Zorki S

The Zorki S (C in Cyrillic) was a redesign of the Zorki 1 that added flash sync, this changed the shape of the top of the camera as room had to be made to fit the flash mechanics in. The Zorki S and 2S are considered less attractive because of the top plate redesign which removed the sleeker look of the Zorki 1 and 2. The Zorki 2S was a Zorki S with a self-timer added.

Description

Being a modfied copy of the Leica II, the Zorki S hearkens back to a 1930's school of camera design, but with modifications to stay competitive in the world of the 1950's. It is small camera, oblong in profile, with most of the controls built into the top deck. It has, like the Barnack Leicas, a small fixed telescopic viewfinder with a 50mm-equivalent field of view, a circular superimposed-image rangefinder (in separate eyepieces), and a 39mm screwmount for lenses.

The shutter is a simple model, virtually identical to the original Leica I shutter in most regards, though in this case modified so that the shutter speed can be changed while the shutter is uncocked. The shutter mechanism works by varying the width of the curtain opening only--no delay timer is included for slow speeds, and the curtains always move at the same speed. In order to change the width of the opening, a dial on top of the camera is lifted and turned, so as to raise a pin out of a hole in an internal coupling disk and put it in another. The speeds are 1/500 through 1/25th and "B." Long exposures without a cable release are available on "B" by pressing and turning the shutter release so as to lock it down.

Unlike the Leicas it was based on, it has flash sync, with a standard PC port and cold shoe to mount a flash. The flash sync is adjustable, with a lever mounted coaxially with the shutter speed dial adjusting the delay from 0 miliseconds to 25 miliseconds, depending on the type of flashbulb (or electronic flash) being used. This arrangement is common to several KMZ cameras and a few other cameras from the 1950's, including the penultimate screwmount Leica, the Leica IIIF, but would soon be superseded by fixed-delay flash sync. At any rate, it makes the camera perfectly able to synchronize with almost any flash. Sync speed is 1/25th.

The rangefinder is operated by a cam inside the lens mount, which presses on the rear-facing coupling ring of most Leica Thread Mount lenses. It is unclear how precisely the mechanical tolerances and registration of the lens mount and cam match those of screwmount Leicas, but it is generally accepted that Leica lenses function acceptably well on Russian cameras and vice versa.

Gallery

Zorki-S + Industar-50 Front/Top/Bottom open with lens off by Süleyman Demir (Image rights)

Links

• Zorki S at www.collection-appareils.fr (in French)