Zenit-3M: A Sputnik-era Soviet SLR!
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- Опубликовано: 19 июн 2024
- Before the Zenit-E, the most successful Soviet SLR was the Zenit-3M, a camera derived from one of the most useable Soviet rangefinders. Kosmo Foto looks at this under-rated - and budget-friendly - 1960s SLR.
Read Kosmo Foto's full review: kosmofoto.com/2022/01/soviet-...
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Video shot and edited by John Johnston.
#camera #photography #analog
Speaking of M39
In the first 2 years of Zenit E production, they also used M39 mount just like its predecessor Zenit 3M before updated to M42 mount, once I had one of those but later sold it because no one bothered to fix Soviet cameras in where I live (the shutter curtain ripped and the shutter mechanism itself jammed) 😔
Yeah, hard to find the M39 versions these days.
This was my first SLR. I bought it for £10 second hand from a local photography shop. Two years later I took it back when I was buying an Olympus and he gave me the £10 back. Manual diaphragm. Took great photos.
I remember my father had one back in the day, still have a phew photos that survived on the trip across the Atlantic.
I do love Soviet cameras. And of course the other GDR ones too. And the Helios 44-2 remains one of my favourite lenses.
I love my Zenit 3m. Shot many pictures with it and still shooting. It looks I am one a f very few who upload pisctures taken with camera to wikimedia commons.
Excellent review. Is the focus long or short?
In the 14th minute you say the Helios-44 is a copy of the Zeiss Sonnar. But its definitely a copy of the Zeiss Biotar 58mm. A Sonnar with that focal length wouldn't fit in front of the mirror.
I actually just ordered a 3M, mostly because I do love my E, ET, EM and my Start. But because it was a sort of combination between a Zorki and a Zenit. Funny enough if you want to talk about a camera that really doesn't have other options for its lack of interchangeability look no further than the afore mentioned START, it has a removable prism, a yoke type bayonet lens mount like that of Exakta and shutter speeds that go from 1s to 1/1000 of a second plus B. However, there is only a single prism type and lens, the Start-2 has a metered prism, but good luck finding one. So really close to having a full featured SLR from KMZ. the features of the Start/Start-2, the sleek design of the 3M and Zorki, and the lens mount of the Zenit M42. This would have been a camera that easily could have competed in the early 60s with the likes of Pentax, Pentacon and Ricoh. Maybe not so much with Canon and NIkon, but absolutely with the universal mount models.
By the way, Industar-50-2 is really quite sharp, despite being only f/3,5, its nickname was “Eagle Eye”. The other great lenses you can find for M39 mount Zenit 3M/Zorki-6 sometimes was sold with are Jupiter-8 50mm f/2,0 (really cool lens, especially early versions of it from 1958-1966 with red П on it) and Jupiter-3 50mm f/1,5
Yeah, the Industar is no slouch, I guess just overshadowed by the Helios. No argument over those other lenses either!
Hi, just found your RUclips site. Brilliant!! First camera I had was a Zenith B, bought new in 1975 for £57 … certainly learned a great deal .. Love the 3M .. 👍
Hi Stephen, very timely video. I picked up a 3M with the Industar 50/3.5 at a car boot sale last Sunday. Good condition but locked solid in the cocked position. Turned out to be hardened grease jamming it all up. Cleaned and lubricated and now works fine.
That old Soviet lubricant sometimes needs some elbow grease to get moving again. Good luck with it!
What a great review! Just popped onto eBay and bought one, just to hold and to experience! Way nicer looking than the Zorki 4k and Zenit EM that I once had as a kid.
Appreciate the review :)
Thanks Andrew - I hope you enjoy using the camera. I am getting as bunch repaired that will be sold on the Kosmo Foto Shop in the coming months.
An excellent review of the Zenit 3m. One of these was my first SLR, in 1970. I still have a soft spot for Zenits. I traded mine in (for a Praktica LLC) in 1973, but I bought another 3m some years ago.
The Praktica L series is a massively under-rated marque in SLR photography.
@@kosmofoto I have a dozen of them, different models. Two of them have been pillaged for parts, for the rest.
The 3m is a brilliant and well-designed camera. I enjoyed my time working with one until the shutter kicked the bucket. I much prefer the Zenit E.
Oh crap. That's another camera I really want now!
Still want to buy one as a “sister camera” because I’m currently shooting its rangefinder counterpart - Zorki-6 - inherited from my grandpa. So simple yet so captivating, so easy to use yet capable of almost anything if you have some time and simple additions like a tripod, a shutter cord and an external exposure meter in your phone
The Zorki-6 is the most usable Soviet rangefinder, I think. I have several.
@@kosmofotojust one question: why in 3M you need to advance before you change the shutter speed and in Zorki 6 you don’t (because Zorki 6 is the only Soviet rangefinder that you can change shutter speeds both after and before advancing)?
For some reason it only just occurred to me that an SLR is probably the only type of camera to not affect the image quality. In digital cameras the sensor matters, film compacts had the lens built in but this thing (unless it leaks light or the shutter doesn't work right) has no effect on the image. Hence a 1960 camera can still be as good as one 30 years later
Pretty much. It's a light-tight box. If the shutter hasn't got holes in it and the lubricants are OK and the gears aren't gummed up with half-a-century of dust, there's no reason why they can't work as well as they sued to. *(And all of this things can be fixed most of the time, anyway.)
It is not a pre-set lens, simply a manual diaphragm. Pre-set lenses have TWO controls for aperture, one of which is click-stopped and gets set prior to exposing. The second ring (non-clicked) is then turned as far as it will go, which stops the lens down to the PRE-SET value.
Have you already done a video on the Kristall? How's compared to the other zenit cameras in terms of quality?
To much gushing. He failed to mention the non-return mirror and the simple ground-glass focusing screen. I bought one of these as an impoverished student in 1964 and although I used it a lot and was well pleased with what I achieved with it, I never got used to the two major deficiencies which caused a lot of wasted film - exposing with the iris in the fully open state, and winding on to reset the mirror, then accidentally releasing the shutter when putting the camera back in its case. These are major elephant traps which never completely go away however careful you are. I still have a 3m - for nostalgic reasons.
Funny, when reviewing it I remember not mentioning the mirror, so taken on board. I must admit I've not found that issue with the shutter button so much - maybe the old Soviet grease has hardened up too much!
Getting used to the preset lens is just a matter of practise. A simple solution to the released mirror is to remove the lens, and carefully pull down the mirror until it locks.
What's the best zenit in terms of quality, should I get an earlier zenit or the 122?
I managed to get myself a Special Anniversary edition 3M out of Ukraine before it got invaded, it's a really nice camera, I just wish I had a few more lenses for it. I use a hand held meter and it takes great photos.
They are a really lovely little curio. My example has a jammed shutter which I'll need to get tweaked.
It's a mistake. My doctor in 1959 maked photos with a Zenit 3m