Subbarayan Prasanna , Feb 25, 2010; 12:15 p.m.
I bought this Zorki 4 [1962 model] from an Ebay dealer in Ukraine. It arrived well packed on time. I opened the
package and found that the shutter was not working at “B” and 1/30 sec. The second curtain would not close. And
the Range Finder was not working either. The ball bearing on the range Finder was missing; so it was not
together. I asked the seller to follow up and send me some spare. He was very prompt and replied that he did not
have any spares. But insisted on refunding me the money, though I told him that I did not feel like asking for a
refund. I asked only for some spares.
Meanwhile, I repaired the shutter. The two speeds in particular use a pin from the bottom that pushes upwards
and releases the second curtain. Either the pin had worn short or needed some internal “stretching.” I added a
card board shim at the bottom between the leaf spring and the foot of the pin. Now it works smoothly on both speeds.
As usual the camera needed a lot of cleaning and lubrication. I did a fairly good CLA. The lens had some fungus;
I removed that from the rear and front surfaces with Ammonia and Peroxide. In place of the ball bearing in the RF
I have fixed a fiber pen’s tip that would fit in the cavity. Not very satisfactory. I shall look for a small
metal ball bearing eventually. However, I can gauge distances visually, fairly well, a result of my architectural
training. Seller returned $12 out of the $15 that I paid for the Camera. Very honest indeed.
Made some test shots this evening about Sunset time on Nova Silver Plus 125 film. I had just 3 frames left from
an older venture.
Zorki 4 looks good with the aluminum beading
Subbarayan Prasanna , Feb 25, 2010; 12:21 p.m.
The camera body is in excellent shape after the cleaning. The black paint on the beading was patchy. So I removed it with Xylene [NC thinner] and buffed it with emery paper. A buffing wheel and acrylic coating for preservation would be desirable I guess. I did only what I could by hand.
I think it looks better than the black beading
Subbarayan Prasanna , Feb 25, 2010; 12:23 p.m.
The vulcanite covering is fully in tact with a good texture.
Girls comparing notes after the workday.
Subbarayan Prasanna , Feb 25, 2010; 12:25 p.m.
I sat down on the same ledge a few feet away as if at leisure and took the picture unnoticed.
A shot of the street corner
Subbarayan Prasanna , Feb 25, 2010; 12:27 p.m.
Twilight through the haze
Subbarayan Prasanna , Feb 25, 2010; 12:32 p.m.
The Zorkis and the Feds are fun to repair and refurbish. Learned a lot through this. Wonder why they don't make such simple good cameras any more; that is an eternal question! Thanks for viewing and your comments. Regards, sp.
Michael Howard , Feb 25, 2010; 12:39 p.m.
I love my Zorki, I try to use it every week. Here are some shots with it...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhowardphoto/sets/72157622559944315/
I also am searching for a cheap parts camera for my pristine Zorki 4. Mine has a couple of quirks, but is a good solid user with nice accurate shutter speeds. Nice shots with yours, by the way.
David W. Griffin 
, Feb 25, 2010; 12:40 p.m.
Because most people are not like you! Most people expect everything to work when they get it and they want it to continue to work without periodic maintenance. The various ex-soviet cameras I have had over the years have nearly always come with maintenance issues and I'm not handy enough to do the work myself so I have to find somebody. And you can kind of have old Feds worked on over here in America but parts are really hard to come by. I have a poljot watch and the only way I can get that repaired is to send it back overseas.
Kind of minimizes the effectiveness of the export market I expect. They have a rough and ready charm I admit.
Kelly Flanigan 
, Feb 25, 2010; 12:56 p.m.
Hi Subbarayan, Here most all of my Zorki, Fed is Soviet stuff was bought off of Ebay before 9/11. Total prices with shipping to the USA were about say 13 to 17 dollars; for camera body; lens and case; plus brown paper box tied with yak hair. Only a few old Feds were wonky. Most all of the zorki's 3c and 4 and newer Fed (5, 6) never required any repairs or maintenance. The bad Soviet stuff was moistly all from fellow USA sellers who sell the duds off. I use to resell Soviet cameras on Ebay. I would buy boxes of the them from this girl in the Ukraine. All were made with cash sent thru the mail. After 9/11 postal rates got alot higher and bulk buy got way too costly. With single camera buys with lens and case; I would just pay with a USA 20 dollar bill. Long ago in bulk a zorki body was about 5 bucks US without lens and only a few rare ones required any adjustment. A favorite here is a painted black Zorki3C I got from the Ukraine back about 1998; I have shot several hundred rolls with it. I use it with a Canon 50mm F1.2 as a poor mans Leica/noct outfit.
Rick Drawbridge 
, Feb 25, 2010; 01:46 p.m.
Great restoration SP; I really like the polished aluminum bead. That sort of seller certainly restores one's faith in Ebay...
