Советские дальномерные камеры "Зоркий" (1948-1978)

Zorki (Зоркий, meaning sharp sighted) is the name of a series of 35mm rangefinder cameras manufactured in the Soviet Union between 1948 and 1978. The Zorki was a product of the Krasnogorsk Mechanical Factory (KMZ), which also produced the Zenit single lens reflex camera (SLR). The first Zorki cameras are inexpensive Leica II copies just like the FED, but later models are considerably different from the Leica. When using most Zorki cameras, the shutter speed should only be set after the shutter has been cocked. Setting the shutter speed before the shutter is cocked can permanently damage the camera. This especially affects all Zorki cameras with slow shutter speeds under 1/30 of a second, in particular the Zorki 3 and Zorki 4.

The first Zorki was the Zorki (called "Zorki 1" by some for clarity, although it never had a number in the name), an exact copy of the 1932 Leica II rangefinder. It featured a 50mm f/3.5 Industar 22 lens, a collapsible lens which looked like the Leitz Elmar but is actually a copy of the Zeiss Tessar. Introduced in 1948, the "Zorki" was the first 35mm camera made by KMZ. The Zorki S of 1955 added flash synchronization. The Zorki 2 (1954) is similar to the Zorki but features an updated rewind mechanism, a self timer and strap lugs. There is a later flash version called the Zorki 2S.

Introduced in 1951, the Zorki 3 is somewhat similar to the Leica III. It offers a number of improvements over the original Zorki, including a large combined viewfinder with the rangefinder builtin, a removable back, and a larger and faster Jupiter 8 (Zeiss Sonnar copy) lens. It also adds a new mechanism for slow shutter speeds with a separate selector dial on the front of the camera. This mechanism was unreliable, so the improved Zorki 3M of 1954 (also produced in 1955) combines all of the shutter speeds on a single dial. The Zorki 3S, introduced in 1955, is a Zorki 3M with flash sync.

The Zorki 4, 1956, is a Zorki 3S with self timer added. The Zorki 4K is identical but used an advance lever instead of the old style wind knob. With over 2 million units produced, the Zorki 4 is the most successful Zorki and has a reputation as one of the best Russian cameras, although the self timer and slow shutter speeds are unreliable. The Zorki Mir of 1959 is a lower cost Zorki 4 with fewer shutter speeds.

The Zorki 35M full frame 35mm coupled rangefinder camera is from a project undertaken by KMZ designer N. Marienkov during the late 1960s (the "M" is his "signature" camera; he also designed the Zorki 3M and the Zenit 3M). It is based on the body of the Zenit E and some of the advanced design features of the Zenit D, but is a rangefinder rather than SLR camera. It features bright line frames in the viewfinder for 50mm and 85mm lenses, with the entire field of the viewfinder corresponding to that of a 35mm lens. Other advances include automatic parallax compensation, speeds from 1 to 1/1000 sec. and a modern body design. It was probably an attempt to make an updated alternative for the then aging Zorki 4. At least two hand built prototypes of this camera are known to exist, and the KMZ archives list it as a "project", but it never went into production.

The Zorki 5 is an updated model similar to the FED 2. There are two different versions, the first (1958) having an Industar 22 lens and the second (1959) having an Industar 50. Like early Leicas, the Zorki 5 is loaded with film by removing the bottom plate. However, both versions of the Zorki 5 have a flaw where cycling the shutter with no lens on the camera causes the rangefinder arm to get caught up in the shutter mechanism, possibly breaking the camera in the process. The Zorki 6 fixed this problem with the Zorki 5 by moving the rangefinder arm to the other side of the lens mount and introduced an Zenit style swing back for easier loading.