New Toy

A Russian built Zenit-E from 1976 with the standard Helios 58mm f/2 lens and a Fujinon 35mm f/3.5 and a Titar 135mm f/3.5 (all M42 screw mount).

The Selenium meter even seems to work.

View all photos taken: Thursday, 14th August 2008, This photo: 1:00pm

Previous Photo: Kookaburra in flight

Comments

  • Stewart Macdonald said:
    So how much selenium is in your house? Or does a selenium meter not tell you that?

    Stewart
  • David de Groot said:
    hehehehe Hmmm, I'd say one small strip ;-)
    Apparently when the lightmeter dies you can replace it with the solar cell from a calculator and an appropriately sized resistor.
  • Lushpup Images said:
    Beautiful isn't it - I reckon that light meter needs a little red LED to pan from side-to-side make it look complete ;-)
  • David de Groot said:
    Weighty too - you could club someone with this and it wouldn't even dent ;-)
  • s.westhead (Simon) said:
    They only make them like that in Russia just like there tanks!
  • Chad Solomon said:
    Very nice product shot. Born into an age of digital photography, my exposure to such cameras is limited. I had to Google to see what a Selenium meter was (I sure haven't seen that in my 5D manual), from what I read that is quiet rare to have one still working, congrats.
  • yinyang said:
    so where does the CF card go lol!!
    looks like it's in good nick - haven't used any of my film cameras in ages....!!
  • David de Groot said:
    Indeed! Although the German made ones I got are also fairly hefty.
    Yeah I haven't used a manual film camera since I was a lad, my two pre-existing film SLRs are fairly automatic, in that they do TTL exposure metering, auto-film winding, etc, so this is a bit of an adventure for me too.
    In the 400D :P
    Mine don't get a lot of use, just for playing around really (and really long night exposures where film still has a bit of an advantage over digital (at least in the consumer end)).
  • petepothole said:
    Some people have all the fun!
  • maciekbor said:
    yay got a couple of these at home + one old praktica TTL + carl zeiss jena 20mm + jupiter 135 (rebranded titar?) + 2 old helios lenses (one 44m, the other is an older version of 44). The viewfinders and mattes were so much better than what you get with 400d, at least you could focus manually :)
  • D'Arne, Ming & Jack said:
    If you are after parts, you may want to check with Oleg. He may have things that are not on his website.
  • David de Groot said:
    hehehe well once I determine it works, I've got two more to try, although both the other two (an Ilford Sportmaster and a Super Paxette) are rangefinders and rely on the distance scale on the lens for focussing.
    I've successfully focussed manually with the 400D, but you're right, the viewfinder is a lot bigger on a proper 135 format body.
    Ah cool, thanks Ming :)
  • ßlϋeωãvε said:
    Have fun with those manual controls! I'm still pining after an all-black Canonet G-III QL17. Hmm, f/1.7 lens, nice! But the black ones are rare to find.
  • David de Groot said:
    I missed out on an auction for a Canonet once. Damn ebay snipers.
    Yeah, f/1.7 isn't bad, but I've used a friend's f/1.2 lens (85mm) and well, 1.7 isn't the same ;-)
  • picsbymac said:
    I have a Zenit EM (I think it's that model)...first camera I ever bought. The Helios lens is dreamy. Have fun!
    btw, figuring out how to use the Zenit meter setting knob can be a head-scratcher at first. I have a manual if you need it scanned/emailed.
  • David de Groot said:
    That'd be great Mel, as I have no manual for this one. I've had a peek online and think I've sorted it out, but it's always good to know from a definitive source :)
  • picsbymac said:
    I'll dig around for mine. This site has reliable scans/transcriptions of 'orphan cameras' too. For the Zenit E www.butkus.org/chinon/russian/zenith-e/zenith-e.htm
  • David de Groot said:
    Thanks Mel :)
    From that and the other site I found I reckon I've sussed out the exposure meter/calculator now :)
  • D'Arne, Ming & Jack said:
    You might want to check out tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Zenitcamera/ also
  • David de Groot said:
    Thanks Ming :)
  • D'Arne, Ming & Jack said:
    Another useful link here, Dave
    www.zenit.istra.ru/mans/zenit-e/zenit-e-eng.html