Kozhe
Well-known
Hi guys,
I´ve been playing around with my new Zorki I and I just love it, although the shutter is way more noisy than what I thought was normal for this cameras. I was told the Zorki as a Leica copy had really quiet shutter and that´s why they are perfect for "silent-ninja-shoots" but mine does as much noise as any of my Nikon slrs. The kind of noise I heard seems to be from the shutter cortains as they open completely, like they´re hiting their end taps or something.
Is this normal? Are screw-mount leicas so quiet? Should a Kiev be more quiet?
I´ve been playing around with my new Zorki I and I just love it, although the shutter is way more noisy than what I thought was normal for this cameras. I was told the Zorki as a Leica copy had really quiet shutter and that´s why they are perfect for "silent-ninja-shoots" but mine does as much noise as any of my Nikon slrs. The kind of noise I heard seems to be from the shutter cortains as they open completely, like they´re hiting their end taps or something.
Is this normal? Are screw-mount leicas so quiet? Should a Kiev be more quiet?
Fred Burton
Well-known
My screw mount Leicas are quieter than my Zorki 1's. Neither are close to my M's. The Zorki can be sometimes helped a bit by a CLA.
acheyj
Well-known
Guday Kozhe,
It depends if you are prepared to work on the camera yourself. To send the camera out for repairs can sometimes cost more than its worth.
I have only setup two Zorki 1's as most of my RF building time has been with the Kiev.
The Zorki/Fed 1 is a dream to work on compared to a Kiev. They can be made silky smooth and very quiet, simple and reliable tho no speed below 1/25 which to me has never been a problem.
Shutter tension is the key as most older ones have been over tensioned to overcome years of dirt and hardened grease.
There is a first class sticky on tension adjustment in this section, BUT you MUST totaly clean and properly lube before you do anything.
Its years since I had a Leica system (M2 /M3 etc), cant afford em now as I spend big bucks on digital gear.
Cheers and good luck
ron
It depends if you are prepared to work on the camera yourself. To send the camera out for repairs can sometimes cost more than its worth.
I have only setup two Zorki 1's as most of my RF building time has been with the Kiev.
The Zorki/Fed 1 is a dream to work on compared to a Kiev. They can be made silky smooth and very quiet, simple and reliable tho no speed below 1/25 which to me has never been a problem.
Shutter tension is the key as most older ones have been over tensioned to overcome years of dirt and hardened grease.
There is a first class sticky on tension adjustment in this section, BUT you MUST totaly clean and properly lube before you do anything.
Its years since I had a Leica system (M2 /M3 etc), cant afford em now as I spend big bucks on digital gear.
Cheers and good luck
ron
acheyj
Well-known
To answer your question , my Zorki is WAY WAY quieter than any film SLR I have (Nikon OM-2 Pentax).
Only a fixed lens leaf shutter RF can be made quieter in my opion, cant comment on the various Leicas tho its hard to see how an M2 could be much quieter than my Zorki, have mate who has a M2 in his cupboard, try as I might he wont part with it or use it ! sad.
One day I shall borrow it and check the two. My softest Kiev 4a is slightly noiser than the Zorki.
ron
Only a fixed lens leaf shutter RF can be made quieter in my opion, cant comment on the various Leicas tho its hard to see how an M2 could be much quieter than my Zorki, have mate who has a M2 in his cupboard, try as I might he wont part with it or use it ! sad.
One day I shall borrow it and check the two. My softest Kiev 4a is slightly noiser than the Zorki.
ron
wolves3012
Veteran
I have two Zorki 1s and two FED 1s (essentially same camera) plus a Leica IIIC. All of them have been properly CLAd. They vary a little but the Leica is marginally the quietest. As has been said above, a serviced Zorki/FED 1 can be smooth and quiet and is nowhere near as noisy as almost any SLR. After years of neglect, an over-tensioned shutter will be noisy on any camera. Only you can decide if you want to justify the time and cost of a proper CLA though.
ZorkiKat
ЗоркийК&
If your Zorki had been repaired sometime in its past, and its shutter curtains replaced with the types normally found with later cameras like the Zorki 4 or FED-2, then it will fire with more noise. The original Zorki shutter was similar to the one found in SM Leica: cloth wrapped around the lath. The later version of FSU focal plane shutters had the metal lath crimped on the cloth, somewhat similar to those found in Leica M, but more primitive.
Also, the rubber coating on older Zorki may 'thicken' in time and become less supple, hence the heavier and noisier operation.
As already mentioned, overtensioning will also cause more firing noise. Thickened or stiffened curtains, dirty mechanism with hardened or dried lubricants will bear on the tensioning.
Cleaning and lubrication solves part of the noise issue, but the presence of stiff cloth or crimped metal laths will not make the camera as quiet as it should br. I've serviced a few Zorki and FED which had been really firing noisily, often due to the exposed metal lath shutter blinds, but became more quiet after replacing these with the 'proper' ones.
Generally speaking, not all FED or Zorki were made the same way. Some will inherently fire with more noise than others. But the well made ones should fire with less noise than a typical mechanical SLR,
shutter as audible as what the shutter in an average pre IIIc Leica (the IIIc and later Leica had different, less noisy mechanisms) would make, and about as much noise as what an average Kiev would make when shooting in the 1/50-1/500 range.
Also, the rubber coating on older Zorki may 'thicken' in time and become less supple, hence the heavier and noisier operation.
As already mentioned, overtensioning will also cause more firing noise. Thickened or stiffened curtains, dirty mechanism with hardened or dried lubricants will bear on the tensioning.
Cleaning and lubrication solves part of the noise issue, but the presence of stiff cloth or crimped metal laths will not make the camera as quiet as it should br. I've serviced a few Zorki and FED which had been really firing noisily, often due to the exposed metal lath shutter blinds, but became more quiet after replacing these with the 'proper' ones.
Generally speaking, not all FED or Zorki were made the same way. Some will inherently fire with more noise than others. But the well made ones should fire with less noise than a typical mechanical SLR,
shutter as audible as what the shutter in an average pre IIIc Leica (the IIIc and later Leica had different, less noisy mechanisms) would make, and about as much noise as what an average Kiev would make when shooting in the 1/50-1/500 range.
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Kozhe
Well-known
Thanks for the replies! 
I´ll open my Zorki later today and clean it a little bit. Let´s see what happens... I´ll also try to get trough fidget´s tutorial and decide wheter I´m able to check the curtain tension by myself or not.
ZorkiKat you do have a great Zorki web man! I´m looking for some accesories for my Zorki (lenscap, wrist strap, filters...) and will probably buy them from you
I´ll open my Zorki later today and clean it a little bit. Let´s see what happens... I´ll also try to get trough fidget´s tutorial and decide wheter I´m able to check the curtain tension by myself or not.
ZorkiKat you do have a great Zorki web man! I´m looking for some accesories for my Zorki (lenscap, wrist strap, filters...) and will probably buy them from you
ZorkiKat
ЗоркийК&
Thanks for the replies!
I´ll open my Zorki later today and clean it a little bit. Let´s see what happens... I´ll also try to get trough fidget´s tutorial and decide wheter I´m able to check the curtain tension by myself or not.
ZorkiKat you do have a great Zorki web man! I´m looking for some accesories for my Zorki (lenscap, wrist strap, filters...) and will probably buy them from you
I don't sell anything....
Kozhe
Well-known
Ops, I thougth the fedka store was part of yours
ZorkiKat
ЗоркийК&
Ops, I thougth the fedka store was part of yours
Just sharing space provided by Yuri....
Kozhe
Well-known
I open the Zorki yesterday and I found the metal cap curtains and that´s actually the kind of noise it makes, so I guess I should change them for the old style curtains someday...
payasam
a.k.a. Mukul Dube
My Zorki 1C was a bit quieter than my Leica IIIc. Both were louder than the M3 I had and the M2 I have. "Loud" is of course relative: none of these cameras had a disturbing sound.