The Zorki 3 camera

[Stephen]

I bought the Zorki 3 on ebay, 1954 model, from the Ukraine, and it all works fine, usual F2 Jupiter lens etc. Shutter is very accurate, quiet and smooth. Very slight ding to the viewfinder top, possible to correct later on.

But closer examination of the camera revealed an old damage incident that appears to have been repaired, but needs checking over to make sure it was dealt with properly at the time.

The diecast camera back does not remove smoothly, and this indicates slight distortion in the body castings or the back, and the back appears correct...... I think the camera was dropped and bent the body front casting a bit.

This actually does not matter that much, as the accuracy of the lens flange is in relation to the internal shutter crate, not the body. Bodies can be quite warped and the camera remain accurate and usable.

The camera is set to the correct 28.8mm film to flange distance, but is slightly more on one side, about one thousandth of an inch, enough to affect full aperture sharpness in theory. Depth of focus would cover the issue at smaller apertures.

The shutter crate back is the film rails, and these are straight. Even with a slightly warped body the pressure plate will bear correctly on the film.

But the issue is, that is the front of the crate in snug flat contact with the body, and the lens flange correctly bedded in at the correct film to flange distance.

After all of this it sounds worse than it is, it is a slight matter in actual use, but after a test film I will strip and correct the body, re-install the shutter crate and colimate the lot on my optical bench.

Thank goodness it is a better design than Leica with a removable back! warped bodies on older Leicas are a nightmare to deal with.

Well worth doing as the shutter is in fine condition, with new cloth etc, and is accurate.

Stephen.

[philbirch]

"my optical bench" Rolls eyes! if anything I fix is accurate to about that much (holds finger and thumb so they are almost touching) then I'd be happy.

Just joking of course. It must be great having these skills.

Betcha I could make better dentures than any of you!

[Stephen]

The bench is two accurate 6 foot steel external ground 2 in tubes, arranged 12 inches apart with cast supports at each end, plus a movable support, with a lathe like saddle that can be moved anywhere on the rails.
One end has an accurate target, and the other saddle has a reference flat true plate. There are holes on the saddle plate and the target into which graticule glass or mirrors can be mounted. Dial gauges fit to check all accurate settings. I added a laser to act with mirrors for testing.
It can collimate binoculars, or lenses and cameras.
It was copied from and contains parts from a Leech optical bench at the factory. cost was low, just assembly and a bit of machining. The laser was from Poundland!
Simular type of bench.....

[Stephen]

On the camera it appears to have been repaired correctly, as the back of the front casting is filed flat, under the front of the crate. In other words the shutter crate box and flange are accurate, the warps in the body do not matter at all, they only affect the back fitting smoothly, which I fixed with a bar of steel inside and application of a large vice! The back now fits in nicely.

Whoever repaired it has scratched a date and initials inside the shutter crate with 1967 as the date. It also has KMZ added, so may have been repaired by Zorki themselves or an agent.

I checked the pressure plate and flattened it against a test flat glass, and now the flange to film surface is the correct 28.8mm at all points.

so now back to some pictures with it!
Stephen.

[Stephen]

Did some indoor shots on cut film at test target at 3 metres, and the lens is very good indeed so far. I swopped over the TTH F2 from the Reid for two shots, and get exactly the same sharpness at F8, slightly less at f2.0. This typical of the Jupiter design and examples from both the rangefinder and SLR versions, of which I have never seen a bad one.
As far as I can research it on the net, the lens is the original for the 1954 body period. By that date the glass would be Russian not ex Zeiss glass from the war.

Bad shots abounded on Zenit reflexes with the Jupiter, but for other reasons, not stopping down, camera shake, to low a speed due to slow film, or plain bad photographers!

[Stephen]

The slight warp to the Zorki 3 body was still worrying me, so stripped the lot, and corrected the casting, and re-assembled the shutter crate, and then the lens mount, it was quite a bit out now, so carefully worked around the rim underside with thin shim Paper or foil), till the rim was level all around at 28.8 Max. the figure can be lower according to Leica a film does not lay flat across the frame, and some Leica repair shops set to 28.7.

The important thing with this camera was to get it even at all points, and a decent old depth micrometer was used.
The only thing left is cosmetic, the viewfinder rim is drooping down a bit due to a blow to the top of the camera. Efforts with fingers or soft nose pliers fail to bend the fairly thick metal. so it will be left as is for the time being.

Not the weather recently for decent shots around here, but I tried the lens on the Periflex and got a sharp contrasty negative at full, half, and stopped down.

Stephen.