Hard for me to say, though I have both
Hard for me to say, though I have both
a Fed3 and a Zorki 4. The Fed 3 is very smooth and has a compact feel to me and everything seems to be nice and loose and smooth working. The Zorki 4 has a larger viewfinder that is very attractive by comparison. I've had two of them. One quit winding the shutter for unknown reasons. The other is sort of tight, but both had accurate rangefinders and seem to have good consistent shutters. I think probably with these cameras the best one is the one that works best and you happen to have it. That luck can come with any model or completely elude you. I have had 9 so far and only a couple of them seem to be beyond dissatisfaction. That said, I am engaged in the search for the one that is just the best of everything. My thinking I should have little trouble selling the rest if they are proper. I would think sellling Russian cameras to Americans from here in the USA should be infinately easier than trying to get folks to deal with you when you live in the Ukraine or Russian and can't even get Paypal payments without a third party handling them. So I will continue my search and when I find the perfect one I will sell the others along the way. And they will be the best I can make them with my limited knowledge.
That said, I honestly wonder why sellers of these cameras don't have a roll of film to go with them as a guarantee that the buyer is at least getting a viable camera right up front. The native sellers are giving us wonderful pictures of the cameras. Why not give us wonderful pictures taken with the cameras too. They would be easy to post and offer the URL's for.
I can get a scan disk with developing and scanning for $4.26 at Walmart. You want to see what this camera does, then here is the film I shot with it.
Some easy things, the lenses are superb. Nobody debates that. You are going to get some version of Jupiter or Industar 50mm lens and, unless it is a piece of junk, it is going to take wonderfully sharp pictures. That is one debate out of the way and a most important one, in my mind. Second, skipping the tiny Fed or Zorki one models, is going to save you a world of trouble with nasty film loading and tight mechanics that haven't had a spot of oil for 50 years. Making something as small as those tiny cameras is tough, but I think doubly tough fifty years ago. Get one of the open back cameras that are easy to load and easy to see what you have without disassembly and large enough to design and put together without a mystery hidden in closed spaces. The little cameras are luring little gems, but trouble on a popcycle stick if they come with problems. The larger stuff is often quite smooth and quite robust. I think you are on the right track with the two you are currently looking at.
