Anyone using a ZI for work?

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CanDocGuy

Mark
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for the past 14months I have been using Bessa R's on a weekly basis. At least 1-2 days a week, with no problems - touch wood!

I have liked the ZI since it came out. The looks, the rangefinder width and the viewfinder looks fantastic.

I am curious if anyone is using one for work? How is the reliablility? I've read in a few places that there was some issues with the early ones. Is that still the case or is it resolved?

The other issue is price. At $1400(CDN) for a new one, that is getting close to used M7prices, with no reliability issues.

If anyone is putting 5-10 rolls a week through one, I would be interested in hearing about your experience.

In case you are wondering, the Bessa's still work great. I bought them as a test run to see about shooting film again, and save for newspaper and commercial work, have all but shelved my DSLR's. I love the R's, fantastic tools at a great price, but just looking to move upstream a bit.

Cheers.
Mark
 
I'm not a pro so it's not "for work", but I've been averaging a roll every other day for over two months. Some days have been as high as 8+ rolls. It goes with me everywhere and gets knocked about quite a bit. And I've fallen on my camera (hit the concrete quite hard) to boot. No problems at all -- even focus and framing lines are still spot on.

Only issue is that with my semi-sweaty hands, the leatherette is starting to wear on the corners/edges and get tacky from so many hours in my hands. Other than that, it's been flawless for me. It's sturdy and reliable in my experience.
 
CanDocGuy said:
I love the R's, fantastic tools at a great price, but just looking to move upstream a bit.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you'd like the ZI since it's exactly an upstream R.

Where are you finding used M7's for close to $1400? They seem to be starting at $2000 used. $600 will buy a lot of film or get you a good way towards a very nice lens. M6's in good condition are closer to the ZI in price, but then you don't get AE.
 
Sorry, should have been clearer. Close to M7's - most of the M7's I see on Ebay, etc, are usually around the $2000 mark, as you suggest. M6's around the same price a ZI.

I might be worrying too much about the reliability issue. But I seen so many threads with framlines popping and the patch whiting out - which is a pain but you can work through it. I just wonder how durable they are. I should just try one and see, I'll always have the R's as a back up!

Mark
 
You could get two and a half ZIs for the price of a used M7.

My ZI's viewfinder patch hasn't flared out since the first few minutes after i brought it home. I guess it just took me a moment to get used to a rangefinder again. The patch, and the viewfinder are both better than either M7 i've owned.
 
This is something of an aside, but I've used a pair of Hexar RFs for pro shoots quite a few times in the six-plus years I've had them, and my brief experience with the ZI would seem to hint that it would hold up reasonably well to "real work" stuff. But that's just from me; additional input is obviously needed for a reasonable picture to emerge.


- Barrett
 
I've been using my newish ZI a fair bit over the last couple of weeks, so I thought I'd weigh in. First, regarding the RF patch, it is much more resistant to flare than the patch on my M6TTL. As you know if you've handled the camera, the viewfinder is fantastic. Much better than any Leica I've handled. I love that the 35 and 50 framelines are shown by themselves.

As Papercut mentioned above, the leatherette doesn't feel that great on a hot day. It does get a bit tacky. Not enough to be more than a minor annoyance, and of course this is a purely tactile issue.

Another issue that happened just once with mine was that after releasing the shutter, the advance lever wouldn't move (as if the shutter was still cocked). I was told by Kully on the forum that his Bessa R2A used to do the same thing. He just would press the button and rewind the film a bit, then the advance lever would work. I tried this and the camera hasn't given me any trouble since. Kully mentioned that his Bessa did this a few times when he first started using it, but after it was "broken in" it didn't do it again (if he reads this thread, maybe he can confirm that). If this continues to be an issue on my camera, I'll send the camera in for service.

My advice: if you want AE, go for it. Despite the couple of problems I mentioned, the camera is wonderful to use. An M7 would be nice, but it costs a fair bit more for a used one, and I'm not sure that you could really say you'd be guaranteed that there'd be no reliability issues. If you don't want AE, get an M6.
 
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P.S. Harry's Pro Shop in Toronto has the ZI. If you buy it from them you save some tax and will get to deal with someone in the country on warrantee issues.
 
I'm also interested, and I'd like to know if anyone has used one in particularly wet conditions, and how it held up (being an electrical camera)?

I ask because every now and then I seem to end up in a downpour and it becomes a choice of dry camera or photos. My Bessa R's vf was half full of water once but to it's credit the shutter kept going. I do my best to keep it dry as possible, but a couple of hours in a tropical downpour... Anyway, because of this I usually think I should stick to mechanical, but AE is really appealing....
 
Andrew, you're right - it did it twice in the first ~5 rolls and then it never happened again for the year I had it (~100-120 rolls).
 
Hey everyone, thanks for all the comments and thoughts. Andrew, didnt know about Harrys in Toronto, will have to check that out - thanks!

I think I am just going to have put some money on the line and give one try.

Cheers.

Mark
 
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