Zorki 4 shreds film

[satbunny]

Ah well, I at last finished a roll of film in my Zorki. I made sure the rewind ring was in the right position, I pulled up the rewind knob, I started to rewind, no, no movement. I turned harder. SNAP. I heard the film break from the cartridge. Lo and behold, film detached from cassette, never going back in their. This Zorki has tried my patience from day one, and I sincerely think it is going in the bin.

Fortunately I have the lens, which was always my backup plan. Now, Bessa L or an old IIIg?

Go on, tell me it's duff one and a FED is better...

 

[Kim Coxon]

Hi,
OK then, you have a duff one!! 😀

Seriously though, The Feds do have a couple of advantages, one of them is that they are easier to load, but overall, I think that the Zorki is a better camera. Actually, my favourite is the Mir as I tend not to use the slower speeds and this saves a few problems.

My initial thoughts on the problem is that it could be caused by 2 reasons. It could be a camera problem or it could be a loading problem. Try taking the back off and engage the rewind mech. Does the sprocket wheel move smoothly back? Try holding the take up spool and advance the wind on. You should be able to hold it with some friction there. If these are OK, get hold of an old film. (you could put the one that broke back in it's cassette) and do a dummy load with the back. Wind a few frames and then try a re-wind. If you have any problems with these, there could be a camera problem. If not it could be a loading problem. I had to try several times before I could load on successfully 😱 My problem was that I didn't "tuck" the film properly into the camera before putting the back on and it was trapping the film.

Nice to see another member not too far away.

Regards
Kim

 

[Nickfed]

You haven't identified what the problem really is. You don't even say if the film actually wound on properly.
Finding the problem is going to be a lot easier than finding the money for a IIIg. The Zorki back comes off, so you must be able to see the parts that you need to see. I submit that if the camera can wind the film properly then you should be able to rewind it. All you need to do is check that those that need to rotate, can and will rotate - in both directions - on demand. If all is not well, you will be able to see which component is the villain. If all is well, rewind the film you lost and try putting it through again, with the back still off. If it actually works OK then the problem is pretty certain to be "pilot error". If it doesn't, although it almost certainly does, you will again be able to see which component is the villain.
Once the problem is properly identified, fixing it could be quite easy. One of the joys of the FSU camera is that there is so much information around on how they work.

 

[satbunny]

You haven't identified what the problem really is. You don't even say if the film actually wound on properly.

It did.

Actually there is not that much about Russian RF compared to other kit. They are also so idiosyncratic (wind then change shutter speed or the camera will break) that they are an acquired taste, one that I am having difficulty acquiring.

I've been down this path before when I was a teenager and in my 20s when I had Zeniths and Prakticas. Plural as they progressively seized up. So why am I bothering with this camera? I frankly don't know, I'm moving on.

 

[xayraa33]

the fun and challange is why you use FSU gear, plus the relative low cost of it. it is not really a logical thing, If one has to go thru four or five Zorki 4s at around $ 60.00 USD each and every one of them was bad (typical),it much cheaper and cost effective to save each of those $ 60.00 and get a user Leica IIIf or bottom loader Canon. even if its just the body only. save a little more and get a competent CLA done on these, to get many years of trouble free use, in a few years, if you want to sell the Ltm Leica or Bottom loader Canon, I am sure you will not lose money on them. but that is logical, most of us here, are not super logical, hence the use of 50+year old cameras, still use film, like a certain old fashion look to our lenses ( a certain Bokeh and all) and willing to pay good money for that ( the current favorit one is the 50mm Canon f1.5 , was the 35mm f2 Canon last year, I'll try hyping the Canon 35mm f1.5 for the coming year and see where it goes.)

 

[mongo141]

OK Here is the two easy checks for rewind problems on a Z4/Z4K. Take the back off. Turn the rewind collar Clockwise while pushing down on it slightly, It should stay down. see if you can turn the sprocket shaft freely in both directions. If so put a take up spool in place and hold it between your fingers to prevent it from moving and see if you can turn the winding knob. You should be able turn it while feeling some resistance. In the first case if the sprocket won't spin it is either jammed or full of old hard grease. In the second case if you can't hold the take up spool and turn the winding knob fairly easy someone has tightened down the clutch too far. The first usually requires top removal, The second is a screwdriver adjustment. Dave

 

[mongo141]

That Rewind collar should turn about 1/3 of a turn before it is fully locked, any less and the sprocket shaft won't unlock. Dave