Zenit: someone use them?

[Antigen]

Hi,

some people use the Zenit camera with their m42 lens?

Some review? I bought one after reading how i good the helios lens.

 

[dosilverhalide]

I have a Zenit c and a Zenit 3m. Both have Industar lens on them. I have an 8 by 10 on the wall of flowers that I shot with one of them, but at the moment I do not remember which one took the picture. I have a m42 helios as well. I bought it at a used camera market stall in a flea market near Daytona Beach. A few years ago I shot about 20 rolls of black and white thru it, mounted on a Praktica. The pictures came out good. The Helios lens has a very swirly back ground, shot wide open. This is the only lens that I have shot that has this kind of background, boekeh? I like using it, expecially if I want a swirly back ground. J.

 

[trythis]

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.

 

[BAC1967]

I do like my Zenit B. It came with an Industar 50-2 and I've also used an Asahi Pentax Super-Takumar 28mm f/3.5 with it.

Zenit-B by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

https://www.flickr.com/photos/60348236@N07/albums/72157649459088583

 

[onre]

Bought a Zenit-E with Helios-44-2 at local flea market. Now I have used it a lot, the only problem was shutter dial getting loose on its stem. Tightening the screws remedied that. The most common problem with these is the lubricant turning into goo. Cleaning and re-lubricating remedies that, but requires some mechanical skill.

Here's an example picture:

 

[Ap507b]

Have an old EM somewhere. When I decided that I wanted to use the Helios 44 again I bought a Praktica MTL5 to use it on. Was only £10 to buy but is so far ahead of the Zenit in the way it handles & has a better top shutter speed.

 

[anfenglin]

I had an E and now have an EM, both the Olympic models, both with Helios-44. A great lens, I also like to use my Meyer Orestor 50 1.8 on the EM which also has a working light meter.
They are fun cameras, heavy, but they feel good in the hands and they've very often proven that the camera does not make a good picture, it's all down to the lens and your eyes.

 

[cb1]

I have a Zenit TTL, I've used it a couple of times, but the really dark viewfinder makes it hard to focus. It does take a nice photo for what it is.

 

[4season]

I just took delivery of this today! Should be fun.

 

[dosilverhalide]

Both the Zenits I mentioned earlier are from the 50's. I got both from the same Ukranian dealer as well as a Fed Zarya last week. I would rate all three camera in function and appearance as a 7.5 easily. However I was looking at a Zenit 122 this morning on Lomography. I think it was 85 dollars US. It's about the only thing I've seen on that site that was reasonably priced. You can never have enough cameras or lens. I have a box with about 20 screw mount lens in it and I'm down to about half dozen M42 cameras. I have also had a dozen Russian , E. German,and Japanese screw mount cameras that were dead on arrival. One of my favorite shooters at the moment is a cla'd Pentax m42 from the early 60's. It's as smooth as it can be. J.

 

[4season]

I also bought one of those Lomography 122Ks (K-mount). Factory seal on the package showed Nov 2015 QC date, though the camera itself bears an 02xx serial number. The newer camera shipped with a 50/2 Zenitar which is smaller, lighter and focuses closer down to 0.3M. Both have a much brighter finder than my older Zenit 12. I wouldn't mind retrofitting the brighter viewscreen into the older camera but would hate to sacrifice a working or repairable camera to get the part.

 

[pentaxpete]

I did a Video on my Zenith -- you can see it HERE :

 

[baachitraka]

My Zenit E is broken. Like to see it working again but the weight felt right for my hands.

 

[Michael L.]

A few months ago, my eldest daughter salvaged a very well-preserved 1967 Zenit-E with a clean Helios 44-2 lens at a local swapping market and gave it to me. Its only defect was a run-down selenium light meter.
I have now run a couple of rolls through the sturdy machine and am really pleased with it. The Helios lens is glorius, and the camera is easy to handle, if a little heavy. So far the results have been very satisfactory and I look forward to using the Zenit a lot in the future.
Good luck with yours, Antigen!

 

[dynachrome]

I had a Zenit E with the 58/2 Helios and did not care for the camera or the lens. Eventually these were traded away. I got them at an auction years ago when Foto Cell in NY went out of business. Years later I got a 50/2.8 61LZ from a seller in Russia. It took a long time to get here but is sharp and reasonably well made. By itself it focuses down to 1:3. I used it mostly on Canon F-1 and Minolta X-700 cameras with adapters.

 

[ic-racer]

Zenit E is a poor camera, but could be fun to use if you like oddball things. Looking back at negatives from the 1970s when I had a Zenit E, I can't identify anything different about the lens. Proof sheets from that camera are usually identified by the uneven frame spacing and over-exposed frames due to my frequent, unintentional disregard for the 'preset ring.'

 

[Xmas]

I have 3 M42 SLRs with Helious, and a Kiev with another in Contax bayonet they all work but do need ocassional relub.

 

[DcAnalogue]

My Zenith crew.......

Zenit 11 & 122 (M42 Mount) - Lenses: Helios 44M 4, Pentacon 29mm, Pentacon Electric 135mm
Zenit 3M (zM39 Mount) - Lenses: Helios 44, Mir1 37mm



https://flic.kr/p/CmtPFF

 

[cuthbert]

I have several Zenits, the best is the 19 that has all the shutter speeds you might need.

The Avtomat works in AE only and it's not made as well as the previous models, the 12XP is the one that "feels" better.

Their lenses (Helios 44m, Zenitar 1.7) are second to none.

 

[dosilverhalide]

I found another Zenit in my camera pile. An E model with Industar 50-2 lens on a m42 mount. I dug up some extension tubes and shot some flowers in the yard. Fuji 100 expired probably. One hour at Walgreens, about 20 miles away. The vertical shot got a little contrast increase, it was in heavy shade. The horizontal shot has no adjustments. I'd say pretty good for Russian glass. J.

 

[AgX]

The Zenit E was used in a spaceship.

 

[cuthbert]

I found another Zenit in my camera pile. An E model with Industar 50-2 lens on a m42 mount. I dug up some extension tubes and shot some flowers in the yard. Fuji 100 expired probably. One hour at Walgreens, about 20 miles away. The vertical shot got a little contrast increase, it was in heavy shade. The horizontal shot has no adjustments. I'd say pretty good for Russian glass. J.

Not too bad but the Helios 44 is a much better lens IMO.

Even if my favourite soviet 50mm are the Volna 1.8 and the Zenitar 1.7.

 

[dosilverhalide]

I have a Helios 44? somewhere. I'll dig it up and get a few color shots when the next batch of flowers open. These are the only two Russian lens that I have shot. The Helios really has swirley back grounds when shot wide open. J

 

[4season]

I've shared this in another thread:

2005 production, perhaps one of the very last of the Zenit camera bodies! Finder is bright and has 92% coverage. Once loaded with film and set to "A", it's really simple to use: Compose and focus, and as long as you see a green light in the finder, you're good to go. There is no on/off switch, no Single/Continuous setting, remote release, depth of field preview lever, ISO or exposure compensation available. Full-manual with match-LED metering is available though.

First 36-exposure roll looked evenly spaced and well-exposed, save for about a dozen blank frames: Likely the camera fired off a burst while I was carrying it in my bag. Though the shutter button is the two-stage type and requires a firm push, it would only take a few seconds of pressing down on it to do the deed. Reorienting the camera in my bag seemed to help. But even while shooting, it's too easy to fire off a second or third photo without meaning to.

 

[Sewin]

I've shared this in another thread:

2005 production, perhaps one of the very last of the Zenit camera bodies! Finder is bright and has 92% coverage. Once loaded with film and set to "A", it's really simple to use: Compose and focus, and as long as you see a green light in the finder, you're good to go. There is no on/off switch, no Single/Continuous setting, remote release, depth of field preview lever, ISO or exposure compensation available. Full-manual with match-LED metering is available though.

First 36-exposure roll looked evenly spaced and well-exposed, save for about a dozen blank frames: Likely the camera fired off a burst while I was carrying it in my bag. Though the shutter button is the two-stage type and requires a firm push, it would only take a few seconds of pressing down on it to do the deed. Reorienting the camera in my bag seemed to help. But even while shooting, it's too easy to fire off a second or third photo without meaning to.

Have to say I quite like the look of that, it must be my transition from metal to plastic inspired by another thread.