The Zorki 4, I picked this camera up on eBay recently from a seller in the Ukraine, it’s the only Russian camera I own & I’m hoping it doesn’t set me off on another mad collecting spree ☺ Zorki cameras were made from 1948 to 1978 at the Krasnogorsk Mechanical Factory (KMZ) near Moscow The factory also made Zenit SLR cameras. The original Zorkis were cheap Leica II copies but later models were considerably different. The Zorki 4 is perhaps the most famous of them all with a production run from 1956 to 1973 when it morphed into the very similar Zorki 4K which continued until 1978. This camera was made in 1966.

The one thing about most Russian cameras of this time is that you should never change the shutter speed before cocking the shutter, doing so can break the camera’s shutter mechanism. I was so worried about doing this that I’ve stuck a reminder note on the top of the camera!

St. Johns with a Zorki 4 & Astrum 100

This was my first roll of film with my newly acquired 1966 Zorki 4. I forgot my light meter and so shot all using the Sunny 16 rule as best I could! I loaded it with a roll Astrum 100 film. I was a bit disappointed with the results to be honest but I'm putting that down to my lack of experience with the camera. Next time I'll be sure to use a light meter and I'll use something more forgiving like Kodak TriX400.