Talk:Zenit 3M

Hmm. The two Zenit 3Ms shown are later models. The original model's back did not open. Instead you loaded the film via the base like the original Leicas. This is their real interest. They perhaps demonstrate what a Leica 1 with a reflex housing would look like. Mentioned to inform not as a criticism. :-) --Colonel Blink 09:58, 24 March 2011 (PDT) One other thing: I do not think the camera had the mechanism to allow the lens iris to automatically stop down when the shutter trigger was pressed --Colonel Blink 10:03, 24 March 2011 (PDT)

The Zenit 1 is exactly what you say: a Zorki with minimal changes to fit a mirror and prism finder. Are you sure you mean the 3M about the bottom loading? I understood the 3M was essentially the same as the Kristall, and came after it, and I've seen Kristalls (e.g. in the manual on the KMZ archive site) with opening backs. The 3 (no M) was a bottom loader. There are some nice pictures of a 3 by Süleyman Demir in the pool: like this one. He has put quite a lot of information up about the camera, including the date range '60-62, i.e. finishing about when the 3M started. Have you got a source/example of a bottom-loading 3M?
By the way, I read on the KMZ site (via google translate, so perhaps not definitive) that there was a small batch of Kristalls made called the Kristall 2, which had an instantly-returning mirror. For some reason, they didn't keep that feature in the 3M, but brought it back later (in the E?).
Cheers! --Dustin McAmera 10:51, 24 March 2011 (PDT)