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Beautiful early Zorki

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Printed on: 5/7/2026 2:43:20 PM


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Topic author: uwittehh

Posted on: 20240323170007

Hello,

this nice camera arrives some weeks ago. It was totally broken (shutter straps were in the gears and the second curtain was no more glued on the big drum). It seems that these accident happens very early because it looks as it was only some times used.
I disassembled it totally, repaired the broken shutter and now it works smooth as a Leica.

http://www.ussrphoto.com/resize/resize_image.aspx?ImgWd=800&IptFl=/UserContent2/2332024_IMGL6872.jpg


http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent2/2332024_IMGL6872.jpg

http://www.ussrphoto.com/resize/resize_image.aspx?ImgWd=800&IptFl=/UserContent2/2332024_IMGL6874.jpg


http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent2/2332024_IMGL6874.jpg

http://www.ussrphoto.com/resize/resize_image.aspx?ImgWd=800&IptFl=/UserContent2/2332024_IMGL6873.jpg


http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent2/2332024_IMGL6873.jpg

And also a nice Zorki 3 arrived here. The 5 digits serial numer starting with a 0 is not engraved on the top cover, it is on the body shell like on later cameras. It's also totally broken and lies disassembled on the table now ;-)

Ulrich


http://fotos.cconin.de

Replies

Reply author: Valkir1987

Replied on: 20240324082920

I've repaired a few recently with new curtains. The fit and finish is quite good on these models.

Reply author: uwittehh

Replied on: 20240324165832

Milo,

yes, the first Zorki 1s have a very nice chrome finish and run really smoothly after an overhaul. But in my experience, they often have brittle and hard curtains that need to be replaced. In contrast, the curtains on the later Zorkis from 1955 are usually still in good condition.

Question: Does anyone know how to remove the rotating locking knobs from a Zorki 3 rear panel? I've never had to remove the silver base plate of the rear panel before. In this case, however, someone must have used a pair of pliers, and one of the fasteners is quite demolished.

Ulrich

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http://fotos.cconin.de

Reply author: uwittehh

Replied on: 20240328164134

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="MS Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
Question: Does anyone know how to remove the rotating locking knobs from a Zorki 3 rear panel? I've never had to remove the silver base plate of the rear panel before. In this case, however, someone must have used a pair of pliers, and one of the fasteners is quite demolished.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I have found out. The latch is only held by a small pin that goes through the fold-out handle. As soon as you have managed to get the pin out (which is not that easy), the whole locking mechanism practically falls towards you :-)

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de