The Russian Leica - Zorki 4k Rangefinder 35mm Film Camera Review

[@mamiyapress]

Just bought a Fed5, a Jupiter-8 and a Zorkie 4k and I can not wait to shoot with them. I have recently shot a roll of B&W in a Brownie six-20 Model C and the quality is just great, I enjoy old cameras much more than my D3 and Fuji X20.

[@BrianWiese0]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and insights on this camera!

[@happysnapperman]

Bought one in the 70's and still own it but can't part with it even thought it's not been used over a decade due DSLR quality these days. Takes a bit of getting used the manual controls but once mastered creativity only limited by your imagination. Beautiful camera. Excellent quality images.

[@RobNunn]

happysnapperman Too right!

[@dangerpowers123]

Picked one up today in new mint condition, I hope it works ha ha. Great video as always

[@RobNunn]

Cheers!

[@kayteiverina3877]

Hi Rob, I've recently been looking at the Zorki 6, I quite liked that it had a hinged back, is it quite similar to this? Many thanks x

[@rudykammermeier8227]

Good video. I've been tempted to buy a Zorki 4 and was looking for some information. Very informative. Thanks! Now to check out your website...

[@RobNunn]

Rudy Kammermeier I'll be doing a more in-depth guide soon. Glad you liked the video!

[@pierauspitz]

Hello! Nice video, thanks! But there is one myth that bugs me massively: Soviet NEVER took anything from Leica (Leitz) factories. While they indeed took machinery, parts and engineers from Zeiss (Contax II giving birth to the Kiev family and Jupiter lenses), the soviet Leica-copy business is older (pre-war), with unlicenced copies of Leica II (the famous FED) being produced in the mid thirties. All soviet "leica-copy" developped from this model. Moreover, the Zorki 4K is in no way a copy of leica M, but an evolution of the fantastic Zorki 3/3M cameras (with their 1:1 viewfinder), who themselves predate the Leica M by a few years. Render unto Caesar....

[@kapsico]

Very usefull video, thank you! I just buyed one ;)

[@rhydermike]

A nice find. Although, if I had got it, I would have been tempted to try it on my GF1 with an adaptor. The video's great as usual, but it's a shame the bitrate wasn't a bit higher mate.

[@markharris5771]

I've never really though about wanting a rangefinder, most of my photography is landscape and wildlife and for the latter I always use a DSLR. But there's something about the Zorki 4K I find attractive in a brutish sort of way. I'm definitely thinking about taking the leap into this type of manufacture, I just hope I remember all the sequences. I believe one of the most common problems is the shutter and curtain working out of sequence affecting lower speed shots? Have you come across this in your research? My mechanical light meter that I tend to use mainly with my Bronica ETRSi is the Weston Master II which I have tested against my Sekonic and at the ripe old age of between 61-72 it is still spot on. One of the best £10s I've spent that I believe is only £3 cheaper than its original price, which must have been a phenomenal amount at the time. I get a lot out of your videos, they are always well researched and presented as one of the guys from the camera club, which I mean in a complimentary way. So I'm not talking about the guy you slowly want to edge away from but the "Bob" every club seems to have who everyone makes a bee line for, the quietly knowledgable one who talks to you as an equal. Great shots at the end, please could you tell me what films you used? I liked both the contrast and cleaness of the B&W and the couloirs in the coloured.

[@RobNunn]

Gosh, I recorded this so long ago I can't remember which film I used. Thanks for your kind words though!

[@zenoist2]

Rangefinders are cool!

[@peterregorsek1504]

I think that older analog cameras are much better technology than that digital things of modern world. They last forever, are never outdated and all you need is a 35 mm film and some knowledge how to use it. Soviets copied many things but unlike Chinese, they made very good copies, which were sometimes better than original. And always cheaper.

[@benjaminvleugels5609]

A DSLR camera licht meeting is not right only if you use the spotmeter on middle gray. Just a tip love the video tho.

[@davidderuyver6519]

Nice video. I have this nice camera too. I am now able to compare it to a Leica M3 and M6. Not exactly the same beasts. The leica shutter is much more silent. For me the Zorki is lacking frame lines. The VF patch does not have too much contrast. So, it is not really a Leica. But surely a nice little camera which will work with LTM 39 lenses. A pity Zorki's or fed never adapted the M mount. It would have been perfect for me as long as the most important is the lens...

[@RobNunn]

+David Deruyver Thanks for watching!

[@maydupp6792]

The first two digits of the serial number give you the year of manufacture.

[@sputumtube]

+May Dupp I didn't know that. Mine was produced in 1977 then...:)

[@junicares]

how do you set the film speed?

[@RobNunn]

Its a fully manual camera, you don’t need to - use a light meter (or guess) to get your aperture and shutterspeed, wind it on, then put them in. You put your film speed into your lightmeter. or use the sunny 16 rule.

[@urwisss1]

And if someone has the sight disadvantage ?