I bought a broken, non-working Zorki-4 camera from 1964 for pennies. I decided it would be a good exhibit to start learning how to repair cameras.
Indeed, the camera is considered simple, its design is similar to the FED, Leica III, and many others. However, despite its simplicity, it took me a long time because, as Meisenberg writes in his book, "only those who understand how it works can set the slowdown escapement mechanism correctly." 😅
I had to disassemble it almost completely, except for removing the curtains—they seem to be intact, and I have nothing to replace them with anyway. That's the most difficult part of reassembly 🤷
The camera now works well, but the autocollimator shows that it never had the ability to focus on infinity (and, as a result, did not have the ability to focus accurately in the near field).
Most probably, this part is from another M39 camera, Zenit-C.
I made a possibly wrong decision to grind down the lens flange to reduce the working distance and achieve accurate focus.
In principle, I succeeded, although rather crudely, since without a micrometer and a lathe it is impossible to remove metal evenly with an accuracy of 0.01 mm. The lens sits with a small gap. I will fix this as soon as I get a micrometer.
Now I can focus normally, as confirmed by the matte glass and negatives.
It's a pity, really, that Soviet technology, even good technology (and this particular one was actually exported to East Germany), did not have sufficient quality control. Imagine, a person bought a good thing and used it for decades. Supposed that slight blurring in the photo is normal... It's not normal, it's a shameful defect.
P. S. If by chance you'll have to repair Industar or Tessar lens, there is a trick how to assemble aperture blades back. Assemble it not in the lens barrel but on the cover plate, located on a wine-bottle cork. Then accurately put the lens barrel on it and align the blades with a needle. Otherwise, this may take eternity....
I consider my repair experience to be successful and intend to continue. I remember my father trying to repair a Zorki-10, but in the end he took a bag of parts to the repair shop 🤣 Well, my father's karma is now destroyed.
#filmcamera #vintagecameras #camerarepair zorki 4 #ремонт_фото
