Uncle Jonesy's Cameras: Zorki Update (and Life Update)

First of all, I'm not dead. I'm still alive and breathing (Kelley, too). I know, it's been almost two and a half months since my last post on this blog, and we haven't recorded a podcast show in just as long. You deserve an explanation, so here it is.

My wife, Debbie, and I have had a dream for many years of living a more urban life, and two weeks ago that dream came true. We sold our suburban house of eighteen years and moved to a condo in downtown Chattanooga, my hometown. We absolutely love our new home, but it took a gigantic effort to get here. We had much to do to get our old house ready to sell, and we had some major downsizing to do. It was hard, hard work, and it was painful at times. From the last week of July to now, there was little or no time for anything else in my life (not to mention that Debbie and I, both school teachers, began a new school year while this was going on). I am a "one-project" guy, and moving out and moving in became my one project. Everything else was put on hold.

But now, as I sit here typing in our new condo while enjoying how we have furnished and decorated it, I am thankful to be on the other side of this transition; the project is complete. Now, there is time for music, writing, walking, and photography. As far as the Uncle Jonesy's Cameras Podcast is concerned, Kelley and I are making plans to record more shows. We have to work out some scheduling issues, as I live about thirty minutes farther away from Kelley as I did before. We've always recorded our shows together in the same room, and we do not plan to change that. So thank you for your patience, and please don't give up on us. We'll be back.

I have another update to give you, and it concerns my Zorki 1, which, as you may remember, was the mystery camera Kelley gave me for Christmas last year. The Zorki 1 is a Russian copy of a Leica ii, and I was quite please to get it. I once owned a Leica iii, but it was stolen in a house break-in years ago. I love using such a compact camera. I may slow me down some, but it also makes me think about what I am doing. However. my first few attempts to use the Zorki did not work out so well. First, there were pinholes in the shutter curtain, which I repaired with fabric paint. Second, I suspected that the rangefinder was out of adjustment. I considered sending it to a repair person to get everything put aright, but then came the move. Third, I questioned the quality of the Russian Industry 22 50mm f3.5 lens. Nevertheless, hungering for a chance to do some photography in the midst of the chaos around me, I put some Kodak Tri-X 400 in it and shot it at EI 800, so I could do some interior photography inside some restaurants and breweries in downtown and also in some classrooms at school.

When I pulled the negatives out of the tank, they looked good. And when I saw the scans, I was excited. Finally, the Zorki came through with usable results. The only post-processing I did (I HATE post-processing, by the way) was de-dusting all the photos and a little exposure adjusting on a couple of shots. The lens, while certainly not Leica-sharp, produced good images that I liked. Below are the shots I can show you; I can't show you photographs of my students, but I can tell you that there are some real keepers.

Happy Shooting!