Zorki 35M

The Zorki-35M full-frame 35mm coupled rangefinder was a project undertaken by KMZ designer N. Marienkov during the late 1960's (the "M" is his signature ... he also designed the Zorki-3M and the Zenit-3M). It was based on the body of the Zenit-E and some of the advanced design features of the Zenit-D, but as a rangefinder camera. It was to feature luminous frames in the viewfinder for 50mm and 85mm lenses, with the entire field of the viewfinder corresponding to that of a 35mm lens. Other advances included automatic parallax compensation, speeds from 1 to 1/1000 sec. and a modern body design. It was likely an attempt to make an updated alternative for the then aging Zorki-4. At least two hand-built prototypes of this camera are known to exist and the KMZ archives list it as a "project". It was never produced in series.