Zorki 4 first pics, first problems

[TimSmith-Laing]

Actually, that's second problems - Kim Coxon and Darkavenger helped me out with the first ones.

But anyway, a day or two's happy snapping in London and at home abd here's a sample of the results. Some are fine - ish - others have real problems. Firstly there's a tracking problem with the film, giving me a black line at the top of every shot. This I think I can sort out.

Second is much more serious. The shutter seems pretty erratic ... on two films a whole series of shots have totally bleached parts. Jammed shutter? I'm pretty sure I've not set the timing before cocking. Can I fix this with my trusty screwdriver set or head down to a repair shop? And is there and FSU RF specialist here in England?

More puzzlin is the black portion on the last photo. What? How? Not wound on properly, and then fully wound on for the next shot? Help!

 

[ChrisN]

Hi Tim. The last pic - the black section across the bottom - that's the edge of the negative. I think that's shutter capping, where the second curtain is closing too early. Was that taken at 1/1000th? It's most likely to happen at the fastest speeds. Can anyone confirm?

I think the solution is a proper service of the shutter.

 

[Kim Coxon]

Hi Tim,
The problem with the last shot does look to be capping. the exact cause is difficut to judge because as Chris says there is no exposure details and You don't say which way the camera is held. The most usual cause for this is the second curtain catching up with the first. However, difficult to tell from a scan but this might be that the curtain is sticking. The rest of the exposure looks fairly even. This would be supported by the middle picture which is not a capping problem. Some of the other problems could be a film transport problem as well.

Repairs are more of a difficult question to answer!! One solution is to send it to Oleg. A service would be about $45 and $17 for the return postage plus quite a long time 🙁 A possible solution in this country would be Michael Spencer in Clay Cross. At a guess he would charge about the same overall and be a lot quicker. However, do you really want to spend this much? As to a DIY job, how handy are you? I can point you to several links giving guidance. If it all goes wrong, you won't have lost much. If you want an amatuer repair, you could send it to me and I will see what I can do as long as you cover the postal cost. Failing that, I can probably send you a fuly working 4 or 4K for less than a pro repair job. If you want to contact me direct, send a PM or an email through here with you email address or I can send you my phone number.

Regards
Kim

 

[Stu W]

Look to Rick Oleson again. Here's the link to his repair page on your camera. Pay particular attention to the end of the page, as this is what probably applies to your camera. Some Rosinol, a good screwdriver, and Rick's notes and you should be golden. Stu
http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-58.html

 

[TimSmith-Laing]

The last pic was lowish speed actually, around 125 or 60 ... but that does look to be exactly right. Meaning I'll have to take a look at the shutter.

Kim! You're evidently a saint ... will your offer still be open when I've found out how low my levels of competence run in servicing a zorki?

Looking at Stu's advice and link to Rick Oleson's plans etc it looks like I might only have to clean the gears at the bottom, which looks simpler than the full strip down. I'm going to try that, and then, when I've failed, I may well email you and ask for your help.

I'm going to have some lunch and then dig out the screwdrivers. I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks again,

Tim

 

[Kim Coxon]

Hi Tim,
The tip on the bottom gears relates mainly to a jammed shutter. If the shutter stops working, that is the first place to look to see if somthing has got jammed in there. A slow sticky shutter is normally caused by problems elewhere. More prevalent on the Feds but quite often caused by the lubricants drying out particularly under the rotating dial under the speed selector. The pus rod just behind it is can be another cause for sticky shutters. Part of the fun of FSU cameras is getting them to work 😉 Make careful notes as you go and if you have access to a digital, it is also worth taking pics. You know where to find me if you get stuck. Just remember that I can do the odd "tweak" but I am not a pro and I am not sure just how I would cope with a camera in lots and lots of pieces 😕

Kim

The last pic was lowish speed actually, around 125 or 60 ... but that does look to be exactly right. Meaning I'll have to take a look at the shutter.

Kim! You're evidently a saint ... will your offer still be open when I've found out how low my levels of competence run in servicing a zorki?

Looking at Stu's advice and link to Rick Oleson's plans etc it looks like I might only have to clean the gears at the bottom, which looks simpler than the full strip down. I'm going to try that, and then, when I've failed, I may well email you and ask for your help.

I'm going to have some lunch and then dig out the screwdrivers. I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks again,

Tim

 

[Stu W]

Well Tim, you've had a whole day. Is it fixed yet?

 

[TimSmith-Laing]

Well Stu, one day on, I've cleaned the gears on the shutter and nothing else: my so-called precision screwdrivers go down to a size just too big to allow me to get the top off my zorki. Foiled! I'm now trying to track a tiny tiny screwdriver down before christmas. Fun.

On the upside I have a clearer idea of what the problem is thanks to you and a lengthy chat with Kim, so when I do get the right screwdriver I will (fingers crossed) be ok. My friend said my faith in the internet was touching ... it's only increased thanks to this forum.

In other news, a Lubitel 2 has arrived to distract me! Yes!

 

[Stu W]

Hey Tim, usually once you fix one you can fix them all. Most of the time just hardened lube. Finding screwdrivers can be some what of a pain. I've purchased quite a few sets-high quality-and still had to resort to the stone to get a good fit. Let me know how you make out. Stu

 

[TimSmith-Laing]

Well Stu, I found me a screwdriver and I think I managed to sort it out - I cleaned and oiled the slow-speeds mechanism, then found she was still jamming occasionally, so I re-tensioned the second shutter and I seem to have a winner, so far. I'll not be sure until I take some pics I suppose ... and what's one christmas's worth of photos compared to getting my zorki running right? I'll let you know,

till then,

merry christmas!

 

[dll927]

Tim: Can't help wondering: Did your camera, undoubtedly a number of years old, come with an iron-clad written guarantee that NOBODY had ever set the shutter without winding first??? It still boggles my mind that any camera, Soviet or not, would have that problem. Did old screw-mount Leicas also have it?? (Some pretty reliable sources claim that Kievs didn't have it.)

 

[vicmortelmans]

Tim: Can't help wondering: Did your camera, undoubtedly a number of years old, come with an iron-clad written guarantee that NOBODY had ever set the shutter without winding first???

Same problem overhere. Just received a Zorki 4 from ebay. The sellers description says: "speeds are fine"... a little naive from my side, probably, but it arrived with a jammed shutter selector dial. Since I could not resist opening it and fiddling with the mechanics, I'll probably not send it back and just write an angry mail to the seller.

I already succeeded in unblocking the dial and all speeds apart from 'B' and 30 seem to work, though there's occasionally a curtain not running all the way through or just blocking. It's solved on the next wind, but of course it would ruin a couple of pictures, so it needs a further fix.

On speeds 'B' and 30, a strange thing happens: it fires once at that speed, but after winding, the dial cannot be adjusted anymore, and it shoots at a speed of 1 sec. Appearantly, the two parts I mentioned before, are swept over each other, so they don't interact properly anymore. By lifting the part holding to pin that winds the slow speed mechanism, while winding, they can cross again, ending up in the right position. It's a matter of fractions of a millimeter.

On the overall, I think I have received a very *clean* camera, also on the inside. My only fear is that a crucial part of the mechanism is slightly bent (probably due to excessive force applied trying to unblock the speed dial). It's the part that drops into the holes when adjusting speed. The bend probably causes this part to interact wrongly with the small pin that's responsible for winding the slow speed mechanism... on some occasions...

If I get to it, I'll put some more information on this forum.

I also agree with the statement that I see no way how adjusting the speed before winding would "cause sever damage"... When firing, things may bump into each other, causing curtains not to close the whole way or other misbehaviour, but it doesn't seem that fragile that it would break. Of course, if you start applying excessive force afterwards, trying to adjust, it will break.



Groeten,

Vic

 

[reagan]

Good for you, Vic. Dive in! If you make some play-by-play notes, no doubt you can share with others (probably me) in the future. ShutterJam seems to be a song we hear in Zorkiville occasionally. 😉

 

[vicmortelmans]

Hello,

the seller of the jammed Zorki 4 apologised... I think I will ask him if he's got a shoe mountable light meter to sell for a good price, as this seems to be quite a useful accessory to the Zorki.

Groeten,

Vic

 

[reagan]

"I think I will ask him if he's got ..."

It would certainly seem he should make some compensation. Good luck.

 

[vicmortelmans]

Well Stu, I found me a screwdriver and I think I managed to sort it out - I cleaned and oiled the slow-speeds mechanism, then found she was still jamming occasionally, so I re-tensioned the second shutter and I seem to have a winner, so far. I'll not be sure until I take some pics I suppose ... and what's one christmas's worth of photos compared to getting my zorki running right? I'll let you know,

I succeeded in repairing one problem on my Zorki4, which was the speeds 'B' and 30 only working once and then ending up with speed 1 only and a blocked speed dial. The cause was the speed dial pin being bent up (probably due to excessive pressure on the dial, may have happened during transport), so it would engage the slow speed mechanism, while it shouldn't.

A second problem remaining is probably the same as Tim's (no pics yet, but I can see what happens). At speed 125 and sometimes also 60 (but only those!), the second curtain doesn't close completely. The roll on which the second curtain is wound when winding appearantly makes a kind of overshoot, but I've got no clue what causes the curtain to stop unrolling.

When you open the Zorki's back and unscrew the little bottom plate of the shutter mechanism, there's a kind of brake mechanism that is linked to the first curtain.... I was wondering what the purpose of that is (since, if I remove it, I see no difference in shutter behaviour) and if it may be related to this problem in any way. I guess it's also here that you can 'retension' the second curtain... Maybe try that some day (first gonna shoot a film with it!)

Groeten,

Vic