Get another zorki?

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MarkoKovacevic

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My zorkis shutter broke, so i was considering buying another one from fedka. I have a jupiter 8, which i love, its a bit soft wide open for portraits but very sharp stopped down. My dilema is I just bought a olympus XA, which is a awesome RF P&S with a great lens. Above all, it is reliable, which my zorki definelty wasn't. For these reasons, what should my decision be?
 
If your happy with your XA and your Zorki is broken then it seems the decision is set. Zorki broken = use working XA.

If your dilemma is (it sounds like) you have a hundred bucks and your debating where to spend it. You could; get it repaired, buy a new one, buy a new one and attempt to repair your old one.

Getting it repaired might be cheaper. There's a few repair men out there that specialize in FSU rangefinders. Repairing it yourself might be fun if you have the patience, plus you dont have anything to lose since its already broken!
 
Stick with the XA for now and put some money aside for a Bessa R or something similar. If I understand correctly you can use your lens on any LTM + adapter. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Kind regards
 
Well, Zorkis are cheap and you allready have a lens you like for it. Moreover a full manual camera is a good companion for the XA, I have one allready and although it´s actually a hell of a camera I don´t like auto cameras and moreover it´s limited to 800 ASA, so it´s not so great at night shooting.

Anyway, I don´t really get your doubt. Do you need to sell the XA in order to buy a Zorki? You are not sure about getting the Zorki because you might prefer another model?

An XA has nothing to do with a Zorki as you know for sure... Just one AE camera won´t work for me.
 
The Zorki model is a Zorki 4. I'm debating wether to replace it as I already have a XA which is a lot more reliable than the previous zorki was, and I can use the XA in cold weather.

Soren, does Bessa also make LTM cameras?
 
I've had so many Zorkis w/ problems that I also think a Bessa R is a better way to go. Takes LTM lenses, small, and has a meter. I've also had shutter and rewind crank issues w/ the Bessa's, but your chances are a lot better than w/ a Zorki.

I haven't had the same good luck w/ Oleg that spyderman has had. Bought two Zorkis from him, both had problems, and after sending them back for repair neither worked right when they returned. Shipping isn't cheap either.
 
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I'd also go for Bessa R. It's much more reliable, takes LTM, build in light meter, frames for 35/50/75/90. I keep my Zorki 4 for Jupiter 12 only, which does not fit Bessa.
 
well well, I don't get the point, why Zorki 4's wouldn't be reliable. I've got 4 and all are working fine (especially the ealier models are smoother). Just luck? 😀
 
I haven't had the same good luck w/ Oleg that spyderman has had. Bought two Zorkis from him, both had problems, and after sending them back for repair neither worked right when they returned. Shipping isn't cheap either.
Click to expand...

I haven't had anything repaired by Oleg, but he has a reputetion of the best repairer of FSU LTM cameras.
Sure a Bessa is better, but it's also in a different price range

PS: and the Zorki is made of solid metal.
 
MarkoKovacevic said:
The Zorki model is a Zorki 4. I'm debating wether to replace it as I already have a XA which is a lot more reliable than the previous zorki was, and I can use the XA in cold weather.

Soren, does Bessa also make LTM cameras?
Click to expand...

Whoops sorry I missed your question :bang:
I see Peter gave the answer just above here.
My experience is that if you have a camera that is unreliable that will affect your trust in the next camera of the same make. So if you find your Zorki was unreliable before the breakdown just stick to you XA and your F5. If you then find you miss a RF system camera you can put the money aside and buy a Bessa R or later version. as said youll need a LTM to M adapter for R2 and later for you current lens but that wont break the bank.
Kind regards
 
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Well, Bessa is more reliable just because it's newer. My Zorki 4 has broken slow speeds and issues with straight film transport (it was discussed in other threat) but I still love it. Anyway some features of Bessa are really useful (meter, frames) and I'm very happy I've bought this camera.. To be honest I've bought a Kiev 4a just 2 months later ;-) So there really is SOMETHING in these cameras.
 
There were more 4's produced than any other Zorki incarnation, so there should still be some left. I have two 4's, among various others - at least one of all from 1 to 6, except Zorki-2.

You mention getting one from Yuri at Fedka. I don't think you can go wrong there. I once bought a Kiev-4a from him, and he emailed me that the lens had "minor cleaning marks" on it, so he was sending a different lens. The camera arrived with BOTH lenses!! He's hard to beat, even if he's somewhat more expensive than the Unkrainian sellers. And it will get there sooner!
 
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