Zorki-4 repair at home

[tho60]

Hello!

I have a Zorki-4 from 1960. It looks mint, however, it is assembled with different types of cloth, i.e. each curtain was made of diverse cloth. I do not know that this is due to negligence of the plant or due to an improper repair attempt. (See picture.) Thus, the camera cannot take proper pictures. (See other picture.) How can I replace the curtains at home- I have found some infos regarding only early Fed and Zorki cameras on the Internet.

Moreover, in this camera the shutter at 1/15th sec. works as 1/60th – I do not know the reason and how to fix it.

Thanks!

 

[batterytypehah!]

Yes, that looks a little unusual, but the incorrect exposure could have lots of other reasons.

There are excellent instructions right here in the FSU subforum as a "sticky" (that is a thread that is always listed at the top). Look for the Zorki-4 CLA instructions and the FED/Zorki curtain tension instructions.

More good reading about these shutters at Rick Oleson's website, http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-131.html

Good luck.

 

[farlymac]

Looks like someone replaced only one curtain. Most likely the shutter is all out of adjustment now.

PF

 

[wolves3012]

It does look as though someone replaced one curtain at some point. It may not matter, all depends on the curtain materials. If they're similar, weight-wise, it'll probably be ok. If they aren't similar enough it'll make it impossible to get the shutter to run properly. Your last picture shows capping, which is likely to be due to the shutter tensions being badly out or a CLA being needed (or both). The shutter probably runs at 1/30th not 1/60th for all the slow speeds if you're having problems with them, that's the "basic" speed it runs at, faster speeds just mean a narrower slit not a faster shutter, so 1/30th is the slowest it can go without the clockwork delay working.

Take a look at the CLA sticky for some ideas on what's involved in taking it all apart. If you want to replace the curtains you'll need to do all the disassembly shown there PLUS remove the entire rangefinder mechanism. At that point, you'll find 2 screws that hold the top plate on the crate. Removing them allows it to come apart for curtain replacement. Make sure you're willing to take this on though, it's not for the faint-hearted! The essentials of replacing curtains are very nicely covered on Jay Javier's site:
http://jay.fedka.com/index_files/Page466.htm
The Zorki 4 is pretty much the same, in principle, as the Zorki 1 as far as this goes.

 

[Penny Lane]

I've only spotted this thread now, but here's my 2 cents anyway: it looks as if there are two curtains of the same material in your camera, but one seems to be reversed. The rough surface on the one curtain is the fabric base material, the other shows its rubber coating. Now, I've noticed that throughout cloth curtain shutters of not only KMZ products, but also of other manufacturers, there is a lot of variety as to which side goes where. Normally, I think, on Zorki & Fed 1 models, the rubber side faces the back of the camera. On Zenits it's usually the other way 'round. I've installed cut-down Zenit curtains in a Fed 1 recently - works like a charm even if the rubber side is now facing the lens instead of the back. So if both curtains are in good condition, I'd expect the shutter to work regardless of one curtain being reversed. What sort of strange wear & tear this installation may cause I do not know.

As far as I can see, the first curtain clears the second only in the last stage of its travel. (i.e. the second curtain travels too fast behind the first). Might well be that the curtain tensions are off. Tom Tiger describes the adjustment here: http://tomtiger.home.xs4all.nl/ under 'Zenit Repair Project'. That's for Zenit B/E models, but the procedure works well on all my other Barnack derivatives.

Hope this helps!

Derk