john_gabriel_dearborne

I don't think there is a real danger for crop cameras to disappear. They are accessible for most amateurs and/or low budget professionals, they give an advantage in macro photography, as well as in portraits, so I think that their lifespan won't end soon. Besides, the produsction of crop sensors is much cheaper for the companies than that of full frame sensors. Otherwise the crop cameras should have been disappeared for long.

For portraits, the longer the focal length, the better the picture. Of course, the best focal length for portraits is 90-100 mm, but if you use closed diaphragm, you'll have larger depth of field. From a longer distance (about 2-3 m), the portraits will be good.

Hi there. I used to own two identical Zenith E cameras (one was loaded with B&W negative film, the other one with colour slides), and both served me during long years. When I left my homecountry, I only took with me one camera, and it failed to work after one year. Fortunately I managed to get a Zenit 12C, so I could take photographs.

 

As for the shutter: this problem seems to be general in Zenit cameras. I'm not sure it can be fixed. Unfortunately the winding of the shutter is realised through two silk strings, one upper and the other lower. These strings are prone to break, and I don't know how they can be replaced. I'm also not sure whether the camera itself is worth to try such an intervention. I personally put mt old broken Zenith away, it's now just an old object I don't want to get rid of. Since the digital cameras are more and more usual (I personally own a Canon 300 Gigital Rebel), the Zenith remained a museal object.