Zorki 1 - the real "Poor Man:s Leica"

[@Hi-lb8cq]

I own the same model and ive had it for several years and absolutely love it and it takes sweet photos

[@howpow]

Hi Hi. A nice Zorki 1 is an excellent little camera. Enjoy! Cheers, Howard

[@andrewwilkin1923]

Hi Howard, great video, many thanks.

[@howpow]

My pleasure Andrew.

[@TheLordgene]

Cracking great intro vid to a lovely camera! please keep it up - really enjoyed learning

[@howpow]

Really pleased that you found the video useful. Cheers, Howard

[@Ybalrid]

Nice walkthrough of all the features of this camera. I am familiar with the Zorki 4 quite a bit. I am curious about experiencing something closer to the "barnack" design (bottom loader, old separated viewfinder, smaller, thinner, and lighter body) so I had ordered a Zorki 1 from a trusted repair person. It shipped from Slovakia so it's taking a little while to show up

[@howpow]

I think you'll find it an interesting and challenging camera. Have fun. Howard

[@malcolmthomas8161]

Thankyou, Howard ... another learning experience, and I like the "Zorky" name!

[@howpow]

Thanks Malc. I knew I could rely on you 😀

[@avnostlga]

Good morning Howard. Ooh these are a rabbit hole to fall down. My uncle passed and I found one of these among his belongings. The low shutter speeds are all buggered. He didn't know about not winding before setting. Another excellent production Howard.

[@howpow]

Hi Brian, good to hear from you again. I trust that you're soldiering on as well as possible. I'm getting towards the end of my cortisone course and life is fairly normal. Re the Zorki, it's a nice little camera. The Leica experience without the Leica. Cheers, Howard 😀

[@avnostlga]

@@howpow and decent quality in photos. Yes, I'm plugging along. Thank you for asking. Life will find a way. That's good news Howard. With the intended results I trust?

[@howpow]

@@avnostlga I think so. Apparently polymyalga rheumatica usually fades away after about 2 years and the cortisone gets you through it during that time. I'm down to 5 mg from 25 mg at the start and life is pretty normal. So far, so good 👍

[@avnostlga]

@@howpow I'm so glad for you that it is resolving. I don't know anything about P.R. Only R.A. through my girlfriend. Anything Rheumatoid means pain. Seems unending-ly annoying. So, thankful the treatment worked. Age has enough baggage. We don't need more. With spring coming down your way, will symptoms improve after the warmer months arrive?

[@howpow]

@@avnostlgaActually I don't think it will make much difference. It doesn't get too cold here in Melbourne, it very rarely gets down to freezing point. Really on the Cortisone my life is virtually pain free. I'm the most flexible I've been in years. I might try to stay on a low dose. I'm very sorry to hear about your girlfriend's R.A. I trust she's managing ok. Cheers, Howard

[@CBortlearts]

I have been using a Leica IIIG as my main 35mm camera for years. I was just thinking again the other day how I wish I had more bodies because I dislike the lens changing as I do it often. Howard to the rescue introducing me to the perfect option without draining my pocket! The next time the wife goes back to Ukraine I will see if I can talk her into bringing a few back home with her. I look at the cameras I have purchased and thouroughly enjoy from your channel, and realize I never knew most of them even existed. Thanks for another great video Howard.

[@howpow]

Hi Christopher, good to hear from you again. Actually I'd recommend a FED 3b for your purposes. Basically the. Same but with lever wind, removable back, speeds from 1 second to 1/500th, diopter adjustment, selt timer and flash sync, combined viewfinder and rangefinder. Still have to cock it before changing speeds. Only drawback if you wear glasses the viewfinder is small and scratchy. Cheers, Howard

[@CBortlearts]

@@howpow Thanks for the recommendation. I will look at those. I do struggle with glasses but I have gotten used to it. They did no favors for eyeglass wearers back then!

[@Ybalrid]

@@CBortlearts A Zorki 4 (or 4K) may be a good option to. Zorki 4 does not have the lever wind, 4K does. They all have combined view/range finder and removable back. One of their most produced model back then too, so should not be hard to find. Has combined fast and slow shutter speed in the same dial. Means you *really* must follow the advice of never touching the speed before cocking the shutter, as there's 2 times the mechanisms to mess up in there. Nice camera, bit bigger than Zorki 1/Lecia II or III. Also has a flash sync port (they sync at 1/25 for the old speeds then 1/30 at the new ones - and shutter speeds goes to 1/1000) The only caveat if your goal is to use Leica glass on Soviet bodies: they all take the same lenses, but the focusing mechanism are ever so slightly differently adjusted. You may have a small error in focus distance between Leica and Soviet lenses, that error is negligible at 50mm focal, but it scales with the length of the lens

[@johnmoore901]

I love your videos Howard,

[@howpow]

Thanks John. Always nice to receive flattering comments.

[@stampydragon2739]

They were a different standard used the 20bis equivalent to 25th I believe if I remember correctly

[@howpow]

Yes, it was a very different spacing of speeds.

[@Astyanaz]

Why not make a digital camera just like an old Leica?

[@howpow]

An interesting concept!

[@santoshpareek9031]

Zorki 1 looks identical to lika, and looks are great n simple, but the performance is to be shown as sample shots, there are models wich are compitable to real leicas, thanks Howard for displaying the antiq model,

[@howpow]

My pleasure Santo.

[@Whywas6scared]

I do find it funny when other KZbinrs describe Canonets, Electro 35s etc as "poor man's Leicas". Not even close.

[@howpow]

You're quite right of course, but a few cameras got that nickname by matching the photo quality, not the build quality. Cheers, Howard

[@Whywas6scared]

@howpow Fair point.