How's your ZI doing?

[noimmunity]

Remember those threads speculating about how the ZI would be doing ten years down the road?

My well-used unit just came back from Oberkochen a couple weeks ago after the shutter speed dial popped off (a well-known problem).


The venerable ZI by areality4all, on Flickr

The service was courteous, professional, and not too expensive. Turn-around time was fast, especially considering the New Year's backlog.

Some of the magnesium body is visible where the silver finish has worn through, here and there. Zeiss replaced the diopter, shutter speed dial and did a CLA, adjusting the RF, too. Film rewind is incredibly smooth.

I love using this camera!

Original owner or recent acquisition, how's yours?

 

[presspass]

Had one since they came out, also a silver finish. Love the camera, but it doesn't get much use because it doesn't have a 135 frame. When it goes out, a 135 is in the kit with a Leica finder. The camera is light, smooth, and has the best viewfinder of any rangefinder I've ever used. I have trouble reading the shutter speeds in the finder, but that's the only problem.

 

[kxl]

I bought a brand new one about a year or so after they came out and it's still going strong. I traded for a second body a couple of years after the first one. Traded that second body for DSLR gear a few months ago, but am now looking to trade other gear for a second ZI. The ones I've owned and the one I'm eyeing now are all black although I would like to get one with a silver finish.

 

[noimmunity]

Had one since they came out, also a silver finish. Love the camera, but it doesn't get much use because it doesn't have a 135 frame. When it goes out, a 135 is in the kit with a Leica finder. The camera is light, smooth, and has the best viewfinder of any rangefinder I've ever used. I have trouble reading the shutter speeds in the finder, but that's the only problem.

I used to use mine with a 135 until I sold it to Marek. The long finder base
is useful for focusing. Although I had a very nice external finder from Komura, it wasn't too hard to get an idea of what the 135 would cover. But hardly precise.

I bought a brand new one about a year or so after they came out and it's still going strong. I traded for a second body a couple of years after the first one. Traded that second body for DSLR gear a few months ago, but am now looking to trade other gear for a second ZI. The ones I've owned and the one I'm eyeing now are all black although I would like to get one with a silver finish.

I'd LOVE to have a second one, black maybe. But I'm happy to have a Bessa R4A instead.

 

[Out to Lunch]

I bought two ZI bodies when Poplash had a sale of both bodies and ZM lenses. I think in 2009. Both have been with me since then and they have been used in Eastern Europe, Canada, South East Asia, and in Central Europe. No need for repairs.

An interesting incident: some five years ago I was in Tay Ninh a Vietnamese province close to the Cambodian border. The Cao Dai religion has it's seat there and their Cathedral has developed into a tourist destination. Outside some professional photographers were waiting to take shots of tourists and when they saw me and my ZI/ZM gear, they all became very exited: an interpreter told me that they had all been using rangefinder cameras during the war -later Nikons, and they could not imagine that rangefinder cameras still existed!

 

[helen.HH]

I luv Zeiss glass.... so One day I must try the Zi Experience 😉

 

[kxl]

I luv Zeiss glass.... so One day I must try the Zi Experience 😉

Helen, you MUST try it. I'll make you a promise. Next time I'm in the City I'll let you take the ZI out for a spin. 😉

 

[Laviolette]

I luv Zeiss glass.... so One day I must try the Zi Experience 😉

Me too.... But that would probably mean selling my black paint M4 to fund the purchase. Don't think I could do that.

 

[helen.HH]

Me too.... But that would probably mean selling my black paint M4 to fund the purchase. Don't think I could do that.

Sigh, droool, BP M4.... How I miss my Black Chrome M4
But have found Happiness with my pain Jane M4-2 that I really do Adore

But that Zeiss Window/VF sounds Grand

 

[noimmunity]

But that Zeiss Window/VF sounds Grand

That VF is to die for! Heaven for a 35 or a 50.

 

[Laviolette]

Sigh, droool, BP M4.... How I miss my Black Chrome M4
But have found Happiness with my pain Jane M4-2 that I really do Adore

But that Zeiss Window/VF sounds Grand

Yes, it would be better if I save my cash to buy it later. And I will probably get my hands on a ZM Planar before!

 

[Huss]

My well-used unit just came back from Oberkochen a couple weeks ago after the shutter speed dial popped off (a well-known problem).

How does one prevent it from popping off?

 

[noimmunity]

How does one prevent it from popping off?

I can't recall ever seeing anything about prevention.
The blank service request form that I received from Zeiss includes two default choices for ZI repair service: VF alignment and loose shutter speed dial.

This link to directions on the RF adjustment also includes a detailed explanation of how the shutter speed dial is mounted, in case you're lucky enough to catch the problem, or the pieces. http://www.monopix.co.uk/zmadjust.shtml
You need to click on "articles" on the menu bar on the left to see the click through for the ZI repair.

 

[Pfreddee]

Does my Contax IIA count? It clearly has Zeiss Ikon stamped on the back...

With best regards.😀

Pfreddee(Stephen)

 

[kram]

Mine's doing great. Big outing fot next weekend.1) at the 2nd Welsh kendo shiaicompetition in Cardiff.

 

[anerjee]

I recently sent my ZI along with my C-Sonnar to oberkochen, for the focus to be optimized at f/1.5. They also replaced my diopter.

It works splendidly after that, but for all effects has converted by ZI into a fixed lens camera. It is my main use camera, running a roll or 2 of tri-x every week.

 

[Pioneer]

A bit of wear around the edges but still humming along very well.

 

[lawrence]

Mine has a small problem with the frame lines' parallax correction. When you start to focus nothing happens but then there's a small 'click' and they move into place. Apart from that it's excellent.

 

[varchs]

I got mine a couple of years ago from the fellow RFF member Trevor, and paired it with a biogon 35f2. I am using it as a one camera/lens kit since then. Everything is ok. I have just replaced the eyepiece that was missing. Great camera! ;-)
Thank you Trevor for all this "taking pictures joy"!

 

[jonmanjiro]

I purchased my Zeiss Ikon new in April 2009 and except for a couple of minor hiccups along the way its given me almost six years of absolutely reliable service. And I expect it will continue to do so for years to come.

Regarding the hiccups, one time in Taormina, Sicily, the little screw that holds the shutter speed dial in place worked its way loose and the shutter speed dial, spring underneath, and some other parts came off. But I managed to find all the parts without breaking any and reassembled them on a restaurant table using two tooth picks to tighten the screw. All while juggling a gelato in one hand! I tightened the screw as firmly as I could and its stayed in place ever since (touch wood). Another time in Vienna I lost the eye piece so dropped by the Leica shop to buy another one. I asked for a Nikon FM/FE eyepiece, so they pulled a used one out of a drawer and but said it wouldn't fit. So I asked them to let me try anyway. I screwed it in knowing it would fit just fine, and I still have that eyepiece to this day.

Last summer I sold my ZI to another RFFer, but after a month or so I realised my mistake and contacted him to ask if he'd sell it back to me. Thankfully he agreed and I got my camera back! When it came home I replaced the covering with GripTac and its been working great ever since. In November last year, the camera went to Thailand and Myanmar, and this year so far to Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia. Its the first camera I reach for when travelling.