First roll, first doubts..

[andrealed]

Hello, my first roll from my new zorki 1 shows some problems:
1. some shots shows "ghosts" made up of lights running and flashing (see test1, the worst, and test2, much better), I've painted with fabric paint the curtains...(I'll let you know, but other shots I have seen on the net describing hole problems are different.. they are more "smokey" white points, my white spots are flashing)
2. I focused on a near object, wide open, to see focusing problems: the flower was out of focus, but I suspect my industar was not completely out: this is my first collapsible lens and I ask you: should I hear a "click" when turning the lens clockwise? I hear nothing but it seems to me that the lens is completely out....do you hear a click?

Zorki 1 is a fantastic camera. period. The problem is that NOW I WANT A LEICA.....


Thank you
Andrea

 

[FrankS]

Hi Andrea,

Out of curiousity, what do you see when you dismount the lens and shine a small flashlight into one end and look at the other?

 

[colyn]

You have holes in the curtains.
Take a close look at the shutter curtains and see if they appear dry and cracked.

 

[Socke]

Zorki 1 is a fantastic camera. period. The problem is that NOW I WANT A LEICA.....


Thank you
Andrea

No, you want a Kiev first 🙂

 

[kmack]

Yep, I concur with the general consensus. Bad shutter curtains. Time to send it to Oleg.

 

[reagan]

Yowza, uhhh, unfortunate, but new curtains are probably needed there. In my [short] experience, bottom loaders aren't so light leak prone. And even in other non-bottom loader Zorkis, I haven't seen any light leaks that resemble those. (And I've seen a few 🙁 )

Zorki 1 is a fantastic camera. period. The problem is that NOW I WANT A LEICA.....

Yep. Welcome to my world. I just recieved my second Leica.III. Two Leica.IIIs and Two Zorki.1s are my main stable of primary shooters.

But, FWIW, though my Leicas have a hair bigger VF and are a hair smoother in operation, I am completely satisfied with the Zorki.1s. If I have a Zorki and Leica with me and the Leica gets to the end of the roll at the moment or one of the Zorkis has the lens I want to use, I have no quams about grabbing a Zorki.1. They're equally enjoyable and perfectly capable of producing the shots.

Good luck on the curtains. DIY or Oleg or...? It will be worth it once it's back in shape.

 

[David Murphy]

Hello, my first roll from my new zorki 1 shows some problems:
1. some shots shows "ghosts" made up of lights running and flashing (see test1, the worst, and test2, much better), I've painted with fabric paint the curtains...(I'll let you know, but other shots I have seen on the net describing hole problems are different.. they are more "smokey" white points, my white spots are flashing)
2. I focused on a near object, wide open, to see focusing problems: the flower was out of focus, but I suspect my industar was not completely out: this is my first collapsible lens and I ask you: should I hear a "click" when turning the lens clockwise? I hear nothing but it seems to me that the lens is completely out....do you hear a click?

Zorki 1 is a fantastic camera. period. The problem is that NOW I WANT A LEICA.....


Thank you
Andrea

Looks to me like light leaking through the curtains. Curtain replacement is an expensive repair. You can have the same problem with any thread mount rangefinder of this era. Leicas and Canons
can have exactly the same problem, but are often worth repairing because of their greater value.

 

[pvdhaar]

In my [short] experience, bottom loaders aren't so light leak prone..

These FSUs aren't compartimentalized, so all it takes to leak light like a sieve is a single screw missing on the body.

 

[pesphoto]

Hi, I had this problem with a Fed 2 I had. I bought a small bottle of flat black fabric paint at the craft store. After a few coats of paint which were pretty much invisible to the naked eye all was well and working. Give it a try.

 

[kmack]

Hi, I had this problem with a Fed 2 I had. I bought a small bottle of flat black fabric paint at the craft store. After a few coats of paint which were pretty much invisible to the naked eye all was well and working. Give it a try.

That, or "Starbrite" liquid electrical tape. It will work well for most pinholes. However Andrea's shutter problem looks exactly like my IIIF did, The shutter paint works for a while but the rubberized fabric will start to shed until a curtain replacement is unavoidable. May as well bite the bullet and get the curtains replaced now.

 

[andrealed]

Thanks to everybody...yes I have already painted black the curtains yesterday evening...this evening I will give it a second hand and in a few days I'll let you know if it works..I hope so.
Regarding to Leicas..well I was not serious...zorki (after a Kiev, and a fed 3a) is my third fsu camera and the one that fits my hands perfectly. Kiev was my first love but it's heavier than my srl. Zorki (and all the Leica pre-M) is the perfect pocket camera. I fitted the collapsible lens to my fed 3a but it's not the same (much better for keeping it in a shoulder bag but not a pocket camera). Btw, any answes about the click I will have (or not) to hear when turning the lens clockwise ? Do you feel it with your hands or do you hear it?
Thanks again
Andrea

 

[reagan]

Oh yeah, the "click" question. Nope, I don't hear click on any of my col. Industars. (Maybe they and I are too old and worn to click. 😉 ) A couple of them I can feel a little bump/click at the end but I mostly just turn it til it stops dead and snug, test it by try pushing it in with slight pressure and call it good. Take the lens off and look inside it as you work the locking mechanism. You'll see how it works and feels when it's in place fully extended locked in.

regards,

 

[claidemore]

On my Fed 1 you can definately feel the lens 'click' into place as you extend it and turn it (clockwise) to lock it into picture taking position. I can hear it sometimes, depending on how quickly I extend it.

And you are absolutely correct about it being the perfect pocket camera. I can even stuff mine into the hip pocket of my jeans. I had been thinking of getting a Zorki 3 or Fed 3a and using a collapsible lens, but since you found that solution less than satisfactory I believe I will stick to the Fed 1, even if it does not have slow speeds.

 

[andrealed]

Maybe the best of both worlds should be the zorki 3m, zorki 1 small body, combined view/range, fast and slow speeds...fitted with a collapsible lens...and btw, I was a bit scared about separate view and range and now, surprise, I really appreciate it on the zorki1 because it force me to do two separate things: focusing and composing, (focusing on distant objects is actually simpler because of the magnification...composing...well...I don't like the viewfinder so I won a bid for a made in japan walz "viooh" clone..).
Well, for the "click" let's see if my silent industar on my fed 3a is good focusing; if so I will give my zorki to Oleg for a full monty clad. I think this is the way to go.
So things I like in the zorki 1:
1.small and pocketable
2. fits my hands
3. the rangefinder magnification

things I disllike:
1. the viewfinder
2. no straps lugs

Bye and thanks again from Genoa, Italy
Andrea

 

[ZorkiKat]

Andrea

Looking at the attached picture, I would say that patching the holes with paint will not solve much. You could paint over the holes and the shutter would probably work for a while. It seems that the curtains are so dried and cracked that the only recourse is to replace them with newer, more supple ones.

Patch over one hole and another one will develop elsewhere. The coating on the old curtains are already crumbling. Paint patches will only work if there is just a little hole or two. Also, if you paint too much, the curtains might stick and the extra layers will bear on the shutter, making its operation more difficult.

If you are adept with repairs, you could fix the curtain yourself. It's not that hard to do, if you like taking things apart and fixing them:

Click here for shutter curtain replacement


Regarding your second problem, it seems that your rangefinder is not calibrated. Unlike Leica or Canon rangefinders, Zorki and FED rangefinders should be calibrated for both minimum and infinity distances. The little screw hidden in the RF fixes only the infinity focus. For minimum focus adjustment, you must tweak the RF sensor tip which rides on the lens when focusing:

Click here for Rangefinder Calibration

Jay

 

[andrealed]

Yes, I'm an adept...I repaired one Kiev 4a, two Yashica GSN, one vitomatic IB...but I also destroyed one vitomatic IIa, one GSN, one Mnolta Minoltina -S (what a lovely small camera..)..oh..and one Olympus xa too...and the vitomatic IB (the good one) fell off my bicycle's rear basket...so my rate is around 50%...and my rangefinder cameras are only three now.... The strange thing about the curtains is: Why other shots from the SAME roll are ok? The second is flared (the sun was just behind the church) but I don't see any ghost, the first is one of the latest shots on the roll and the church is one of the first, the stairs was in front of the sun and the church was giving the back to the sun so I don't see any kind of regularity...thank you for the links..if I will be inspired maybe I'll try a DIY, but before touching the camera I want to see another roll.
Maybe they're just what they seem to be...real ghosts....they appear near the church and in the countryside...I'm joking..

 

[netzspannung]

Andrea, congratulations on your purchase,

I have a FED 1 and no, there is no perceptible click when the lens is out. You just pull it forward, then turn until it stops. That's it. Stupid ergonomical things like this really annoy me, thats why I never shoot with the thing. But it is a great camera in its own right, yeah

 

[comp_wiz101]

The Zorki 3 is a great little camera. Fitted with an I-22 it's quite the looker, as well as with a chrome J-8. After a clean and lube it is smooth and precise. Slow speed can be finnicky before cleaning, but cleaning and adjustment can be performed with enough patience. After an evening and a half with my Z3, I was hooked. The VF is easy to use, even in low, low light (Used it today in conditions that metered to 1/5s f/2.0 @ ASA 400!) Also, it has the cool Leica-like looks that is lost in later models!

 

[ZorkiKat]

.... The strange thing about the curtains is: Why other shots from the SAME roll are ok? The second is flared (the sun was just behind the church) but I don't see any ghost, the first is one of the latest shots on the roll and the church is one of the first, the stairs was in front of the sun and the church was giving the back to the sun so I don't see any kind of regularity...thank you for the links..

Maybe they're just what they seem to be...real ghosts....they appear near the church and in the countryside...I'm joking..

Andrea

When you look at the curtains, is the flaking on both or just one?

I could essay a few explanations, this being one: One is if only one of the blinds is damaged, ghosting will only occur if the damaged blind covers the film long enough. For instance, if you go around in bright sunlight with the lens uncapped and the damaged (but painted) curtains is in place, light will eventually breach the curtains and fog the film.

Is the damaged curtain seen during the 'cocked' or 'fired' state of the shutter? If it's the first blind which has the holes, walking around with the shutter in a fired state (the first blind will be in its drum roller), no ghosts will likely appear since the film is covered by the good blind which does not let light through. However, once you cock the shutter and leave it in this state for extended periods, light will breach through the patches and eventually create the ghosts. If the shutter is fired quickly, the fogging is also least likely to happen, or perhaps it won't be much since light is not given enough opportunity to breach through the damaged curtains.

Jay

 

[andrealed]

"Elementary, my dear Watson" !! Zorkikat you make me feel like Watson...yes the "right" shots were fired quickly...while the photos ghosted were taken walking around with the shutter cocked and the camera uncapped...And now I can see that under the curtain that I can see when the shutter is cocked there is a narrow "valley" (well visible when I painted the fabric) so I think the "rubber" is missing behind the fabric.
Thanks again Zorkikat and my compliments!
Ciao
Andrea