Socially Distant with a Zorki 4

It's a beautiful, warm, sunny day in Chattanooga as I write this, a perfect day for a walk with my camera. But walks like those have been much fewer lately, as we have been ordered to stay inside unless absolutely necessary. I have no problems with that, as we all have to do what we can to win this war against COVID-19, so if Debbie and I go out for a walk, we will be wearing the face masks that Debbie fashioned and staying well away from others.

However, two weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon, I took a walk through an almost deserted downtown Chattanooga with my recently acquired Zorki 4 loaded with some Kodak Tri-X 400. This was my first time using the Zorki 4 since I found it in a local Facebook Marketplace listing. The camera was clean and functional and included a Jupiter 8 50mm lens and an original ever-ready leather case. I had been keeping an eye open for one since my chance to shoot a Leica M2 convinced my that, while I liked the compact 35mm rangefinder form factor of the M2, I was not ready to drop the cash on one, thank you. Something less expensive would do just fine, and you can't get much less expensive than a Zorki 4. I certainly did not pay much for this one.

Let's get some background. Zorki is a brand of camera manufactured by first by FED and later by KMZ, two camera makers located in the former Soviet Union. These Soviet cameras were intended to be Leica copies but in no way approach the level of quality the German-made Leica cameras exhibited. The first Zorki cameras appeared in 1948 and were somewhat crude copies of the Leica 2. As the Leica cameras evolved into the Leica M form factor, the Zorki evolved as well with features like a integrated rangefinder and viewfinder window, a diopter adjacent, and a self timer. By the time the Zorki 4 appeared in 1956, it looked somewhat less like an actual Leica camera except from a distance. All the shutter speeds are controlled by one dial on the top of the camera, but you still turned a knob to wind on the film and cock the shutter. The camera was produced until 1973, and 1.7 million were made during its thirteen year run, most of which were intended for export to the West. KMZ gave the camera a film advance lever in place of the winding knob in 1972 and changed its name to the Zorki 4. It ceased production in 1980 after over half a million units were made. If you want to do more research on Soviet cameras, I highly recommend the SovietCams.com website.

If you get your hands on a Zorki 4 (or most any of the Soviet cameras made by FED and KMZ), please know this:  Do not change the shutter speed unless the shutter has been cocked by turning the film advance knob. If you are not careful, you will damage the shutter. In fact, many examples of this camera have shutter problems like non-functioning slow shutter speeds or the shutter dial being stuck in one place. You've been warned . . .

My Zorki 4, like most of the cameras manufactured under the Zorki name, is a mechanical camera with no electronics and no meter. The Good:  You don't need batteries.  The Bad:  You have to use an external meter or know how to judge light yourself. In my opinion, that's not a Bad thing. Photography is writing with light, and the more you understand light, the better your photography will be. Meters can help, however, so a handheld meter or a light meter smartphone app can come in handy. I have a Minolta Autometer IIIf, which I will use in a pinch, but mostly I try to practice my Sunny f16 skills.

Loading a Zorki 4, while much easier and less complicated that loading my Zorki 1 (which requires that the film leader be trimmed), still takes a few minutes to figure out (YouTube was a great help to me). The camera is opened by turning the two locks on the bottom plate and sliding the bottom plate and back off. The take-up spool has a niche with a hook on it, and the film leader goes there so that the film's sprocket hole hooks onto the spool's hook. This is done before you actually put the film cassette in the camera. When the film leader is hooked onto the spool, both the cassette and the spool are placed in the camera. Note that the take-up spool is oriented so that the film winds onto it with the emulsion side out, unlike most cameras I have used. Once the film is securely placed in the camera, fire the shutter once and advance the film, making sure that it is being wound on. Then the camera back is put back on the the two locks turned. Once the camera is securely closed, the shutter should be fired and the film advanced twice. Now the film counting dial can be set to "0," and your are ready to shoot.

If you have experience shooting a mechanical camera, especially a rangefinder type, then using a Zorki 4 is nothing new (if not, once again YouTube is an excellent resource). I do have some observations, though. First, my Zorki 4, which likely was made between 1967 and 1973, does not have strap lugs (most older one do). This means that I must either use the ever-ready case or just hold it in my hand. I don't really trust the leather strap on the case to not snap. I actually had that happen to me with a Kodak Retina Reflex iii, and the camera dropped and landed hard on a concrete sidewalk. I will use a small bag and try to be very careful when holding my Zorki 4.

Second, the Zorki 4 has no frame lines in the viewfinder. In fact, you don't really see a rectangular frame at all; it actually looks round. Of course, there will be parallax issues if your subject is closer than six feet as well. It's going to take some practice in order to know exactly what is actually getting on film.

Third, the Zorki 4 is an all-metal camera, which means it has some heft to it. However, I will say that it fit my hand well. It helps to use the "classic" camera-holding technique by putting your right hand on the right side of the camera where you can have your finger on the shutter and also can wind on the film, and by supporting the camera from the bottom with your left hand, using your thumb and fingers to focus and change the aperture on the lens.

Speaking of holding a camera, my photographs from this roll (and others I have been shooting lately) suggest to me that I need to work on my leveling technique. Apparently, I get lax about holding the camera level when I shoot.

When the roll is shot, it's time to rewind the film back into the cassette. First, turn the ring around the shutter button clockwise, noticing that it screws downward. This releases the sprocket gear and allows the film to be rewound. Then pull up the rewind knob on the top left of the camera and turn clockwise (with the arrow) to rewind the film. Don't go too fast and risk tearing the film. When you feel the leader "release" from the take-up spool, you can stop. Remove the bottom plate and take out the film cassette. You must turn the ring around the shutter button counterclockwise until it is back to its raised position. You will notice that the shutter button itself is knurled. Make sure that the shutter button itself is turned clockwise as far as it can go, otherwise turning the film advance knob may not cock the shutter. This happened to me, causing me to think that I had broken the camera. Scary.

The Jupiter 8 lens that came with my Zorki 4 is based on a Carl Zeiss design and looked super clean when I got it. The photographs from my first roll show that the lens is quite sharp. However, on shots where I was shooting in the direction of the sun or even to the side, I got some lens flare. Looks like I might need this lens hood.

Here are some of the photographs I made with my Zorki 4. I am looking forward to using this camera a lot this year and really getting to know it.