Naked Zorki

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Here's something you don't see every day. I wanted to make a fake Ic out of a Zorki-1, and had Oleg remove the rangefinder mechanism for me...the camera feels AMAZING, and it will soon have new gray enamel trim and light gray griptac from cameraleather, but I couldn't resist taking a few pictures while the camera was naked. It was a huge pain getting that vulcanite off, I must say.

 

[Borghesia]

Why not chrome the body ?

 

[dee]

Just neat ! Are you painting the base and top plates as well ?

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Base and top plates will remain as they are! Only the trim will be medium-gray, plus the griptac.

I don't know how to chrome stuff, and I'm not sure I'd like the final look, even if I did...

 

[oftheherd]

That's sure different. You will show us the final results?

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

That's sure different. You will show us the final results?

Sure! It looks horrible right now--everything but the trim is covered with masking tape, and the whole thing has been sprayed gray...with any luck the griptac will come in the next few days...

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Well, I finally got some griptac from Morgan...he sent me the Zorki 5 kit, since it has a similar body. It wasn't quite right, but it was close enough to trim into shape. Here's the finished camera!

 

[Blake Werts]

very nice work!

 

[kazeonrff]

It's a beauty, and great lens combination to match!

Kinda reminds me of the Baby Grey Rollei in RF mode, i love that one too!
Did you paint the trimming grey?

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

It's a beauty, and great lens combination to match!

Kinda reminds me of the Baby Grey Rollei in RF mode, i love that one too!
Did you paint the trimming grey?

Yes, I did...I used normal enamel spray paint...it's a little thick and crude to be honest, but it looks OK from a distance.

 

[dee]

I want one !

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Grrrr, not so fast. It is riddled with light leaks. I just developed my first roll, and every outdoor shot, even on an overcast day, was horribly fogged. FWIW, the shutter speeds appear correct (though I can't be certain, I was Sunny-16ing), anyway.

Question about fogging--are the pictures "upside down" inside the camera? That is, if there is fogging on the top half of the frame, does this mean the leaks are coming from the bottom plate?

 

[rbiemer]

Question about fogging--are the pictures "upside down" inside the camera? That is, if there is fogging on the top half of the frame, does this mean the leaks are coming from the bottom plate?

Yes. And reversed right to left.

Somewhere in the FSU forum here, there was/is a thread about another person doing a similar conversion. In that thread there is a pattern to make a cover for the stuff under neath the shutter speed dial. I think it was done by Gordon Coale. You might PM or email him about it if you were interested.
Still, it's a good looking camera. Worth sortng out, I think.
Rob

 

[newspaperguy]

Hey Dude... it absolutely looks great,
and no true adventure is totally without hazard.

PS - How do like the CV mini finder?

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Hey Dude... it absolutely looks great,
and no true adventure is totally without hazard.

PS - How do like the CV mini finder?

Sold it! It was pretty nice though. I really want the 28mm one, however, which I had once before, and which is much, much nicer.

As for the light leaks, they are on the top of the frames, which would mean the leak is from the bottom. It could be the light baffles, actually...I had the camera partially apart one time and may not have reassembled it correctly. I'll get it figured out!

I did see those plans for a rigidized paper shutter mech cover...I may do that. Or perhaps get a Leitz one on eBay and make a little rubber base for it to rest on.

 

[Seele]

Some random thoughts on the round cover under the shutter speed dial:

Get a local silversmith to hammer one out of sheet brass.

Or find a metal workerto turn one out of solid.

Or get him to use lathe to bend a sheet of brass against a former into shape.

Or make a former and use vacuum forming to make one out of plastic sheet.

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Sold it! It was pretty nice though. I really want the 28mm one, however, which I had once before, and which is much, much nicer.

As for the light leaks, they are on the top of the frames, which would mean the leak is from the bottom. It could be the light baffles, actually...I had the camera partially apart one time and may not have reassembled it correctly. I'll get it figured out!

I did see those plans for a rigidized paper shutter mech cover...I may do that. Or perhaps get a Leitz one on eBay and make a little rubber base for it to rest on.

Since the camera closes (at the bottom) like a LTM Leica, there can't be no light leaks coming from the bottom, the light leaks come from the shutter/shutter crate.

I like your result, although I would have taken the black griptac/vulcanite

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

OK, wait a minute, this could be the problem. Here, I'm shining a flashlight in through the lens mount, and you can see light pouring out from under the shutter crate. It is probably traveling down into the bottom plate cavity then back up onto the film. I'm trying now to tighten the screws holding the crate to the front of the camera...though , irksomely enough, one of them seems to be turning semi-freely in its travel...

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Don't think that is the problem since film is travelling at the opposite site through the camera, and light will go in one direction. Did you check the shutter curtain on light leaks, pin holes?, nomally that is the problem with these cameras (as with the older ltm leicas).

 

[FPjohn]

Hello:

Were the light leak problems resolved? The cutdown is attractive and makes me a wee bit dissatisfied with my IIIb / CV Skopar combination.

yours
FPJ