die cast chassis in the mid 60s and kept in production until the 2000s...I think they made ten of milions of cameras.

Also the shutter is the same as the Zorki, besides little things like TTL and the screens the camera was a relic from the mid 60s...special models (16, 18, 19, Avtomat) nothwithstanding.

I like the evolution of the mirror mechanism. I don't know what the original Zenit had to get the mirror down, but Zenit-C had a piece of string, Zenit-3M had an eccentric lobe and Zenit-E had some clockwork and a spring. Zenit-C really shows the roots of the camera - if properly CLA'd, it is very pleasant and smooth to use. The idea of a LTM Leica with added mirror box is not that far-fetched.

I sometimes call my Zenits "improved Leicas" just to provoke snobs.

cuthbert · Jul 7, 2016

onre said:
I like the evolution of the mirror mechanism. I don't know what the original Zenit had to get the mirror down, but Zenit-C had a piece of string, Zenit-3M had an eccentric lobe and Zenit-E had some clockwork and a spring. Zenit-C really shows the roots of the camera - if properly CLA'd, it is very pleasant and smooth to use. The idea of a LTM Leica with added mirror box is not that far-fetched.

I sometimes call my Zenits "improved Leicas" just to provoke snobs.

Yes the Zenit S, Zenit 3M and Krystall were the SLR Leica should have done but they didn't...instead they created that dinosaur called Leicaflex.

I like m Krystall very much but I must confess I understand why in pre-Asahiflex times people preferred rangefinders, these first SLRs are very slow shooters.

benjiboy · Jul 7, 2016

AgX said:
The Zenit E was used in a spaceship.

That's no great claim to fame, so was the toilet.

cuthbert · Jul 7, 2016

benjiboy said:
That's no great claim to fame, so was the toilet.

Omega is still selling thousands of manual chronographs for thousands of euros/pounds/dollars every year thanks to that claim.

Chadinko · Jul 8, 2016

I like playing with my Zenit Photosniper. It's a hoot. Pretty good lens, too. I have a 50mm M42 Industar f/2 that came with it as well, and it seems to do ok, for a muzzle loader.

Helios 1984 · Aug 29, 2016

trythis said:
I used three of them, they all broke on the first roll. I use a m42 to Eos adapter and a an EOS 620 camera that I bought for $12 for the zeiss zebra lens that came one of the Zenits. Keep the lens, use the camera till it breaks.

I have a Zenit TTL that I bought localy in a lot with 2 lenses and a Praktica L2 (currently using the L2. Simple, built like a tank, I love it. The TTL broke before I could load a roll, I was familiarizing myself with it when the shutter broke and the curtain snapped. No hard feelings, I never really intended to use it as I just wanted its Helios 44M-4.

flavio81 · Aug 29, 2016

The lenses on those Zenits, particularly the Helios-44, are much better than the cameras they're in.

The soviets had some very good cameras, like the Kiev-10 and Kiev-15. The Zenits were the cheap, entry-level cameras.

I wish I could get myself a Kiev-15!!

benjiboy · Aug 29, 2016

The U.S.S.R sold Zenits at a loss to obtain Western currency to buy grain from Canada and the U.S. after the Russian wheat crop failed more than twenty years ago,and keeps failing on a regular basis, it just failed again this year and their government have just banned grain exports.

Zenit: someone use them?

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