Zorki-4, made in the USSR

This month has seen the passing of two milestones.  The first is that after what seemed an eternity, I was finally able to start my new job.  The second is after what seemed an equally long time, I finally finished my first roll of film and got the results back from the developers.

My Zorki-4 has the serial No. 68012236 and according to what info I’ve been able to find on the web, means that this particular example was made in 1968.  That makes it 45 years old.

As I said before, I had to play around a bit with the spring tensions to get the slow shutter speed curtain to work correctly but that’s about it.  Well built would be an understatement.  It’s solid, heavy and has ingeniously simple workings.

It came with a Jupiter 8, 2/50mm lens that may or may not be as old as the camera.  The Jupiter 8 is made from aluminium which although makes it quite light (a good thing considering the weight of the Zorki-4) it does mean it is susceptible to wear and tear.  My example looks like it has oxidised a bit, perhaps from sweaty hands.  Saying that, the lens is clean, fungus free and still turning smoothly.

My first roll has been a B&W Ilford Delta 400.  I chose this as I thought that it might be a bit more forgiving on exposure and as I really had no idea what I was doing, I figured this might not be a bad approach.

I can honestly say the results are well beyond my expectations.  I would have been happy to have had a handful of shots in focus and exposed correctly.  What I have is an almost complete film of sharp and reasonably exposed pictures (even if I do say so myself).  Here are some examples of shots around Wiesbaden.

I like the grain in the pictures. Not too grainy so as to cover the details captured by this great Jupiter 8 lens but enough to give a classical look. I think I’m going to try a colour film next and I’m really looking forward to seeing the results.  I’ll keep you posted so if you’re interested, look out for more from the Zorki-4.