Hello, I just joined this interesting forum.

Hi All,

I have an interest in FSU cameras and do like using them to make photographs and I think that this forum will be useful towards my hobby.

Welcome Joseph!

What do you use?

Cheers,
Vlad

Hello Vlad,

I use the Zorki 4 and the Kiev 4 and occasionally a Zenit E

The Kiev 4 is my main camera and I love using it and I am trying to buy a fast Jupiter 3 lens for it for available light shooting using 100 iso B&W film but had no luck in finding a good example at a reasonable price. I am enamoured with the "Sonnar" lens look to the photos and only a Sonnar type lens will do for me.

Try Jupiter-9. It's a beautiful lens as well.

Seems like you got "the workhorses" as your shooters which is good! Now you're missing a late model FED-2 and a Moskva-5

Cheers,
Vlad

I like the Fed 2 and I even like the looks of the Zorki 6, but I have never seen a Zorki 6 in person.

The Moskva 5 I have seen, but this example that I seen was a bit of a mess.
The Iskra looks like a good camera, based on an Agfa model I believe.


The Mir looks like a no frills Zorki 4, which might make it a better camera, but it was made only for a short time and the examples I have seen look well worn.

Right now I got my heart set on a Jupiter 3 lens for my Kiev 4, I would like to find a good quality one for a decent price.

I tried the ltm mount Jupiter 9 lens on my Zorki 4 but the example I tried would not focus correctly.
I had more luck with the M42 version of the Jupiter 9 lens on my Zenit SLR.
Any lens longer in focal length than 50 to 58 mm is better off on an SLR I suspect.

You are right, optically this short telephoto lens is a nice lens.

Between Mir and Zorki 4 I prefer the Zorki 4 just because of the smorgasbord of the speeds that it offers. Iskra has probably one of the best lens out of all Soviet cameras, it can even beat a lot of western cameras in sharpness and quality. I do highly recommend one if you can get your hands on it, you will be very pleased, the problem is that the winding mechanism breaks on a lot of them so people install red windows in the back, but if you get the red window modified version it may actually be better because it's already been "improved". For a user that's a plus

Cheers,
Vlad

I second the iskra. it'a a marvel. I had 2 of these, no problem with film winding on both. if it works, it's magic. just 2 things: be cautious: you must change the shutter speed for 1/500 before you cock the shutter. It's a good habit to do so for the other speeds, it's less stress for the shutter system. and please don't stock the camera with the shutter cocked.

www.a7camera.com www.120folder.com www.instantphoto.eu

I like those simplified camera models Vlad. The Zorki 3M was the 1st to have the slower speeds on one dial, and I have heard it was a more reliable design than the split two dial shutter speeds (ltm Leica type) that came on the Zorki 3 for Soviet manufacturing back in the 1950s.

The Iskra is on my radar for getting on to a bigger format than 35mm and the print quality from a 6cm x6cm negative can't be beat, other than moving up to a larger division of 120 film or going 4x5, but that is getting too costly these days for sheet film.

Thanks for the tip on changing to the highest shutter speed on the Iskra xya.

Hello to Joseph from another newbie. :-)

Hello to Joseph and Sean! Welcome from an old FSU collector (especially Fed), but not only...

Yes, you are right about the Zorki 3M which is more reliable than the Zorki 3. They are both marvelous cameras, and the 3M was well in advance compared to the LTM Leicas, always with a separate slow speed dial and two viewers for viewfinder/rangefinder... And both are interesting to collect, as there are numerous variations...

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Hi to Sean, thanks for the greetings, welcome aboard.

Yes Jacques, the Zorki 3M was a marvellous machine and much easier to use than most Barnack Leicas.

And the Zorki 3M was and is a very handsome camera design wise by any standard, a real coup for the early 1950s Soviet camera designers.