Zorki No Lip!

I wanted to get some opinions or feedback regarding this "gold leica" Zorki my friend bought!

It won't take a regular 35mm cassette. I was wondering if the old "leica" cassettes or other

"custom" cassettes are smaller? My hope was to somehow to be able to load this thing and

shoot it. Apparently the whole shutter housing is about 2-3mm too far on one side.. This 2-3mm

is about the width of the tin cap on the film cassette. In the picture below you will see the slight

protrusion from the shutter housing is is actually a double lip that I though might be easily

filed or ground off! Since it's bound to be a shelf queen otherwise..?? Is this a worse desecretion

as the Wehrmacht/Swatiska and the gold plating? Anybody know this shutter housing? What if any

purpose does this slight portrusion serve?<div></div>

I would check to make sure that lip is not used to secure the baseplate before filing it off.

I have that same camera, and I have no trouble inserting the film past that lip:

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<img src="http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/zorkifilm.jpg">

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I'm afraid I may have fogged my film with that flash, though......

Hi Chuck! I have copied the Link that deals with your model I think. I don't have this particular model. But this site tells of one method of loading the camera as well as some repairs. I hope this helps. Regards, sp.

 

This is G o o g l e's cache of http://www.dvdtechcameras.com/info/2.htm as retrieved on 10 Apr 2008 23:48:59 GMT.

Note that on most of these, just like the real Leicas, you have to trim down the film leader for it to work properly in loading. This probably has nothing to do with your problem, but it is important.

Mine has the same lip. I don't use it very often but I don't remember ever having a problem getting the film cassette in. Now getting the film loaded properly...that's my issue. Nothing wrong with the camera, just my manual dexterity is lacking.

Thanks for the feedback! I guess everybody else got lucky and the tolerances are acceptable. As i mentioned in an

earlier post.. I, too can manage with a little coaxing to insert the cassette, only I won't be able to get it out.

As I first encountered this beast, the film that was in it had to be pried out and in the process the tin cassette end

popped off and of course exposed the film! IN is Ok... getting it OUT is the problem.

That's why I wanted to know about "leica" or other original cassettes as they may be intrinsically smaller ??

 

Subarrayan (sp) thanks for pointing me to that site. It was good to see what's involved in stripping this model!

James, very astute,.. indeed the purpose of the lip is to hold the baseplate on. Won't grind it off

Rick, amazing how close your picture is to mine ...mmmmhhh. Fits eehh?

JDM, Scot. After pulling the exisiting roll out and hearing about "loading lecias" I think I've done sufficient homework

to manage this... it's just too tight.. and well now that I've been fumbling with it ..it's in! So I guess I'll shoot it and

then see if I can manage getting it out... without mutilating and destroying the would be exposures.

The camera dimensions are as nearly identical between the Leica and the Zorki as you can hope to find, and they both are designed to accept standard film cassettes. I don't know where your problem is coming from unless something is bent... I don't see anything obvious in the photo.

 

It shouldn't be too amazing that our cameras look the same, the only difference between mine and yours is your gold plating.....

 

: ) =

I had a similar tolerance problem in fitting my Exakta chassis into the shell. I used emery paper to sand the inner surfaces of the shell down by a fraction of a millimeter. In your case it could be the old paint inside the cartridge compartment. Of course, please do take care about the dust residue [if you resort to sanding a little], as it is a bottom-loading camera and most of it is enclosed. Regards, sp

If you do find you need to make some "adjustments" as Subbarayan suggests, it is not difficult to remove the body shell from the camera: you remove the 4 screws on the front and all of the screws around the edge of the top cover, unscrew the lens and remove the lens mount flange. Then you just poke the rangefinder follower inside the camera with your thumb and pull the body shell downward. There will be a few loose pieces: 2 small metal plates will come loose inside the lens mount as you remove its screws, and there will probably be a paper shim or two under the mount, and the pressure plate and its 2 little flat springs will come loose as you pull the shell off of the chassis.

 

Once you have done that, you will have a good look at everything, and whatever is keeping the film from going in and/or out will be easy to reach. The camera will have been disassembled and reassembled in the process of turning it into a highly collectible Nazi artifact, and it may have been reassembled wrong. One possibility that would make it hard to load (though not directly making the film can too tight) would be if they put the pressure plate back in upside down... it has a tapered edge at the bottom to allow the film to slip past on loading.

The earliers Zorkis had a "soft" body made from an alloy that was fairly easy to deform with just a little extra pressure from the fingers. Several of the Zorki 1Bs that I had were defored enough it was tough to load a standard cassette. The later Zorki 1s were made of stronger stuff and didn't have the problem.