Zinnia
The Zinnia (ЦИННИЯ)[1] is a spy camera based on the body of the Zorki 6 rangefinder for 35mm film,[2] and made by KMZ, the maker of the Zorki, but hardly retaining any of the functions of that camera, which provides little more than a film compartment and shutter. Where the eyepiece of the Zorki viewfinder would be, the Zinnia has its lens, facing to the rear, and the image-forming light is directed to the film via two reflecting prisms. The auctioneer's notes for the camera cited suggest that the lens on some examples is angled vertically (as certainly seen in examples of the later Zola).[2][3] The lens is a coated IK-75LM 75mm f/3.5, with scale focusing down to 5 metres. It has no aperture control. The shutter has only four speeds: 1/30, 1/125 and 1/500 second, and 'B': these are engraved both on the top and on the side of the speed-control knob. The shutter release button is rather simple; it is threaded for an external Leica-type cable release. A clockwork motor film-advance is built into the camera body.[2] The camera is not marked with its name. Notes at Crypto Museum state that a special version of the Zinnia, the Zinnia-M was made for photographing through holes in walls;[3] the original Zinnia was to be more simply concealed in a bag, etc.
The Zinnia was succeeded by the Zola, with auto-exposure and through-the-lens metering.[3]
Notes
- ↑ Zinnia is a genus of flowering plants and shrubs native to north America, grown as garden flowers.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Zinnia sold at the 42nd Leitz Photographica Auction, in September 2023.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Notes on the Zola and Zinnia at Crypto Museum.
