Zorki 4

Zorki-4 Type 3B (1980)
image by Süleyman Demir (Image rights)

Manufacturer: KMZ

Date of Production: 1956-73

Type of Camera: Rangefinder

Film Type: 35mm

Lens: M39 Screw mount

Shutter: Cloth focal plane

Shutter speed range: 1s-1/1000th + B

Weight: 687g

The Zorki-4 is a 35mm rangefinder camera, manufactured by KMZ (Красногорский механический завод = Mechanical Factory of Krasnogorsk), near Moscow in the former USSR. Produced between 1956 and 1973, there were 1715677 made in the time. ЗОРКИЙ = Zorki, means Sharp Sight in Russian. The Zorki-4 was possibly the most popular of all Zorki cameras and the first to be exported in large numbers to the west. Exported versions are easily identified as they have text in Latin script whereas those produced for the domestic market have Cyrillic text.

When the Zorki-4 rangefinder was introduced in 1956, its contemporaries included the Zorki S, Zorki 2S, FED 2b, Leica M3 (introduced two years before), Leica IIIg, Nikon S2, Canon VT, Canon L1. The Zorki 4's production run outlasted all of them. When it morphed into the Zorki 4K by 1973, its contemporaries included the FED 4b, Leica M4 and M5, Nikon F2, and Canon F-1 and Canon Canonet QL 17 GIII.

The Zorki-4 is basically a Zorki 3S with a self-timer. It retained all of the features and strong points of the 3S. The early bodies have vulcanite body covering, engraved shutter speeds - 1s, 1/5, 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000 + Bulb and strap lugs. Later bodies (post ~1965) have a fabric covering and the more modern shutter speed progression: 1s, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000 and the figures are silk-screened. By the mid-sixties, the strap lugs had disappeared.

There are at least 32 types/versions of the Zorki-4 ^[1] or as to another classification there are 4 versions and 13 types ^[2]

Specifications

Lens: Zorki-4 was supplied with either a Jupiter-8 (ЮРИТЕП) 50mm f/2, or Industar-50 (ИНДУСТАР) 50mm f/3.5 lens; several other lenses were available.
Focusing: Matching yellow rangefinder images in the finder using focus ring on the lens; can also do scale focusing with and distance markings and a depth of field scale on the lens.
Shutter: Horizontal focal plane, rubberized silk double cloth curtain, speeds: 1s-1/1000 + Bulb, speed setting dial on the top plate, lift and turn after advancing the film!
Viewfinder: Large and bright coupled viewfinder/rangefinder, 1:1 view with 50mm lenses.
Diopter adjustment lever: beneath the re-wind knob
Take-up spool: special, not captive, there is a small pin for attaching the film perforates on it
Serial number: first two digits correspond to the production year
As with other Soviet-era rangefinders, the shutter speed selector rotates when the shutter is released, and should not be changed until after the shutter has been cocked. If you change the shutter speed without cocking the shutter first, the setting pin can be broken when you advance the film and cock the shutter.