Zorki

Zorki (Russian: Зоркий ) was the brand name of film cameras from the production of the Soviet company " Krasnogorski Mechanitscheski Zavod ", short KMZ. Admits became the Zorki brand mainly through their early models, which represented consistently replicas of the Leica II. These cameras are often referred to by collectors as " Russians Leicas ".

History

Manufacturer of many optical devices and cameras in Russia is the " Красногорский механический завод " ( Krasnogorsk Mechanical Factory ), short KMZ. Location of the factory is Krasnogorsk, an industrial city near Moscow. KMZ manufactures among other cameras of brand zenith. To delineate the specific for export cameras from the other products, was invented the name " Zorki " in 1949. Cameras under this name were manufactured at least until 1978. Various sources suggest that individual Zorki cameras were built up in the 80s.

Construction

The cameras of the brand Zorki are strongly influenced by the Leica II, the central design features were virtually unchanged. So the Zorkis made ​​of metal miniature cameras for 35mm film with mechanical focal plane shutter, interchangeable lenses with screw thread and coupled rangefinders are. While the " Zorki 1" an almost exact copy of the " Leica II", the construction continued to develop over the years, most notably the viewfinder / rangefinder combination was changed again and again. Next, a mechanical self-timer and a flash sync has been added over the years.

Models

The model range of Zorki is confusing because different developments and improvements due to the difficult conditions ( shortage of materials, rigid production standards of politicians ) could be included only sporadically in part. Next the same time similar or identical FED cameras were produced, later even also derived from the Leica SLR of the brand zenith. Therefore, a continuous model policy is not clearly seen often. This list can only provide a clue as to which cameras were produced and where the fundamental differences lie.

• Zorki 1 - Copy of the " Leica II". Manufactured by 1949 until 1956.

• Zorki 2 - How " Zorki 1", with self-timer and revised closure. Manufactured from 1954 to 1956.

• Zorki 3 - New viewfinder with integrated rangefinder. Revised shutter with 1/ 1000 sec as the shortest shutter speed and a Extrarad for setting times below 1 /30 s similar to the " Leica III ". Manufactured by 1951 until 1954.

• Zorki 3c - How " Zorki 3" but with a new cover that houses the viewfinder and a single wheel for setting the time. In part, with flash synchronization. Manufactured by 1955 until 1956.

• Zorki 4 - Improved version of the " Zorki 3". Now throughout with flash synchronization. Manufactured from 1956 to at least 1978 as " Zorki 4k ".

• Zorki 5 - Large housing cover, film lift with quick-release lever, rangefinder with an extremely large base. Manufactured by 1958 until 1959.

• Zorki 6 - Development of the " Zorki 5" with mechanical self-timer first time flip case for the insertion of the film. Manufactured by 1959 until 1966.

" Russians Leicas "

For collectors, the cameras from Zorki and FED have become known as "Russian Leicas ", since at least the first models represented almost exact copies of the first Leica cameras. This was possible because the USSR recognized no international patent agreements and their industry allowed to copy Western cameras. The same fate befell for example, the German Contax or Hasselblad Swedish (both copied branded Kiev).

Many collectors see today in the cameras of the brands Zorki and FED an affordable opportunity to photograph in the Leica style. This is quite possible because the Zorkis were mostly built robust and thus many cameras are today still functional or in case of damage can be repaired relatively easily. A weak point of the design lies in the closure mechanism that may be damaged if the shutter speed is set before further transport of the film for the next shot. This is true for almost all Zorki and FED cameras as well as the early Zenit SLR 's.

Due to the high similarity to the usually very expensive Leica cameras Zorki and FED cameras are often offered as a real Leica. There are known cases in which illegal workshops from cheap Zorki and FED cameras through the skillful exchange of lettering, serial numbers, etc. "real" Leica manufactured. These fakes are usually easy to recognize for the connoisseur in mind that the Russian cameras were built with other materials under larger manufacturing tolerances than the real Leica. For example, the shutter sound when Zorkis is significantly louder and details are worked out much coarser. In addition, various imitated Leica's were never built in reality: it is, for example, is extremely unlikely that a Leica, which was produced for the German military ( popular counterfeiters engravings: Air Force or Navy) a superfluous for the use of luxury as a " gold-plated " brass housing or has a cover made of snakeskin. Such cameras represent consistently imaginative fakes