Zorki and the cold

Seeing as Zorkis are FSU, they should fare well in the cold. Well my new one doesn't. The shutter shows down near

the end in cold, and the focusing ring is impossible to turn.

 

Any tips on shooting with this camera in the cold?

<p>How cold is 'cold'? My pre-historic (near hysteric) experience with some Russian reflex cameras has been that the lubricants really can harden very quickly at temperatures around 5deg C with some cameras, but sometimes less so with others. Also, the lubricants can certainly become more viscosity with age, making lenses, especially, quite stiff even at 'normal' temperatures. I'd always keep a camera in a warm-ish place (inside a jacket, but not under inner layers) when the outside temperature is close to freezing .... (but that's rare here in Britain nowadays). Clearly a CLA is one possible answer .... AC</p>

<p>I do not know why items from FSU should be less prone to failures in the cold. Some regions in the FSU (Crimea for example) have almost sub-tropical climate. And sometimes you find a kind of grease in FSU lenses which seems to come from WWII surplus of tank caterpillar grease...<br>

The bottom line is, there is no reason why a FSU camera should not show up the same failures (due to hardening grease and oil) in cold as western cameras. Canada is as cold as Siberia, and I have never heard about Leitz Canada cameras being great performers in cold climates...</p>

<p>You are making the brash assumption that any Soviet product was made to meet the needs of consumers! It was made to meet the five year plan! If people happened to buy and be able to use them, that was totally accidental.</p>

<p>At one time (early '70s) I shot my Leica UIIIg in cold (around zero farenheit). Shutter speed, especially above 1/125 were not reliable even thought I tried to keep the camera warm under my coat. Focusing also becme harder as the grease stiffened. I called Leica Technical Support, then in Rockleigh, NJ and asked if they had special lubricants for very cold weather use. Their answer at that time is they did set up camera bodies and lenses for very cold usage by removing all lubricants from the body and lens. I suppose you could do the same to an FSU so it would work in cold conditions, but the wear and tear on the working parts would constitute severe condition usage. I no longer shoot much below 32 degrees as I didn't want to subject the camera to extreme wear and wanted it lubricated.</p>

<p>The most likely reason is that soviet lubricants were crap and did not age well. BTW I was recently in Paris and talked about this issue (cold) to a person from a Leica approved workshop ( I think he is a former technician from the Leica France Workshop that closed some yers ago) . He was positive that an M in good condition works fine at -20°C. He recently had someone that got his leicas checked for a polar expedidion.</p>

<p>If Soviet lubricant is crap, why not replacing it by modern lubricant? This is what I did for some of my cameras; same for lenses. Or another solution already mentioned would be to remove the grease.<br>

Dean, what is your lens?</p>

My lens gets difficult to turn under 0C. My Nikon F5 works in -30C, I wonder what lube they use in that camera. I know they don't use much if any in the lenses.

 

My lens on my Zorki is the silver Jupiter 8 lens.

<p>"Canada is as cold as Siberia, and I have never heard about Leitz Canada cameras being great performers in cold climates..."<br>

Ummm parts of Canada are as cold as Siberia.<br>

FSU cameras won't be anymore cold resistent than any other camera unless the grease and lube is designed for cold. However, if you want a cheap cold weather camera. Then yes, but a Zorki and relube it material for your desired temperature range. Install some oversized knobs while you are at it.</p>

<p>Here in Moscow at - 20 deg C, my M3 accompanies me wherever I go. Never had any problem. The camera got a proper CLA half a year ago and works smoothly at any temperature.</p>