Using a Zorki in winter

[tho60]

Hello.

In your opinion, may I use a Zorki in winter or cold weather? I have heard that under temperature of 5 C/41 F grades the shutter cloth could be damaged. The rubber coating will exfoliate.
Have you ever experienced such a damage?

Thx.

 

[summar]

No, I haven't. I've used Zorkis and Kievs at -5C without trouble. If the curtain is in good shape, it should be OK. Considering Russian winters it wouldn't have made much sense for Soviet cameras not to be usable at freezing temperatures.

 

[le vrai rdu]

Hello.

In your opinion, may I use a Zorki in winter or cold weather? I have heard that under temperature of 5 C/41 F grades the shutter cloth could be damaged. The rubber coating will exfoliate.
Have you ever experienced such a damage?

Thx.

I had no problem with mine (minus 20°c)

 

[Mablo]

C'mon... Zorkis were built in factories without any heating system and -15C was the normal weather condition at the time. I wouldn't be worried at -25C. I've tried it. The camera works OK but the photographer is freezing...

 

[Valkir1987]

Digital camera's will not work unless you keep them warm and close in your coat 😀 Feds and Zorkis love cold weather!

 

[Brian Legge]

At what temperature would the film itself start having problems?

 

[summar]

I just used a FED 5B at -18 deg. C (0 deg. F) in a dry climate, no trouble with the film. Advance slowly and smoothly.

 

[zumbido]

I've regularly used a FED-2 at down to -20°F (-7°C) and never had any kind of issue.

 

[le vrai rdu]

At what temperature would the film itself start having problems?

it doesn't really matter as long as you rewind quieltly. I had no trouble from +35°C to -20°c , winding up the film quickly

concerning the zorki and other FSU, they used to tear off my across 100 that are quite thin 🙁

 

[ebolton]

zumbido, in Minneapolis I can believe -20°F. That actually converts to -29°C!

 

[ChrisCummins]

but positive 20F converts to - 7C just fine. 🙂

 

[tho60]

Thaks for your answers!

 

[vnukov_pk]

Last winter in Moscow I had some troubles with my zorky 1 at - 20C, but only with slight uneven exposure of one frame out of 20 shots. No damage whatsoever. My camera was also CLA´d before that time. Do not leave your camera exposed to low temps for too long (like 2-3 hours) and everything will be as usual)

 

[ChrisCummins]

I was out photographing a protest today in freezing temperatures. No problem from the camera, just shorten your shutter speeds - cold weather makes for shaky hands!

Also, the camera's themselves get bloody cold to handle since they're essential just a lump of thermal conducting metal.

 

[tho60]

Hello Buddies!

Following your advices I took my newly CLA-ed Zorki-4 (1957) to take pictures of a wonderful, snowy forest. Temperature was about -5 C (23 Fahrenheit). It started well, but after 30 minutes the shutter sounded a silent moan at each firing instead of his normal clap. I shot some 4 frames with different speeds after the first moan has occurred, but the situation worsened. More and more strange noises eventuated. I suspect that the curtains slowed down due to cold weather. This can ruin my pictures but I haven’t developed the film yet. I should have to carry my camera under my coat between the shots to prevent chilling.

I would ask you whether the noise of your camera’s shutter change in cold weather. In your opinion, can these moans purport some shutter damage?

Thx

 

[xxloverxx]

Was skiing with my Zorki 5 in my bag and I think the lubricant must've gotten icky - when I next fired the shutter, it opened 1/6th of the way with the shutter release down, and went the rest of the way when I lifted my finger up. Anyone else have this problem?

It was about -10C. Scary thing is, I've had this happen in HK as well, when it was about 26C, so I'm not sure if the cold's to blame.

Update 1: I haven't used the Zorki for a few days - switched over to my Kiev as soon as I could. So it's been sitting in my other bag for about 5 days. I just took it out and all seems fine. It was like this in HK as well - couldn't force it to happen again, couldn't fix it deliberately. Argh!

Seems I've found the problem:
Opened the base plate and fired the shutter a few times. It seems that the gold disc that spins when I fire the shutter was getting caught (sometimes) on the black plate that's on top of it. It wasn't aligned properly. Not really sure how to take care of this...

Update 2: Update 1 was probably wrong. Gah.

 

[Valkir1987]

Well... I'm too busy too run this test, but it came to my mind.

Lets put some lubricants in the fridge, and lets look how smooth they are the next day. Or... lets put a fresh CLA'd camera in the fridge... without the lens of course in a dry climate.

Just a thought!

 

[xxloverxx]

If I had any lubricant, I'd do it!

 

[rpinchbeck]

I have shot with my Zorki-1 at about -10C with no problems. But I usually go for a Kiev when extreme temperature shooting is anticipated, -23C is no problem.

Cheers,

Russ Pinchbeck

 

[tho60]

I have made experiments with different Zorkis at low temperatures. These are my results:

1. Zorki-4 (1960) in the balcony, -3 Co (23 Fo), 3 hours incubation. Neither the sound of the shutter, nor its function has changed.
2. Zorki-4 (1961) in the freezer, -25 Co (-13 Fo), 3 hours incubation. The sound of the shutter faded, but its operation remained intact.
3. Zorki-4 (1957) in the freezer, -25 Co (-13 Fo), 4 hours incubation. The shutter has frozen completely.
4. Zorki-S (1957) in the freezer, -25 Co (-13 Fo), 4 hours incubation. The shutter has frozen completely.

I mean the lubricants can cause the shutter malfunctions at low temperature.