What do you know about the Zenit-E?

raid

raid

Dad Photographer
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I just got a Zenit-E as a gift from a friend. It comes with a Helios 58mm/2. Focusing is a snap,and the camera appears to be well built. No clue how to open the back of this camera. I have looked at an online manual for the camera.:bang:
 
The lens is a Helios M42-2, with 8 aperture blades. Supposedly, it is sharper than the Zeiss 50/1.7.
 
The Helios 44-2 is allegedly a Russian copy of the Zeiss 58/2 Biotar. Mine has one aperture blade missing !

Only warning is don't stick any SMC or Super Multi Coated Takumars on the Zenit. You might not get them off again !

Ronnie
 
My first "proper" camera back in the early `70`s with TTL metering.
I only used k64 /25 or 200 back then and the meter in the body I had wasn`t up to it.
Built like a tank though.
Can`t remember the loading procedure .
I traded it for a Chinon CX which I still have.
 
I had one of those several years ago, and when the shutter got stuck I just took offf the baseplate and poked around with a fairly large screwdriver. I heard a loud "kaklotsch" and everything worked again :p
 
The shutter sounds like a loud 'kah-flop' when firing it but it is a cloth shutter! I've always wondered what the shutter could have been like if 'keeping the noise down' had been on the designers check list at all...

The Helios-44 / 44M / 44M2 lenses are rear focusing lenses. I could not use mine throughout the whole focus range when mounted on a Nikon adapter with a glass element. It would jam into the adapter. Being a Biotar copy, it can be very sharp. Unless you had a Monday morning produced specimen...


These cameras are dirt cheap here, lots of eastern European stuff got to the market in the Netherlands in the sixties and seventies. There was an agency in NL for the marketing of USSR and GDR cameras so I can usually pick them up here for petty cash.
 
On which are camera systems could I use the lens? The camera looks not very interesting to me.
 
Raid, the Helios-44-2 is an m42 lens, and so can be used on any m42 compatible lensmount. I had used it a bunch via adapter on my EOS 10d DSLR, which I suspect is a common occurrence.


Helios-44-2 58/2 in m42 mount by joecentric, on Flickr

A pretty lens, if you're into factory-industrial kind of stuff. Nice focusing ring, though. My only gripe with the lens was the pre-set diaphragm; although this probably added to the lens' robustness, it was a technical pain to get used to.


Cheers,
--joe.
 
buzzardkid said:
The shutter sounds like a loud 'kah-flop' when firing it but it is a cloth shutter! I've always wondered what the shutter could have been like if 'keeping the noise down' had been on the designers check list at all...
Click to expand...
That's not the shutter, it is the mirror returning to its "down" position.
 
planetjoe said:
Raid, the Helios-44-2 is an m42 lens, and so can be used on any m42 compatible lensmount. I had used it a bunch via adapter on my EOS 10d DSLR, which I suspect is a common occurrence.


Helios-44-2 58/2 in m42 mount by joecentric, on Flickr

A pretty lens, if you're into factory-industrial kind of stuff. Nice focusing ring, though. My only gripe with the lens was the pre-set diaphragm; although this probably added to the lens' robustness, it was a technical pain to get used to.


Cheers,
--joe.
Click to expand...

Hi Joe,
So the lens would fit my Spotmatic F. That is good to know.
The lens looks very nice indeed. My lens has the distance scale in feet.
 
I've had mine on my Spotmatic F and you might find it focuses past infinity when screwed in tight as the mount flange on the Helios 44-2 is small enought to go into the cut out in the SPF mount for the auto lock pin on the SMC Takumars. Coincidentally the very pin which can jam SMC Taks on Zenit mount screws.

Ronnie
 
raid: the Zenit E is a Zorki with pentaprism and mirror. It isn't really reliable but easy to fix, the Helios can be a really good lens with super creamy bokeh! Just bear in mind that the viewfinder only covers 75% of the image.

Have fun!
 
raid said:
Hi Joe,
So the lens would fit my Spotmatic F. That is good to know.
The lens looks very nice indeed. My lens has the distance scale in feet.
Click to expand...

That's interesting - I did not know there were Imperial and Metric versions!

I also used mine on an Asahi Pentax S1a for a while, just to add to the database.


Asahi Pentax S1a by joecentric, on Flickr

...a cute little camera in its own right, compact, fully mechanical and uncomplicated. I should look around for another one of these days.


Cheers,
--joe.
 
I also received a Zenit-E as a present last week during my trip to Belarus. This from my step son's new father-in-law. (They heard I liked old cameras.)

My camera is working but the selenium meter is not. The preset feature of the lens is NOT welcome.

I promised to try it out.
 
raid said:
Ronnie: Did you have any problems with the Spotmatic F because of the Helios?
Click to expand...

Not that I'm aware off. I dodn't do much other than put it on and note that it screwed in a little further than I expected. Can't remember if I fired the shutter to check for mirror clearance.

Ronnie
 
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