Zorki 4 questions

gholen

Now what!?
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9:29 AM
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Apr 10, 2010
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First of all, hi everyone, I'm new here :)
Second, I just got a nice and neat package in the mail today, a Zorki 4.
Now to the questions.

Shutter seems stuck at one time and only one time, from what my ears are telling me, I'd say that its about 1/60 sec.
How do I change the times? I know that I MUST wound it before trying to change anything.
I got this really nice Jupiter 8 50/2 with it to, but it feels hard when trying to focus. Shall I use thin oil to loosen it up?

From what I've seen on the rest of the 'net, I'd say that this camera is a masterpiece of workmanship, and I really love the feel of it.

Thanks in advance
Ambjörn

UPDATE:
As I felt and checked it out, it seems as if it just needed to be wound some times. From what i can tell just now, all the times seems correct, and the curtains are just as nice as when they were put in there. Back in the '50 or '60 ;)

I am, however, eager to know if you have any tips regarding the Jupiter 8.
UPDATE END
 
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Hi Ambjörn
Welcome aboard!

To change the shutter speeds you need to cock the shutter then lift up the shutter speed dial and turn it to your desired speed, simple as that!

My zorki 4 has a J-8 that was stuck but some gentle persuasion got it loosened up just fine.

There are plenty of kind folks here who can give you more info then I am able to but hopefully this should get you started!
Enjoy you camera!
Chris:)
 
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Keep using it...

Keep using it...

You didn't say where you got the equipment, but sounds like it hasn't been used much.

So, DON'T use oil, high likelihood of making a mess of the glass. I'd suggest simply using it a lot at first (by twisting the focus in and out) to see if that loosens it up enough. The grease or whatever may just have seized up and dried out, so see if manual action loosens it.

You can disassemble, clean and re-grease with just the right stuff if you want - instructions you'll find around here, not necessarily for the faint of heart. But try loosening it first by using it some.

Of course, you can pay someone to do it if you want.
 
put the lens into your living room.
the "grease" inside FSU-lenses is AFAIK a "non-synthetic" (but traditional petrochemic) one, it likes a warm and dry place.
 
Thank you! Did my fist mistake just now, I loaded a roll of film (Kodak Gold 200/24) but didn't set the leaver so, I think some 5 or 6 frames where exposed :p
Anyway, rangefinders are new to me, but I like it a lot.

As Armoured said, it looses up, so no need for oil.
The equipment what bought of Tradera.com, Swedens "own" ebay, by my father, who liked the looks, but not the camera itself. So I'm sending him his Olympus OM1, and got this instead!
 
I might as well post this :)
IMG_8905.jpg
 
The J8 is a fine lens. Many have been taken apart and cleaned, then put back together incorrectly, so you want to ck that the aperture and focus are smooth and the aperture numbers line up correctly.

I recommend putting some film through your camera ASAP. I've had a number of these that had great looking shutter curtains but suffered from uneven curtain speeds, pinholes, etc. Maybe you got a good one, who knows? But they all need to be film tested to find that out.
 
you got a nice version of the j-8, it appears. good-looking kit. now you can enter the fsu contest starting may 1 ...

Indeed it is a good looking kit. Just got in from a long walk in the sun, remembering "sunny Sixteen" and it feels and handels just like I expected :)

The J8 is a fine lens. Many have been taken apart and cleaned, then put back together incorrectly, so you want to ck that the aperture and focus are smooth and the aperture numbers line up correctly.

I recommend putting some film through your camera ASAP. I've had a number of these that had great looking shutter curtains but suffered from uneven curtain speeds, pinholes, etc. Maybe you got a good one, who knows? But they all need to be film tested to find that out.

I did put a roll of Kodak Gold 200 in it, missed the first frames due to clumsyness, but hey, gonna develop it tomorrow or on thursday, there is some really fine labs around here :)

From what I could tell by the looks, the curtains looks clean, even in speed, and no holes what so ever. I looked at it by holding a bright flashlight, could not see any hole at all.
 
And so, I developed the first roll of film from it, Kodak TriX 400.
never done it before, and while doing it, I missed putting the stop in. Well, **** happens I guess, and well, the results aren't all that bad!

Zorki002.jpg


Zorki024.jpg


Zorki015.jpg
 
Very good, these look like you're getting nice, even exposures at a range of different shutter speeds.

Is that bright spot next to the young woman's head some light or reflection in the scene? Could be a curtain pinhole otherwise. There's something bright on the wall above the handrail in the third picture, too.

Don't worry about forgetting the stop bath. Its main job is to keep developer out of the fixer so the fixer can be reused. So, just don't reuse this bit of fixer, that's all.
 
Very good, these look like you're getting nice, even exposures at a range of different shutter speeds.

Is that bright spot next to the young woman's head some light or reflection in the scene? Could be a curtain pinhole otherwise. There's something bright on the wall above the handrail in the third picture, too.

Don't worry about forgetting the stop bath. Its main job is to keep developer out of the fixer so the fixer can be reused. So, just don't reuse this bit of fixer, that's all.

I used a very bright lamp to check for pinholes, but could not find any. I think that its some light reflection :)

The Zorki is now loaded with a second roll of film, this time I will use the lightmeter that I got, and try to even it out.
I hope it works out well!

Now, I have to go get my girlfriend some food. See ya!
 
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