question about zorki 4

[scorpius73]

im thinking of getting a zorki 4. i just have a few questions.
1 how heavy are they?
2 are they reliable and well made?
3 how quiet are they? (shutter)
also, im thinking of getting a jupiter 8 lens to go with it. how sharp are they? thanks.
this will be my 3rd rangefinder. contax g1 and canonet ql17 gIII.

 

[ZorkiKat]

im thinking of getting a zorki 4. i just have a few questions.
1 how heavy are they?
2 are they reliable and well made?
3 how quiet are they? (shutter)
also, im thinking of getting a jupiter 8 lens to go with it. how sharp are they? thanks.
this will be my 3rd rangefinder. contax g1 and canonet ql17 gIII.

1- About 600 grammes without lens. Add an extra 100-250 grammes for the the lens.

2-Depending on when they were made. The pre-1965-1970s cameras are often found to be better. Note that Zorki-4 is different from Zorki-4K. Later Zorki-4 (and all Zorki-4K?) had printed shutter speed markings which can rub off and be erased. Generally, a well-adjusted Zorki-4 is capable of creating excellent pictures, depending on who uses them. 🙂

3- Goes of with a loud clack. About at the same level as a the clack of a mechanical slr, like Pentax Spotmatic (got both cameras and I hear the same noise levels).

4- Do a search in this forum (and elsewhere on the net). You'll read plenty of testimonials about how good (or how bad- depending on who wrote them and what sort of lens they got) about Jupiter-8.

Any FSU camera or optic can really be good or bad, due to quality control issues.

Jay

 

[Spyderman]

1.) Zorki 4s are quite heavy.

2.) Prepare to get an old camera. A 35+ y.o. camera.
In worst case the not CLAd, it might be noisy, hard to advance, with dirty viewfinder, misaligned rangefinder, capping shutter curtains and non-functional slow speeds. And if you're not the type of guy like me or Jay (ZorkiKat) who buys non-functional stuff just to have the chance to repair it 😀 then I'd recommend buying from Oleg (okvintagecameras.com) or Yuri (fedka.com). Zorki 4, when in perfect shape and after CLA is a nice camera capable of top quality results. They are also sturdy and can take beating.

3.) when CLAd the shutter can be quite quiet - quieter than Bessa R, but much louder than Canonet (but the leaf shutter is a different league).

4.) When buying a lens, I recommend buying from someone who adjusts the working distance before selling - or you can do it yourself. Many J-8s don't have this quite right from the factory and some fine tuning of the shims often helps. After I adjusted the shim on my J-8 it's a surprisingly good lens.

Click the link in my signature to see all my results from Jupiter-8. Here's one of my recent pictures at f/2.5: CLICK

 

[dll927]

1. Compared to an SLR, not very
2. It depends on how much vodka the boys drank the night before.
3. Fairly quiet, again by the yardstick of an SLR

Focal plane shutters are by nature a bit noisier than leaf shutters, but you don't have that option, at least in this case. A Z-4 is likely to be a bit louder than a Leica, but quieter than your digital SLR. I have two Z-4s, and they come across as pretty decent. Also, the 4 was in production far longer than most of the other Zorki models, so they tend to cost less. If one is a bomb, toss it and get another one.

I know that's not a pretty answer when it takes around a couple of weeks for the order to arrive from Ukraine, Russia, or whatever, but at the same time, losing one is not a major loss.

With a bit of Googling, there are a number of websites that describe various Zorki (and other FSU) cameras and lenses. They usually tend to agree on which models are better or worse than others. And several give ways of repairing them, in case you are inclined to such dangerous behavior.

As for lenses, Russian ones have a pretty decent reputation, and the J-8 is usually right up there in the hierarchy.

 

[wolves3012]

Zorki 4/4K are one of the cheapest FSUs, you can get one and try it for very little money. No major investment for something you may not like.

1) They weigh similarly to all the other models, not lightweight but not especially heavy.

2) They are reliable if maintained properly, they aren't too complex so there's not that much to go wrong. Quality is variable, as with all the FSUs - the ruskis weren't so hot on quality control!

3) Shutter noise isn't too bad, they sound a bit empty-metal-box ish (probably because that's what they are!). Not the quietest but not normally obtrusive in most situations.

4) The Jupiter 8 is capable of excellent results if you have a good one. I wouldn't say it was head and shoulders above the rest but it's perfectly competent. That's largely a personal opinion of course, some people like the flaws that a particular lens has, where others would hate the same qualities.

Bottom line: Buy one from a reputable source and see, it won't break the bank!

 

[Spyderman]

It depends on how much vodka the boys drank the night before

Please, keep from insulting those people. You have absolutely no idea about it...