Zenit TTL (1982)

Zenit (Russian: зенит) was a long running (1952-2005) line of inexpensive single lens reflex 35mm cameras from the government-owned KMZ factory in Krasnogorsk, Russia, a suburb west of Moscow. KMZ got its start in military optics during WWII and later branched out to civilian products. Zenits were made by the million and are common on the used camera market. This Zenit TTL was made in 1982, according to the first two digits of the serial number, 82041469, which give the year the camera left the factory. This camera is lettered in latin script, which shows that it was made for the export market. The Zenit TTL was imported into the USA as the Cambron TTL by Cambridge Camera Exchange, New York, NY, into West Germany as the Revueflex by Foto-Quelle, Nuremburg, and into the UK as the Zenith TTL by Technical & Optical Equipment (London) Ltd. The UK version had "Zenit" on the camera body, but "Zenith" on the instruction pamphlet.

Front

Top

Back

Bottom

The front of the camera has the strap lugs, the self timer, the PC flash sync socket, and the lens mount. The top of the camera has the rewind crank, the film speed selector, a hot shoe for flash, the shutter speed dial, the shutter release, the rewind clutch, the frame counter, and the film advance lever. The back of the camera has the battery compartment for the light meter and the viewfinder eyepiece. The left side of the camera has the latch for the film back. The bottom of the camera has the tripod socket.

The shutter is a cloth focal plane shutter. Shutter speeds are 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60 and 1/30 second plus bulb. The flash sync speed is 1/30 second. One stroke of the film advance lever advances the film and cocks the shutter. The mirror is an instant return mirror. Earlier versions of the Zenit had mirrors that did not return to the viewing position until the film was advanced.

The lens mount is an M42 "universal" or "praktica/pentax" screw mount with an automatic diaphragm plate inside the lens mount. Pressing the shutter release will push the plate against a pin on the lens to stop down the lens to the selected shooting aperture. The M42 screw mount was introduced on the 1949 East German VEB Zeiss Ikon Contax S single lens reflex 35mm camera and remained popular through the mid 1970s. Bayonet mounts, which handled exposure automation better, eventually completely displaced the screw mount. KMZ was one of the last manufacturers to still make screw mount SLRs.

Pressing the shutter release also turns on the light meter. The exposure meter needle is visible in the viewfinder. The needle pointed to "0" if the exposure was good, "+" if the picture was over exposed, or "-" if the picture was under exposed. The camera metered through the lens with a CdS cell. The meter ran on a PX625 mercury battery, which is no longer available because of the toxicity of mercury. 625 zinc air hearing aid batteries should work, but last only about a week while a mercury battery would last a year.  The meter on my camera no longer works. The needle consistently shows over exposure regardless of the light level.  I use an external light meter or just guess.

The viewfinder has a central microprism focusing spot surrounded by a ground glass collar.

The Helios-44M lens that came with the camera is patterned after the Carl Zeiss Biotar lens, with 6 elements in 4 groups. The distance scale is in meters. There is a manual-automatic diaphragm switch.

To use the self timer you advance the film, turn the self-timer lever down and push the button above the self timer. The self timer will run a few seconds and the trip the shutter. Rotating the self-timer lever exposes a little "M" on the camera body as a reminder to switch the lens from automatic diaphragm to manual. The self timer doesn't actuate the automatic diaphragm plate and the lens should be switched to manual for the aperture to be correct.

You don't want to store the camera with the shutter cocked because it will weaken the springs that actuate the shutter, with the result that the shutter will stick open and ruin your pictures.

The chief point in favor of the Zenit was that it was cheap. In the hierarchy of Soviet Bloc cameras the Zenit trailed behind the East German Praktica and both trailed behind the better West German and Japanese cameras.

Werra 1 (about 1962)

The Werra 1 is a scale focusing 35 mm camera that was made by VEB Carl Zeiss in Eisfeld, East Germany. The camera was named for the river Werra, which flows through Eisfeld. Werra also was the name of a line of binoculars made by the same company. VEB roughly meant "state owned company", which was part of the East German Communist system for the organization of industry. This example was made for the export market. The focusing scale is marked in feet and meters, and the shutter and lens have "Q1" symbols to indicate supposedly higher quality control. The shutter also has the tower icon of VEB Pentacon. Because the original Carl Zeiss firm still existed in West Germany, the East German state did not have the right to use the name "Carl Zeiss” in the West, so the lens on this export model is marked "Jena" instead of "Carl Zeiss."

Ready to shoot

Lens Covered

Bottom

Back

The body of the camera has aluminum trim and black vulcanite. The top of the camera has just the shutter button. The front of the camera has the viewfinder window and the lens. The bottom of the camera has the rewind knob, a tripod socket with a 3/8" thread, the latch for the back, the rewind clutch button and the film counter. The PC flash sync connection is on the right side. Strap loops are on both sides. The back of the camera has just the viewfinder eyepiece.

All of the controls are grouped around the lens. The film advance ring is at the base of the lens, followed by the shutter speed ring, the depth of field scale, the focusing ring and the aperture ring. The shutter is a "Prestor" shutter with times 1/750, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 second plus "B". The shutter button is threaded for a cable release. The shutter can be set to sync with flash bulbs ("M") or electronic flash ("X"), or set a self-timer ("V"), using a lever under the lens. The lens is a 50mm, coated Tessar design. The apertures go from f/2.8 to f/16. 30.5mm screw-in filters fit this camera. Putting a filter between the lens and the lens hood makes access to the aperture ring easier. The lens hood can be reversed to act as a lens cover. Before covering the lens any filter should be removed and the lens focused to infinity.

The viewfinder has an adjustment for eyesight, and has frame lines with markings for parallax correction.

To load the film the back is unlatched at the bottom and pulled completely off. The film runs from right to left, opposite from most 35 mm cameras. The film counter is manually reset after film is loaded. To advance the film the ring at the base of the lens is rotated clockwise. Rotating the film advance ring advances the film and cocks the shutter. The rewind clutch button has to be pressed continuously while rewinding film.

The Prestor shutter works like the 1949 Kodak Synchro 800 shutter. The shutter leaves swivel in one direction around a pivot instead of oscillating back and forth. This action allows the Prestor shutter to open and close faster (1/750 second compared to 1/500 second on a Compur-Rapid or a Synchro-Compur). Because this swivel action is not self-capping when cocking the shutter, a second set of shutter leaves cap the lens when the shutter is cocked. Unfortunately the capping leaves on my shutter were stuck shut. A liberal application of contact cleaner got the shutter to run, but the shutter probably should be re-lubed. There are Youtube videos (https://www.youtube.com/user/mikeno62/search?query=werra) on disassembling a Werra with a Synchro-Compur shutter that may be helpful on this project.

A 51mm x 39mm card packed inside the camera has this text in German:

"Achtung!

Beim Aufschrauben der Sonnenblende als schutzkappe, darf die am Objektiv eingestellte Ectfernung 6 m bis infinity betragen. Kuerzere Entfernungen nicht zulaessig. Filter nur auf Gewinde des Schutzdeckels auf schrauben nicht zwuischen Objektev und Schutzekappe,

Schuetzen sie, wann Sie keinen Film eingelegt haben, die neuartige Film-buehne und diefeinstgeschliffene Andruckplatte vor Beschaedigungen! Legen Sie diese Karte zwischen beide Flaechen, damit sie sicj nicht beruehren!"

Translation courtesy of Google Translate:

"Notice!

When screwing on the sun visor as a protective cap, the distance set on the lens may be 6 m to Infinity. Shorter distances are not permitted. Only screw the filter on the thread of the protective cover, not between the objective and the protective cap.

When you have not inserted a film, protect the new film stage and the finely ground pressure plate from damage! Place this card between the two surfaces so that they do not touch!"

Werra cameras were made from 1954 to 1968. The many versions included scale focusing and range finder focusing cameras, both with and without light meters, with several different shutters, a couple of different fixed lenses, and slight changes in body style. The most advanced versions had interchangeable lenses. The Werra 1 did not have a range finder or light meter and was intended to be a low price camera, costing less than 100 marks ($25 in those days). About 281,000 Werra 1 cameras were produced.

With the lens covered the design has very clean lines. A Werra with a body style similar to my camera but with green vulcanite and without a nameplate is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art:
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/174806

The Werra is a straightforward camera to use. Set the shutter speed, advance the film, set the aperture, focus, aim and press the shutter button. Scale focusing works pretty well if you are not too close to the subject and you have the lens stopped down for a reasonable depth of field. Otherwise you might need to measure the distance to your subject with a tape measure or a pocket range finder.

The suffragette monument in Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee (Alan LeQuire, sculptor).

Werra 1 camera on Ultrafine Xtreme 400 film.