Zorki 6 viewfinder question

Hi,

 

I have this one little question for someone who owns both Zorki 4 and

Zorki 6:

 

Do Zorki 4 and Zorki 6 have the same viewfinder magnification?

 

I know Zorki 4 but I'd like some info on Zorki 6. I'm considering

buying another camera to shoot with. My brother has one Zorki 4 w/

Jupiter 2/50, I just recently bought a FED 3b with I-61 and just

yesterday did a CLA to it :) But I can't help myself - I just envy my

brother the luxurious bright and large viewfinder of Zorki 4, but on

the other hand I like the lever advance of my FED... And so the Zorki

6 seems as a solution - if it has the same vf magnification.

 

Please help. I'm addicted. I want more of them, more... Zorki 6, Fed

2, Zorki 3 ...

Here's some good information that might help:

 

http://cameraquest.com/soviet.htm

Here I bought a Zorki 6 based on steves bad info; and discovered that the Zorki 6 has less magnification than a Zorki 4. <BR><BR>I sent this error to steve in thousand oaks before 9/11 when I got most of my zorki stuff. The error is still there today. <BR><BR>The zorki 6 has a wider rangefinder window spacing, but the magnification is less, so it has the same accuracy as my many Zorki 4, or 3C's. Maybe some were different, and steve gots some bad info by copying somebody elses error.<BR><BR>The magnification on my Zorki 6 is less than my many Zorki 4, or 3C's. This is for body 6500493XX. This means objects look smaller thru the zorki 6 than a zorki 3c or 4.<BR><BR> The zorki 6 is decent, but I often press the wrong button. BOTH buttons on top will fire the shutter. The wrong guy between the advance/shutter button and the shutter dial is the rewind unclutch. The correct one is concentric with the wind; and is rough; easy to feel. When the wrong one is used, usually it is ok, sometimes one gets wierd frame spacing. The Industar-50 5cm F3.5 on mine is very sharp. Before 9/11 the Zorki 6 with lens and case, AND shipping was 28 bucks; steep because I got a black body (ukraine retires having fun:)), normally they were about 17 to 20 WITH shipping!

Steve has alot of excellent info, but like a map, there are some errors. The Russian camera board at www.beststuff.com has alot more Russian camera real users than Photo.net, thats their entire bag, what they do. This zorki 6 finder magnification error on steves site, was been brought up several times, usually after somebody buys one! The www.beststuff.com russian camera board is the old Yahoo groups board, that moved due to too many adverts.

Here is a link where we discussed this exaxct issue at length over on the Rangefinder Forum.

 

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17558

 

Bottom line, the Zorki 6 does not have the same 1:1 mag finder as the Zorki 4 (probably more like .72), but it is still nice and big and bright and a favorite of many users because of its more "modern" features like hinged back loading, rewind lever instead of knob, and long baseline.

Here I have a Leica M3 and a Noctilux. When I am work in a rougher scene like a rough bar, I prefer my Zorki 3C and canon 50mm F1.2 as a radically cheaper rig. With a Zorki 6; the " "modern" features like hinged back loading" also has the back that sometimes pops open with a real rough bump, thei never can happen with the twist lock older series like the 3C or 4 bodies. Here I like a full life size appearing viewfinder; like a Leica M3, or Zorki 3C. The less magnification finders of the Leica or Zorkis are not my choices for sheet shooting, sports or club work. The Zorki 6 I have here is what I bought thinking it might be better than my 3c or 4's, the total BS of being 1:1 is a lie, regurgitated by several sources who dont check their sites errors. The Zorki 6's strap lugs have smaller diameter holes that tend to bind more with rings than the 3C or 4's. The pie cam has it pivot on the other side of the cameras centerline, because of the different rangefinder layout.

Thanks a lot. I suspected that the info was wrong, because my FED 3b has about the same magnification (cca .70) and the website says 1:1 which is obviously wrong.

 

I'm considering another FSU rangefinder, because I just somehow don't like the dark tinted viewfinder of my FED. First I thought it was just a piece of tinted glass in front of the viewfinder which I could replace, but when I removed the top cover I found that "it's a feature, not an error" :) and that there are two prisms glued together and one of them is the tinted one.

 

BTW: I bought my FED 3b for about $ 18 here in Slovakia, in a second hand camera shop. It looks like it's never been used, and the manufacturing quality seems better than my brother's Zorki 4. The Zorki is serial number 7100xxxx. My FED has serial nnumber on the bottom of the removable back and it is 001928 (can anyone tell me the year of production ?).

 

PS: anyone have e-mail on "cupog" eBay seller? I read that he is from Slovakia as well as I am, and since I don't have a credit card I can't register to ebay and bid on auctions. I thought maybe I would contact him directly. If you have it, would you please mail it to me?

You can contact Cupog via Ebay's "send a question to this seller" feature. He's fairly prompt in reply (given his likely workload!), but takes weekends off. I used to have his email address, but that was a couple of hard disk crashes ago. He's a great seller; bought most of my Pentacon Six stuff from him.

Sorry, but that's not a possible way for me - since I don't have a credit card I can't register to ebay and so I can't use "ask user a question". It seems that the only way is an e-mail address. :/

Ah, sorry - I didn't realise you had to be registered to send a question. His name is Gejza Dunay; perhaps you can look him up in the local phone directory. He also has a PN account, but it hasn't been used since 2003... perhaps try requesting email address on his PN account and you might get it that way...

As an alternative, what about the Zorki 4K - basically a late Zorki 4 with lever wind?

 

Nick

<p>The former Soviet Union cameras heralded my return to 35mm with interchangeable lenses.   If you take apart most of the FSU camera bodies from the 1950's, you'll find mechanisms that made their way into FSU cameras all the way into the 1970's and some cases the 1980's.   For the sake of simplicit and better build quality the late 1950 and early 60 FSU gear gets my vote.</p>

 

<p>Lever wind came late to Soviet LTM rangefinders and it wasn't usually done as well as the Japanese.   The one on the Zorki 6 looks to have been lifted from the Zenit SLR of the same era.</p>

 

<p>Kelly hit the nail on the head when comes to having the rewind disengagement button adjacent to the shutter release.   If you have more than one LTM camera, that disengagement button for the advancing sprocket is right where the shutter release is on most other LTM cameras. In fact my index finger naturally tends to reside on that very spot.   For my use the FED 2 and Zork 3's have much better ergonomics and seem to fit the hand better than the Zorki 6.</p>

 

<p>Further more, the Zorki 6 more often than not will need a full CLA just to get the lever wind working smoothly again.   <a href="http://www.okvintagecamera.com/cameras.html" target=_blank><u>Oleg</u> <u>Khalyavin</u></a> in the Ukraine does excellent work on Zorkis.</p>

 

<p>The big Zorkis definitely have brighter viewfinders than their FED or Contax counter parts.   They are big, a tad bigger than 1:1 versus the .6 or .7 of the FED 2.   The downside of the bright viewfinder on the Zorkis is it often difficult to see a difference between the rangefinder patch and main image when focusing, because they are so close in luminosity.</p>

 

</p>In contrast, (pun intended), the RF patch on the FED 2 is tiny, yet it is much easier to use in low light than either of my Zorkis, a 3 and 3M.   Again, the FED 2 and Zork 3's seem to fit the hand better than the Zorki 6. Also, keep in mind that there is one advantage to a dim viewfinder image coinciding with a bright RF patch.   This combination is easier, hence faster to focus.</p>

 

<p>In the focusing department nothing tops my Kiev 4a, which has a super wide RF base coupled to about a .6 magnification viewfinder.   The Kiev has an extreme amount of contrast between the two images due to its extemely dim viewfinder, but it is dead-on accurate in focusing.   Also, the Kiev is one of the quietest vintage rangefinders with interchangeable lenses that I've ever used.</p>

 

<p>The bottom line in my experience is the big Zorkis have hit or miss focusing when using my 85/2 Jupiter 9 or even my normal 50/2 Jupiter 8 when shooting wide open and close in.   With that said, the Zorki 3m that I have still sees a lot of actual use with the 50 even though I have a couple of Leicas.   These earliest of the Zorkis with big viewfinders just fit the hand beautifully and their ergonomics are tops in my book.   I just take my time focusing.</p>

 

<p>If I want to use a Jupiter 9 indoors, I switch to the Kiev with its 1930's ergonomics and super wide RF base that gets the job done when using the Contax/Kiev mount Jupiter 9.   An external 1:1 bright-line viewfinder in the accessory shoe makes up for the dim viewfinder in both the Kiev and my FED 2, but these Non-FSU external 1:1 finders are very expensive.</p>

> Andrew: Thank you for all that info :)

 

I definitely don't thimk it'll be Zork 6. Once I had a Zenit E (I still have it somewhere) and I definitely didn't like it - especially the back door latch, which tended to open itself and spoil all my pictures. For this reason, and also because of the ugly advance lever, my choice will probably not be Zork 6.

 

I really love the bright vf of my brother's Zorki 4. I think the rf image is easily visible, while still being able to compose. The viewfinder image is stronger than the rangefinder image. I like it that way. On my FED 3 the rangefinder image is stronger, and sometimes I don't see the original viewfinder image and have to focus like with SLR split circle - by aligning line inside and outside the rangefinder spot. I just don't like this method, I prefer to math the two images inside the rangefinder spot.

 

So it has to be Zorki 3 or 4. Maybe the 4k, but the advance lever seems ugly :( I would prefer the look of the lever on my FED 3b.

 

Next afterthat will be a FED 2. I saw a couple of them in local s-h camera shops, in terrible shape and for unacceptable prices. I'll try to get one cheap and play with it a little (complete CLA). And since I saw the "brassy FED 2" on www.geocities.com/fzorkis I want one like that :)

 

BTW: is it possible to change the advance lever mechanism between Zorki 5 and Zorki 4 ? Or maybe between Zorki 5 and Zorki 4k ?

If you like the Zorki-4's finder and can't find or can't afford one, look for a "Mir".

 

The Mir is a Zorki-4 without the slow shutter speed geartrain (hence it is less complicated internally and often works better) Some models may also be missing the self-timer. Otherwise it is a Zorki-4. It usually costs less and is often overlooked in the e-Bay auctions.

 

Good luck finding what you are looking for.

 

-Paul

>the big Zorkis have hit or miss focusing when using my 85/2 Jupiter 9 or even my normal 50/2 Jupiter 8 when shooting wide open and close in.

 

Please tell me Andrew, how your fed 2 is focusing wide open and close in?