057: Can I Get Any Usable Pictures from this Forty Year Old Soviet Camera Without Instructions?
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- čas přidán 29. 04. 2024
- I test out a c.1980 Zenit EM camera that I was given as a gift and see if it has the potential to be useful as a 35mm SLR in 2024.
#mysterycamera
#filmphotography
#cameragear
Hello. I have a pair of Zenit B cameras I bought in 1970 and '72. The first one I bought New with the Helios-44 f2/58 lens and the second was a second-hand body with a new Jupiter-11 f4/135 lens. I kept the original camera loaded with Ilford FP4 and the second camera with Kodachrome Colour Slide. Both are still going strong, with the second camera having a new shutter blind thirty years ago. It took a little while to get used to having to open and close the Iris manually, but I soon developed a technique of holding the camera body with my Right hand and the Lens was focused with the Left hand. The Iris was closed and opened by the Little Finger of my Left hand. Light Meter was Weston Master 2, but I first started with the Johnson & Johnson Pocket Calculator, which gave you the months of the year and the times of day, plus weather conditions. You turned an inner dial which aligned two pointers and that gave you your settings. After a few months, I was able to commit those parameters to memory, so I just looked at the sky, the time of day and the item I was photographing and took the picture. The Light meter I used for taking readings when in shade, or under difficult light conditions. Back then, I was doing a lot of Camera Club photography and won many competitions. Regrettably, health issues no longer permit me to carry my cameras everywhere with me, but I do occasionally get the urge to take pictures, although finding film and somewhere to process it is becoming very difficult, since all the 'Kodak B' companies closed down and printing firms are non-existent. Russ. UK.
Sorry to hear that health issues have restricted your shooting...but I hope you still manage to take a few pictures when you feel the urge. It is certainly hard to deal with analogue these days, despite the resurgence in interest in the medium. Thanks for all the interesting information you posted, and - of course - for taking the time to watch my video. Best wishes 🙂
I had always wanted a Zenit camera in my youth and decades later finally purchased one. I did find one locally for $20. I must say that my experience was similar to yours. The first few shots were lost due to shutter jamming, but as I got through the roll, I was able to take some quality photos. Once I got the end of the roll, the shutter advance pulled the film out of the canister, and I had to go into my dark room and recover the film manually. Not a big deal, but it had to be done quickly.
I tend to believe that there is a "warm up" period for the camera. In addition, I really ONLY on the counter, not the shutter advance to determine the end of the roll.
That's really interesting, to hear you had similar issues. Thanks for sharing - and watching the video 🙂
It looks like you’re changing the shutter speed before cocking the lever in the video. With old Soviet cameras, that’s a HUGE no-no. That introduces some issues with the tension and allows the shutter to skip around and eventually break. It’s much pricier to fix than it is to just get a new Zenit, so if you’re dead set on trying these things out, I would absolutely look into getting another camera body.
Ah, that's interesting. I think I did read something about that as I had a look around the internet before trying the camera out...but I probably didn't do the right thing in my haste! A lesson learned. Thanks 🙂
@dzindevis5078 This is correct. FED, Zorki need to be cocked first IIRC, but it shouldn't matter on a Zenit. But overall it depends on the camera.
The lady who photographed our wedding back in 1982 used a Zenit, we were looking amused in every photograph, principally because we were laughing at the camera shutter sounding as though it had fallen out of the bottom of the camera 😂
It is certainly a loud camera! Thanks for watching 😀
Why on Earth would you need instructions?
I'd like a Pound for every person I've heard ask that question. Back in the 1970's, I worked for a camera shop in London and at frequent intervals, someone who had bought a new camera would bring it back, complaining that it was faulty and showing us the photographs, to prove it. As it was a new, more expensive camera that their previous model, we would ask if they'd read the instructions. The Incredulous look on their faces said it all, which was immediately followed by "I've been taking photographs for years; I don't need to read the instructions". Our next question was, "Can you read, Sir?". "Of Course I Can Read" came the angry retort, "I'm Not Stupid". "In that case, Sir, would you be so kind as to Read the Sign above my head, Please". The Sign read, "When All Else Fails; Read the Instructions FIRST". Said customer usually shut their mouth and left the shop looking very embarrassed. Some of them eventually had the common decency to come back and apologise to us, when they had their next film developed and printed. Despite my advanced age, it never ceases to amaze me, just how ignorant, arrogant and stupid, some people can be... especially when it comes to something as simple as taking a few minutes to read a few instructions. I trust you are not one of those people. Russ. UK
@@russbetts1467 I always read the manual, but that's not the point. The camera in question here has three settings, and one doesn't really matter. The OP is a photographer. He can figure out how a Zenit works. By the time I worked in a camera store (2006) digital was entrenched, and long manuals became The Thing, and were necessary. A friend gave me a Retina IIc. I figured it out.