wjvander
Member
I wish there was a 1 size & shape with a single window finder. STOP! Enough!
Have you ever heard of the Canon IV? I've never used one but they have roughly the same form factor as the Zorki 1 and have a combined viewfinder/rangefinder. Might be worth checking out.
David Hughes
David Hughes
Hi,
Interesting that you have the old, pre-1949 lens cap. Are you saving it for the 100mm or f/2 lens? I hope you are.
Regards, David
citizen99
Well-known
Thanks for the information; I'm fairly new to these camerasHi,
Interesting that you have the old, pre-1949 lens cap. Are you saving it for the 100mm or f/2 lens? I hope you are.
Regards, David
Regards, John.
David Hughes
David Hughes
Thanks for the information; I'm fairly new to these cameras. It's not occurred to me to separate the cap from the camera; I'll keep an eye open for what lenses may come up.
Regards, John.
Hi,
As far as I know the cap you have came with the pre-war 100mm f/6.3 FED lens. The 50mm f/2 had the cap in this photo;-

Your one appears in a photo of a FED and the 100mm lens in the 'Miniature Camera Magazine' dated November 1941 on page 589 (this line was edited when I found the magazine). I guess mine is right as I got one on a 1930's FED with the f/2 lens and, of course, Leitz made them in that style for their lenses.
EDIT: I should have added that the clue is the way FED is written, meaning the typeface on the lens cap. Compare it with the version on top of the range-finder housing.
Regards, David
PS And every time I look at the photo I think I ought to re-take it with the 30's FED...
Hannes
Established
Mounted my new Jupiter 9 on the best matching Kiev body I have. This is a Kiev IIa from 1955, the lens is from 1954. Can't wait to shoot the first roll of film in this combo.
Hannes

Hannes
davidnewtonguitars
Family Snaps
That's a good looking rig Hannes. I guess with a Contax mount there aren't adjustment issues like with Fed/Zorki?
mooney
Newbie
I Just because part of the FSU family 
I Just because part of the FSU family
I picked up as many as I could at one time to save on shipping and determine which one I like best. I thought I might just keep one or two and sell the others, but that is proving harder then expected
I guess I just need to buy 3 more lenses for the others and keep them all LOL.
Does anyone know if I will have any issues using the Jupiter 12 35mm lens with any of these? I'm wondering about curtain clearance. The FED 1 has a semi-circular deformation in the curtain, maybe from a deep lens mounting, and hoping it's still light tight. Any idea how this happens if not from mounting an incorrect lens on it? I need to test it of course.
Any reason to choose a Fed vs. Zorki other then preferred appearance? I liked the looks of the FEDs better, but I am feeling the urge to buy the Zorki models as well.
Meet my FED 1, 2, early 3 & later 3 (not sure if that's how you refer to the 2 different model 3 cameras)
I Just because part of the FSU family
I picked up as many as I could at one time to save on shipping and determine which one I like best. I thought I might just keep one or two and sell the others, but that is proving harder then expected
Does anyone know if I will have any issues using the Jupiter 12 35mm lens with any of these? I'm wondering about curtain clearance. The FED 1 has a semi-circular deformation in the curtain, maybe from a deep lens mounting, and hoping it's still light tight. Any idea how this happens if not from mounting an incorrect lens on it? I need to test it of course.
Any reason to choose a Fed vs. Zorki other then preferred appearance? I liked the looks of the FEDs better, but I am feeling the urge to buy the Zorki models as well.
Meet my FED 1, 2, early 3 & later 3 (not sure if that's how you refer to the 2 different model 3 cameras)
Attachments
nukecoke
⚛Yashica
Does anyone know if I will have any issues using the Jupiter 12 35mm lens with any of these?
I have Zorki-1,4,6 and Fed-2. The only problematic body with J-12 is the Fed-2 (even my Canon 7 works well with J-12). I had to push the rangefinder coupling arm upward before mounting to make J-12 work on it properly, otherwise the rangefinder is off because the arm is pushed by the rear lens group.
David Hughes
David Hughes
Any reason to choose a Fed vs. Zorki other then preferred appearance? I liked the looks of the FEDs better, but I am feeling the urge to buy the Zorki models as well.
Meet my FED 1, 2, early 3 & later 3 (not sure if that's how you refer to the 2 different model 3 cameras)
Hi,
The 3's, like all the others, were given letters as well to distinguish them, like FED 3d and so on (usually on the passport). Normally I'd say where to look to find all the varieties but I don't want to be the first to push you down that slippery slope...
BTW, I've no problems with the mixing of former USSR lenses and bodies, just beware of 39mm mounts from the Zenits when looking for lenses.
Regards, David
David Hughes
David Hughes
Hi,
Another ex USSR camera and lens:-
and another view, over-exposed to show a little more detail:-
Regards, David
Another ex USSR camera and lens:-

and another view, over-exposed to show a little more detail:-

Regards, David
kotokot21
Wrenchfinder
Thanks, I'd wondered about it and am wondering if they'll ever do a "black" version of (say) the FED 1 etc. OTOH, I can't justify buying one just for its looks...
Regards, David
David, all these black versions are aftermarket mods. But damn, thay are nice! There's one black Zorki-4 currently for sale in Moscow for approx. $43.

https://www.avito.ru/moskva/fototehnika/fotoapparat_zorkiy_4_chernyy_627961319
Having said that, I'd like to show the Zorki-4 I've bought recently (in attachment). I want to take some care of it. Sadly, Aki-asahi told me they do not cut leatherettes for this model with strap lugs, but I'm trying with cameraleather. Also, I'd like to replace the top plate with the one with engraved logo and shutter settings. But mechanically — it's great!
Attachments
DanskDynamit
Well-known
Just arrived.
Zorki 4K with matching Industar 50 both from very early 1975 (I'm from February '75 too)

Zorki 4K with matching Industar 50 both from very early 1975 (I'm from February '75 too)

nukecoke
⚛Yashica

Zorki-1 + Industar-50 50mm f/3.5.
The combo I carried everyday last autumn-winter.
The KOMZ I-50 has a thicker lens barrel and notably heavier than the KMZ I-22 I have.
Don Promillo
Newbie
My RED Analogue Camera
Now I only have to find a way to make the self release and the long exposures work. A CLA should do the trick, but at the moment Oleg from Russia can't do it (because of fire damage to his home
) and since the fast shutter times are running, I declare the condition as "Ready to shoot".
The red leather is from Aki-asahi in Japan, I have just added two small holes for the strap lugs. The strap was bought from the UK and the camera is now being used here in Germany. Who would have thought about that being possible 50 years ago when it was built

Now I only have to find a way to make the self release and the long exposures work. A CLA should do the trick, but at the moment Oleg from Russia can't do it (because of fire damage to his home
The red leather is from Aki-asahi in Japan, I have just added two small holes for the strap lugs. The strap was bought from the UK and the camera is now being used here in Germany. Who would have thought about that being possible 50 years ago when it was built
Attachments
systemdevice
Newbie





Hi!
I was searching for a sale thread on this forum, but since I didn't manage to find it, I uploaded here some photos of one of my FSU rangefinders, a functional Zorki 4k camera with Industar 61, 52mm, f/2.8.
The cover is from genuine leather and is printed with European folk motifs.
Do you like it?
Hannes
Established
That's a good looking rig Hannes. I guess with a Contax mount there aren't adjustment issues like with Fed/Zorki?
I had no problem with focus not beeing accurate, even on short distance with lens wide open the focusing was accurate. Th eonly drawback is some light leaks in this body, next time I'll take a younger one.
Hannes
Hannes
Established
My Zorki-3 with a low 1955 serial number, matching Jupiter 8 lens, leather case and original film casette for spooling your own film.
According to sovietcams.com it is type PM1290, fotoua.com lists it as type 5d (CT1208).
I love the look of this camera, espicially because its seperated low speed dial.
The camera is very clean, works like a charm, even the low speeds. Does anybody know the purpose of the white card in the back of the camera case?
I never have seen this type of film casettes before.




Hannes
According to sovietcams.com it is type PM1290, fotoua.com lists it as type 5d (CT1208).
I love the look of this camera, espicially because its seperated low speed dial.
The camera is very clean, works like a charm, even the low speeds. Does anybody know the purpose of the white card in the back of the camera case?
I never have seen this type of film casettes before.




Hannes
nukecoke
⚛Yashica
My Zorki-3 with a low 1955 serial number, matching Jupiter 8 lens, leather case and original film casette for spooling your own film.
According to sovietcams.com it is type PM1290, fotoua.com lists it as type 5d (CT1208).
I love the look of this camera, espicially because its seperated low speed dial.
The camera is very clean, works like a charm, even the low speeds. Does anybody know the purpose of the white card in the back of the camera case?
I never have seen this type of film casettes before.
Hannes
Beautiful camera. Z-3 looks best to me among the Z-3/4/mir range. I'd pick one up if I didn't wear eye-glass.
I think the card is for the photog to write down exposure information (speed, f/* ).
Today digital cameras use EXIF.
David Hughes
David Hughes
Hi,
The little pocket in the back was the same in the pre-war Leicas and could hold several things.
There was also a UK version of the import duty card.
The plastic card for pencil notes had square cut corners for the Leica and the USSR version was slightly bigger with rounded corners.
Regards, David
The little pocket in the back was the same in the pre-war Leicas and could hold several things.

There was also a UK version of the import duty card.
The plastic card for pencil notes had square cut corners for the Leica and the USSR version was slightly bigger with rounded corners.
Regards, David
tyrone.s
Well-known
Several months ago I purchased this Kiev 4AM (SN8450540) on eBay as a body only in 'perfect' working condition. I was curious as to how terrible the really terrible quality I've read regarding the late Kiev, really was. 84 isn't the last year of production, I think that was 85. Well, I matched it up to an 82' serial number Helios 103 that I've had lying around for nearly 8 years or so. Both work great and the build quality of the Kiev 4 greatly exceeded my expectations. Certainly the camera's more cheaply made than earlier examples. But it's decades younger as well.
The revised rewind knob (slightly askew in my copy), bottom plate with an integrated rewind release built into one of the bottom plate release catches, the 1/1000th speed setting, all make for, in my opinion, a more 'modern' rendering of the 1930's Contax design. Overall, a pleasant shooter. As a bonus the standard VC meter (the one where the base tab locates the meter body towards the left) will fit on this model because the revised rewind knob (just) allows the room.
"Behind the 8 Ball"
The revised rewind knob (slightly askew in my copy), bottom plate with an integrated rewind release built into one of the bottom plate release catches, the 1/1000th speed setting, all make for, in my opinion, a more 'modern' rendering of the 1930's Contax design. Overall, a pleasant shooter. As a bonus the standard VC meter (the one where the base tab locates the meter body towards the left) will fit on this model because the revised rewind knob (just) allows the room.
"Behind the 8 Ball"

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