Zenit (KMZ) and Leica Joint Production

DanskDynamit said:
no its not, they don't have the technical capabilities making such camera and you know it.
I'm sure many here would be praising this camera if it was called "Argus".
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Granger says in his YT video that it was designed at Krasnogorsk Russia and it apparently says that on the back engraving in the video.

That could be that KMZ only designed the body stamping and Leica did the innards, either way it is not a serious contender for us non-collectors amateur photographers, with only 500 made and sold at a not so bargain price.
 
Krasnogorsk Design Team: "Let's make it look like an M240, only clunkier. Best only make 500 of them though because nobody in their right mind is going to want it."
 
Actual price of the Lenit?

Actual price of the Lenit?

xayraa33 said:
4k to 5k euros in price is not exactly the $ 69.99 of the Zenit E of 1973
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Leica M240 is currently being sold new for $6K. The M10 is $7.2K (I think it received the recent price hike as there was demand for it and Leica still has stock of the M240. But did not want to lower it's price..)
So if the new Lenit comes in at $5K with lens, or even $6K with lens, it would be worth it if you care about getting a new M240.

If it comes in at $4K w/ lens that is screaming deal in Leicaland.

Thought - will Leica be handling warranty and service?
 
Come to think about it, Leica has became quite affluent in fabricating different shells for the M Typ 240 throughout the years. The M-P, the Hermès, the M60, the 262, the M-D, the titanium something, to name but a few. So small piece of cake for them to offer a new Russian shell this time.
 
Shouldn't this thread be in the FSU forum?:)
Couple of things occur to me: isn't the body effectively a "special edition"? Something akin to, for example, the various national M6 cameras of years past?
Secondly, my impression has always been that KMZ was/is primarily an optics company rather than a camera company and that the consumer goods--Zenits and Zorkis and etc were never the primary product.
Perhaps, this is a way to gain a credible entry into the high end lens market?

Rob
 
Huss said:
Leica M240 is currently being sold new for $6K. The M10 is $7.2K (I think it received the recent price hike as there was demand for it and Leica still has stock of the M240. But did not want to lower it's price..)
So if the new Lenit comes in at $5K with lens, or even $6K with lens, it would be worth it if you care about getting a new M240.

If it comes in at $4K w/ lens that is screaming deal in Leicaland.

Thought - will Leica be handling warranty and service?
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I will leave this one, 1 out of 500 for camera collectors, the lens despite being a speed demon did not impress me , bokeh was too harsh and very similar to what I got from my 35mm f2 Mir 24N lens, certainly not my favourite.

We are on the cusp of a whole slew of quality Japanese made FF mirrorless cameras that can be used with M mount lenses including my pre asph 35mm Summilux and Canon 35mm f1.5 lens.

And sub $2000 prices are not too far away once replacement improved models are announced in a years time, heck even the dated Sony A7 can be bought new for less than a grand USD now.
 
I guess my thought is one stolen from another part of forum.
It concerned cameras and lenses.
Leica and a Russian camera!
With vodka it makes sense..:D
 
kshapero said:
I do not get this. Why would I want a Zenit?
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Nostalgia maybe, especially if you cut your teeth on photography outside the USA in the 1970s, in places where photo gear was too expensive and wages very low and all you could afford was a Zenit SLR with its hit or miss quality control.

I have a 1973 KMZ made Zenit E camera, its clunky heavy and slow but it worked.

Bought an other new Zenit E from Kmart Canada in the early 1980s but made by Belomo in the USSR and it would not work right out of the box, the take-up reel was not hooked up to the gearing. Took it back to Kmart and found out that the whole batch was like that, so I got a refund.
 
It sort of completes the circle.

Leica II begats FED then, after the war, FED begats Zorki, then KMZ put a mirror etc on from of the Zorki to make the first Zenit and then finally KMZ and Leica co-operate to produce a digital camera...

Regards, David
 
ptpdprinter said:
Except that it's a Zenit.
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Sure it is.

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.
 
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