Zorki 1 internal reflections or pinholes?

Yobo57 · May 11, 2025

I recently picked up a Zorki 1, shutter and winding work super smooth but all photos came back with some flares in the middle of the frame. It is definitely not a lens problem as I used 2 different lenses throughout the roll. Anyone know what could be causing this?
Im thinking maybe internal reflections? Curtains seem hole free but maybe it could also be pinholes. Only thing odd I notice is the metal behind the curtain is pretty polished/reflective looking and seems to have a small dent.
Please let me know if you know a possible fix as I really like this camera!

xkaes · May 11, 2025

I assume the shutter is cloth.

I had a ZARYA that worked great but had lots of tiny pinholes. That's easy to check. Remove the lens and open the back. Point a light through the shutter while closed. Make sure to look at BOTH curtains by cocking the shutter, and then again after firing the shutter but before the shutter is cocked again. I was able to fill in the holes with some black fabric paint and a small paint brush. Just give it time to dry before changing the shutter.

Yobo57 · May 11, 2025

xkaes said:
I assume the shutter is cloth.

I had a ZARYA that worked great but had lots of tiny pinholes. That's easy to check. Remove the lens and open the back. Point a light through the shutter while closed. Make sure to look at BOTH curtains by cocking the shutter, and then again after firing the shutter but before the shutter is cocked again. I was able to fill in the holes with some black fabric paint and a small paint brush. Just give it time to dry before changing the shutter.

Yes exactly a cloth shutter. I guess I’ll have to take the camera apart to check though as the back doesn’t open up. Or maybe I’ll just brush a layer of fabric paint on each shutter and hope for the best.

OAPOli · May 11, 2025

Pretty sure these are caused by pinholes. The curtains should ideally be replaced.

Fabric paint works but adds a bit of stiffness to the cloth so it should be applied to the pinholes only. I would suggest removing the shell to locate the pinholes.

xkaes · May 11, 2025

Yobo57 said:
the back doesn’t open up.

I'm not familiar with that camera, but since it's like a Leica, you can't look through the back. The problem with going through the front is that you can't see where the holes are -- because you can't shine a light through it.

John Wiegerink · May 11, 2025

This Zorki is like the old LTM cameras that load from the bottom and there is no back to open and look through. Yes, it's pinholes for sure.

reddesert · May 12, 2025

I believe that removing the lower shell of these cameras is not very difficult, although you do have to remove the lens mount and keep track of any shims. Rick Oleson's website has a diagram, although it (or tripod.com) is not working so you would have to get the address and use archive.org to look at it.

Speculatively, I think that without disassembly, if one got a sheet of clear plastic just thin enough to slide into the film gate and shined a bright LED into the edge of the plastic, it might light-pipe enough light behind the shutter to reveal the pinholes.

r_a_feldman · May 12, 2025

reddesert said:
I believe that removing the lower shell of these cameras is not very difficult, although you do have to remove the lens mount and keep track of any shims. Rick Oleson's website has a diagram, although it (or tripod.com) is not working so you would have to get the address and use archive.org to look at it.

Rick’s Zorki 1 notes are at: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/fgui...6n5dy3mdax8nys4&subfolder_nav_tracking=1&dl=0

Kino · May 12, 2025

Probably caused by the previous owner leaving the cap off the lens and the Sun burning holes in the shutter material.

I have a Kiev 88cm with cloth shutter curtains; have to either cap it immediately or advance the film to lower the mirror on a sunny day.

Dali · May 13, 2025

Kino said:
Probably caused by the previous owner leaving the cap off the lens and the Sun burning holes in the shutter material.

I have a Kiev 88cm with cloth shutter curtains; have to either cap it immediately or advance the film to lower the mirror on a sunny day.

Or put the lens at minimal focus distance.

Yobo57 · May 15, 2025

reddesert said:
I believe that removing the lower shell of these cameras is not very difficult, although you do have to remove the lens mount and keep track of any shims. Rick Oleson's website has a diagram, although it (or tripod.com) is not working so you would have to get the address and use archive.org to look at it.

Speculatively, I think that without disassembly, if one got a sheet of clear plastic just thin enough to slide into the film gate and shined a bright LED into the edge of the plastic, it might light-pipe enough light behind the shutter to reveal the pinholes.

Thanks for the input, It was a good idea with the LED but couldn’t get it to work. The light would get the edges of the plastic bright, but the surface wasn’t bright enough to reveal the holes.

Yobo57 · May 15, 2025

r_a_feldman said:
Rick’s Zorki 1 notes are at: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/fguixlhek7y5jvvxd3d8j/AO6RCWR4sa5z43HJMtTVhRA/!CD 3.27/Zorki/Zorki-1?rlkey=bzktg0ha776n5dy3mdax8nys4&subfolder_nav_tracking=1&dl=0

Thanks for the link!

Zorki 1 internal reflections or pinholes?

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