Zorki 3C - I'm puzzled

[greyelm]

I have just added a Zorki 3C (1956) to my collection and I have a question about the brown leather camera case that came with it. In the back of the case is a slot containing a sheet of white plastic a little bigger than a credit card. Does anyone know what it is for? This is absent in the case I have for a 1974 Zorki-4

I haven't got a manual for the 3C so I am puzzled as to what it is for.

 

[nzeeman]

i remember that that piece of plastic was topic here around time i joined. there were two theories for it - first was that it is used for writing exposures and second is that it is an aid for loading film in camera ...

 

[greyelm]

I suspected that it might be for writing down exposures etc as it resembles the small ivory notepads used in the olden days. As to how it would help film loading I can't think how, still this is what makes collecting an interesting hobby.

 

[xxloverxx]

I think it would help us identify its use if you posted a photo of what it really looked like; or at least be more detailed in your description.

 

[Philly]

It is for taking notes.

DO NOT stick it into the camera back. This will damage the pressure plate.

 

[payasam]

I found a similar shiny white plastic card in the back of the case of the Leica IIIc I got some years ago. Apparently it was for help in film loading, and I even came across the four-letter code for the thing but did not write it down. The camera was made in 1946/47 and there was at the time nothing made that could have formed letters on a card of that kind.

 

[ZorkiKat]

Those "cards" are actually tablets for exposure tables or notations. A soft pencil is used to write on these tablets. I have found several of these, many still with notations in pencil. In other cases, a real card, on which hand-written or printed data was present. Some Leica cases also had slots for the same reason- for holding exposure tablets or even leaflets from film boxes. One case I found had a Kodachrome leaflet. Leitz recommended only one way of loading film - long tongue leader, properly cut and through the bottom. No additional devices were ever mentioned in official Leitz film loading literature, much less sticking a card through the film channel.

 

[greyelm]

Thanks for the replies, once again I've learned something new.

 

[payasam]

Here is something. It is speculation, admittedly.

http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?CanonIV.html~mainFrame

"There's another thing I found odd about the IVsb. In the leather case, there's a red card inserted in a hidden pocket. I'm assuming this is to aid in film loading as well as testing the shutter. Bottom-loading Leica-clones are a bit difficult to load since the film gets caught in the sprockets and film gate. A card inserted in front of the film gate helps. Also, Leica shutters are difficult to test because you can't look through the film gate to see if the shutter is capping, like with back-loading cameras. A red-card inserted behind the gate makes it easier to see if the shutter is working properly at high-speeds."

 

[fanshaw]

All the cards that I have found in early Zorki cases have been blank, but the plastic card in my Kiev-3 has a printed exposure table.

 

[greyelm]

The Zorki 3C has a removeable back so it shouldn't suffer from the problems associated with botton loaders, so I lean towards it being for exposure tables etc.