Zenit: The tasteful and stylish camera that "sounds like a kiss"

[KitosLAB]

Soviet advertising on a box of matches "Zenith C" 1960

 

[Mike Crawford]

They also had a shop in Holborn, which sold TOE products alongside soapstone carvings, textiles and other Soviet exports.

That's interesting, don't think I remember that place. Made me think of the Albanian Shop nearby in Betterton Street in Covent Garden, which sold Albanian Souvenirs and the collected writings of Enver Hoxha. As I remember, the basement stocked Albanian folk LPs and other second hand records. I worked in a darkroom near there in the 80s and early 90s and picked up some great original Scott Walker and Dusty Springfield 60s albums. Looking online about it, it was believed to be very linked to the British Communist Party. Maybe someone at their record label Phillips was a party member! Wish I'd bought some of those Albanian records now!

 

[snusmumriken]

That's interesting, don't think I remember that place. Made me think of the Albanian Shop nearby in Betterton Street in Covent Garden, which sold Albanian Souvenirs and the collected writings of Enver Hoxha. As I remember, the basement stocked Albanian folk LPs and other second hand records. I worked in a darkroom near there in the 80s and early 90s and picked up some great original Scott Walker and Dusty Springfield 60s albums. Looking online about it, it was believed to be very linked to the British Communist Party. Maybe someone at their record label Phillips was a party member! Wish I'd bought some of those Albanian records now!

You could pick up ‘Soviet Weekly’ from an unmanned newspaper stand on Ludgate Circus. I did once or twice, out of schoolboy curiosity. It contained much excellent photography used to create a favourable impression of industry and productivity in the USSR. Smiling female workers seemed to be a favourite theme. Presumably most of those photos were taken with Soviet-made cameras.

 

[4season]

More about "Zenit Art Space"
https://gum.ru/shops/zenit/

And the adjacent "Bright Photomarket". Note that the URL was never updated and still refers to it's former identity as a Leica Store.
https://gum.ru/shops/leica/

I wonder if either one has actual merchandise for sale.

 

[Steven Lee]

It contained much excellent photography used to create a favourable impression of industry and productivity in the USSR. Smiling female workers seemed to be a favourite theme. Presumably most of those photos were taken with Soviet-made cameras.

I read an interview with a Soviet film lab worker a while ago. He explained how this worked. The creatives in the USSR were not created equal. Some were affiliated with the party and enjoyed premium treatment. Others where ignored or even ostracized. This applied to cinematographers, journalists, photographers, writers, etc.

If you were in a privileged group, you were issued a Leica, German lenses and western color film and chemicals. Others got Zorkis, Jupiters and the soviet inferior color process derived from pre-war Agfacolor.

It is almost certain that all images in Soviet Weekly were created with Western technology: cameras, lenses, films and chemicals.

 

[Huss]

Monument to Taras Shevchenko in Kyiv. I took this photo a year before the start of the war. Camera "Smena" 1958 release film Kodak Plus 200

Of course you can make nice pics with them, they just are a miserable experience to use compared to pretty much any other camera.

"Whale Watchers" taken with a Zorki. It was during my experimental period when I bought Soviet cameras just to check that item off my list.
After using all of them, I got rid of them because why on earth would I want to go through that if I had decent cameras to use? And by decent, I meant not just capable of making a good image - anything w a box and a lens attached can do that - but is easy, quick and pleasurable to use.

 

[Ivo Stunga]

Oh, I understand you very well. I'll never get my hands on anything 'Made in russia', but I do use a Soviet Zenith11. After all, I lived most of my life in the USSR and served in the Soviet Army and swore an oath to "the Soviet people and government". And yes I remember well how sergeants and officers forbade the guys from the Baltics to speak their native language. (No politics, this is my memory and my life) Most of the photos I have taken during my life were taken with a Zenit, so I am very comfortable with this camera, even though it is very blunt. It was the only 'cheap' DSLR in the USSR. It cost from 100 rubles, which by the way was a month's salary of a young doctor. Now in Ukraine, I bought a Zenith11 body for $2. I'll post the results soon in the monthly thread.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

I really appreciate your honesty.
But only flag has changed - {deletion of politics}

I've shot and handled FED-2, 2s, Zenit 11 and Zenit 3M. Have warm feelings only to one: FED-2 - a cute, simple little machine
The rest feel like {deletion of politics} punishment.
{moderator's note - politics deleted, while trying to maintain much of the sentiment}

 

[snusmumriken]

If you were in a privileged group, you were issued a Leica, German lenses and western color film and chemicals. Others got Zorkis, Jupiters and the soviet inferior color process derived from pre-war Agfacolor.

I’ve no idea how the camera market has worked inside Russia or Belarus in recent years, but I was amazed to find that several excellent photographers I discovered on Instagram have digital Leicas now and had used film M-series in the past. Such a shame that this sharing of the fruits of civilisation has gone out of the window.

 

[Cholentpot]

Most of my Soviet cameras are paper weights. I have a handful of Zenits and none of them work. They make good doorstops though.

 

[4season]

I'll let others decide whether the Zenit 412 is tasteful and stylish, but this particular camera had been sitting in my repair queue for too long.

I normally would not expect to replace a cloth focal plane shutter in such a new (2005) camera, but due to a manufacturing defect, shutter curtain #2 was damaged, so I fashioned a new one with Aki-Asahi fabric and ribbons.

But it was only this evening that I figured out how to properly retension the shutter: I thought I was being clever by resetting the tension as it had been when I received the camera, but nope, using a high-speed video app on my phone, I could see that it had a pretty bad case of shutter curtain bounce which would have caused noticeable overexposure on one side of the frame. But after about an hour of fussing with it, I figured out a good procedure: Give Curtain #1 just enough tension to reliably cycle the mirror, set camera to 1/500th sec, then adjust Curtain #2 to deliver a uniform slit width, taking care to ensure that exposure is even across the frame: I had camera sitting on a light box as a took my high-speed videos, so it was very evident if brightness varied across the frame. I must have done something right, because the shutter curtain ceased bouncing too.

After a quick bit of rebranding, it's ready for public exposure.

 

[MattKing]

Hmm:
The Zenit 412 - from the previous post:

The Canon EOS R50 - just introduced, according to an email I received this evening from B&H.

 

[Huss]

I had a 412k that I bought for the lens that came with it. Cheaper than buying the lens by itself.
I thought Leica copied the styling w their R8, and interestingly the R8 was released after the Zenit.

 

[KitosLAB]

Of course you can make nice pics with them, they just are a miserable experience to use compared to pretty much any other camera.

Perhaps this is so, but there are several points in favor of Soviet cameras. 1 I enjoyed shooting Smena, but I cannot enjoy shooting Chinese Holga or Diana. 2 I love mechanics and really dislike automation. When I want to blur the background / foreground but I don’t understand how to do it, this circumstance annoys me. I don’t understand the hype prices for Olympus Point and Shoot, it reminds me of Bitcoin, 3 and the most important is accessibility. I bought $ 2 for the Zenith body, $ 15 for the Helios 44 lens. 4 dollars for film and as a result got the opportunity to shoot. Yes, I am in Ukraine and making any investments for a period longer than 24 hours is not a justified risk. In my case, it's stupid to buy Leica

 

[snusmumriken]

Yes, I am in Ukraine and making any investments for a period longer than 24 hours is not a justified risk. In my case, it's stupid to buy Leica

I very sincerely hope the time will quickly come when it is no longer stupid.

 

[Ivo Stunga]

When I want to blur the background / foreground but I don’t understand how to do it, this circumstance annoys me.

You don't know how to do it in general or with a particular camera?

 

[KitosLAB]

You don't know how to do it in general or with a particular camera?

))) This photo was taken by Canon Photura 135 Caption. But damn! I shot bikes, not the background! Yes, I understand that having rummaged through the settings I would have found how to do it, but in order to remove what was planned at the Zenith, I would need a slight movement of my hand. I try to explain at the level of feelings and sensations. Shooting at Zenith for me is like undressing a woman, shooting with Canon Photura is like undressing a cyborg))

 

[snusmumriken]

Shooting at Zenith for me is like undressing a woman

I am lost for words.

 

[KitosLAB]

I am lost for words.

))) How can I explain this? I picked up Zenith when I was 14 years old (when I was 6 years old I had Smena8M) I got used to this camera. In March last year, like all men (I mean men, not rags), I defended Kyiv with weapons in my hands. I had a lot to choose from but I took the AK-74, which is what I knew best. If I have a choice of Zenith/Canon Photura of course I will choose Zenith. But I don't idealize it. Terrible optics and essentially a hammer. But a hammer that I know how to work with.

 

[Huss]

Shooting at Zenith for me is like undressing a woman

View attachment 329222

While wearing oven mitts.

 

[snusmumriken]

))) How can I explain this? I picked up Zenith when I was 14 years old (when I was 6 years old I had Smena8M) I got used to this camera. In March last year, like all men (I mean men, not rags), I defended Kyiv with weapons in my hands. I had a lot to choose from but I took the AK-74, which is what I knew best. If I have a choice of Zenith/Canon Photura of course I will choose Zenith. But I don't idealize it. Terrible optics and essentially a hammer. But a hammer that I know how to work with.

I do understand - but I just wondered what the women in your life would think of the comparison?

 

[pentaxuser]

))) This photo was taken by Canon Photura 135 Caption. But damn! I shot bikes, not the background! . Shooting at Zenith for me is like undressing a woman, shooting with Canon Photura is like undressing a cyborg))

View attachment 329222

Well your last sentence seems appropriate and amusing to me based on your experience with a Canon Photura

pentaxuser

 

[Ivo Stunga]

))) This photo was taken by Canon Photura 135 Caption. But damn! I shot bikes, not the background! Yes, I understand that having rummaged through the settings I would have found how to do it, but in order to remove what was planned at the Zenith, I would need a slight movement of my hand. I try to explain at the level of feelings and sensations. Shooting at Zenith for me is like undressing a woman, shooting with Canon Photura is like undressing a cyborg))

View attachment 329222

It's not a matter of settings, this is purely optical thing.
For soft background you need to move close to your subject, open your lens up, focus and shoot.

Larger sensor/film size gives more bokeh.
Faster lenses (wider aperture) give more bokeh.
Longer lens (tele) gives more bokeh...


It's a setting only in phones and maybe some other small-sensor devices that fake the effect.

 

[KitosLAB]

It's not a matter of settings, this is purely optical thing.
For soft background you need to move close to your subject, open your lens up, focus and shoot.

Larger sensor/film size gives more bokeh.
Faster lenses (wider aperture) give more bokeh.
Longer lens (tele) gives more bokeh...


It's a setting only in phones and maybe some other small-sensor devices that fake the effect.

I'm a little familiar with bokeh))) But I don't know how to do it on cameras with automatics. I don't like automation at all. Only hands, only tactile sensations. I don’t know how to shoot on the phone at all, I don’t see anything there, but wearing glasses is uncomfortable))) The photo was not taken at Zenith. But this is Helios 44 with a square aperture))
P/S Yes, and more. This stupid arrangement of a branch that divides the frame in half happened precisely because I shot with a Sony NEX-3 mirrorless camera, if I shot at Zenith, I would never do that. Hands would not allow. This is tactile memory.

 

[xkaes]

The official web site says so, therefore it must be true:
https://shvabe.com/promo/vkusnyizenit/

But that official website doesn't mention any of these models:

http://www.subclub.org/minchin/zenit.htm

Seems odd.

 

[snusmumriken]

This is cool: