Zenit 3m

The Good:

• Type: Zenit 3m
• Serial No: 66115890
• Manufactured: 1966
• Manufacturer: KMZ Krasnogorsk
• Shutter: Focal pane curtain (rubberized silk)
• Shutter speeds: B, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500
• Lens: Helios-44 2/58 alu
• Aperture: 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16
• Lens Serial No: 6059879
• Lens mount: M39
• Last CLA: 02/2012
• Condition: like a new, shiny, every function working perfectly

The Bad and the Ugly:

• Type: Zenit 3m
• Serial No: 66028191
• Manufactured: 1966
• Manufacturer: KMZ Krasnogorsk
• Shutter: Focal pane curtain (rubberized silk)
• Shutter speeds: B, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500
• Lens: Helios-44 2/58 black
• Aperture: 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16
• Lens Serial No: 6013114
• Lens mount: M39
• Last CLA: 01/2012
• Condition: worn-out, shabby, self timer not working, shutter hectic

An SLR from the Soviet Union with M39 thread mount and rubberized silk courtain shutter. Grandchild of the legendary Leica II. Sounds interesting, eh? It is, indeed.

Small, heavy, charming, Spartan and indestructible. This is how I can describe it the best. But first of all, let's see its origin.

In 1932, the Soviet Union buys the license of the Leica II(D), the famous 35mm Leitz rangefinder camera. Based on the license, they start the production of the FED rangefinder soon enough, in 1934. Then comes the Second Word War. The Felix Edmundovich Dzerzinshky Labour Commune (the FED factory) has to be evacuated during the advancement of the German troops. The Soviet Union decides to restart the mass-production of the Leica copies in the KMZ factory under the brand FED-Zorki in 1948. Later, the FED factory restarts its operation but the KMZ continues to produce the Leica copies under the Zorki name. From that point, the development of the FEDs and Zorkis go on their own separate ways.

After the War, the Soviet Union begins to produce an other German rangefinder camera, the Zeiss Contax, under the Kiev name. No license buying this time; they take the design, the machinery, the parts, materials and even the engineers as war indemnity. But  there is still no Soviet reflex camera; the SLR camera production remains in East Germany.

The large internal market of the Soviet Union needs a cheap and simple SLR camera in mass production. The KMZ factory finds the simplest possible solution: they take a Zorki rangefinder, remove the RF housing and replace it by a plain ground-glass and a prism. They put a mirror below and push forward the M39 Leica thread mount to make room for the mirror housing. This is how the most successful SLR of the Soviet Union is born in 1952.

The early Zorki and Zenit cameras were developed together: the first Zenit model was based on the Zorki 1,  Zenit S was based on the Zorki S (with flash sync).

The Zenit 3 was a separate development from the Zorki line. It had a wind lever and a self timer but the film load mechanism was still the good-old Leica way: you had to remove the bottom of the camera. It had quite high build quality but the production cost was too high so the production was stopped shortly after the introduction of the Zenit 3. The solution for the cost problem was the Zenit 3m. This was the first model with removable back. The letter 'm' meant modern, however the design was outdated from its birth. Just compare it to the German SLR-s of the same age: a Contaflex, a Retina Reflex, an Exakta or a Bessamatic is a high-tech spaceship command center compared to the Zenits.

The Zen art of SLR: the Zenit 3m is small, beautiful and extremely minimalist in functionality. No tricks like instant mirror return, you have to cock the shutter to see trough the lens. No focusing aid of any kind, just the good-old ground glass screen. You have a minimal set of shutter times at your disposal: 500, 250, 125, 60 30 and B. No slow times of course. There is no automated aperture control, just an additional ring on the lens to manually open and close the aperture from wide open to the preset value. Light metering? Come on, you can't be serious.

The camera is robust and it has an indestructible air and it's so imprecise, so rough, so Russian that it can't be compared to anything, maybe only to a tank. A small, pretty tank.

After this description one can imagine that using a Zenit 3m must be a pain but nothing is more far from the truth. Using a Zenit 3m is a pure joy. You hold a small gem in your hand. You don't have to worry if you accidentally knock it to the wall; this would be the problem of the building's owner. There is no technical wizardry to keep your attention away from composing the image. Interestingly, this minimal SLR turns out to be just the right tool in most of the cases. And it's cheap, damn cheap. So cheap that you can easily buy three to have spare in case. 781.678 pieces were made of it so you can't run out of supply.

And the lenses...

You can have an Industar 3.5/50 but don't go for it: it's just a low quality Tessar clone. Buy a camera with the legendary 58mm Helios-44. This lens is a Zeiss Biotar copy, a true pleasure to use. The later type the lens is the better the resolution is.

And there is the legendary Zeiss Flektogon clone, the award-winning 37mm MIR-1 which won the Grand Prix in Brussels in 1958. Sharp like hell. It renders crisp pictures, no matter what.

Last but not least you can have a 135mm Jupiter-11, which was based on the reputable Zeiss Sonnar. Unfortunately, my example has quite bad optical quality but other resources praise it so it's possibly my bad luck.

Don't let the M39 thread mount fool you. The rangefinder lenses from the FEDs and Zorkis (or even  Leica's) can be mounted on the Zenit 3m but they will not be fully functional. The base distance of the Zenit is much larger because of the mirror housing so the RF lenses can be used solely for close shots; you cannot focus them to greater distances.

The Zenit 3m is even able to take quite stunning macro shots. We did a thorough investigation in this matter. You can find the results and the lessons learned at the KIWI project webpage: kiwiproject.tumblr.com

And now let's see those test shots.

The Helios-44 is a good lens. No surprise because it's a Zeiss Biotar copy.

The MIR-1 is basically a Flektogon. And it performs accordingly.

The Jupiter 11 gets unsharp at the edges at maximum aperture:

Nowadays, you have to buy a Lensbaby lens for similar effect. Having a Zenit 3m with the Jupiter 11, you just have to set the aperture to f/4.

But it is sharp at the center when stopped down:

Tip: never ever set shutter speed before cocking the shutter! It can permanently damage the shutter. Remember: it's an old Zorki inside.

• Macro photography with Zenit 3m - is it possible?
• The Zenit story on Wikipedia
• Zenit 3m on Sovietcams.com
• The Zenit story in Hungarian - from György Török
• Zenit 3m review by Stephen Dowling

Exa Ia

• Type: Ia
• Serial No: 379142
• Manufactured: 1965-1977
• Manufacturer: Ihagee, Dresden, Germany
• Shutter: “guillotine-type” focal plane
• Speeds: 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/175 and B
• Lens: Meyer-Optik Görlitz Domiplan 2.8/50
• Apertures: 2.8 - 22 in half stops
• Lens No:5116628
• Lens mount: Ihagee/Exakta/Exa bayonet
• Last CLA: unknown

The Exa Ia is a cheap and simple SLR camera system from Ihagee with interchangeable lens, interchangeable finder and lots of accessories (like a 3 parts macro tube for as close focusing as 2 cm). It was designed to be an affordable alternative of the more sophisticated and higher quality Exakta series.

It comes with a waist-level finder which can be replaced with a normal eye-level finder but why anybody would do that? A waist-level finder is a great fun. Firstly because you have to compose in a mirror (and it’s not as easy as you think). Secondly you will get a completely different perspective. Composing while the camera is on the ground is not a problem anymore. Same applies when you hold it up above your head. Finally, the waist-level finder is the less obtrusive solution possible. Most people will not even notice that you take photo.

Then comes that ugly clash. The Exas have a very simple shutter which is basically the mirror itself making a noise of an empty can. It’s really ugly. Simplicity means a limited choice of speeds from 1/30 to 1/175 which is surprisingly enough in most of the cases. Simplicity also means reliability: it’s free from the slowdown in cold - a typical problem of other mechanical shutters having higher speeds.

The camera itself is somehow wobbly. However, it’s wobbly in a German way. For example the cover of the waist-level finder is beveled because of an imprecise fastening. But not only on mine - it’s beveled on all Exa Ia-s exactly the same way. Engineered discrepancy.

The manufacturer was IHAGEE, a strangely named camera company founded by a Dutchman in Dresden, Germany (the name is the German pronunciation of the acronym IHG standing for Industrie- und Handelsgesellschaft).

You can find several lenses for the EXA Ia since it has a standard IHAGEE Exakta/Exa bayonet mount. Mine came with a Domiplan lens which is not a sharp one but reliable and without noticeable distortion. Here is a sample photo taken with it:

All in all, the EXA Ia is a unique camera with a really special look. It’s simple, medium quality but reliable and fun to use. You will like to play with it.

Raoul Pop, an American photographer made a short video to introduce the EXA Ia in details. A must see.

Exakta EXA Ia SLR from Raoul Pop on Vimeo.

• Exa Ia introduction by Raoul Pop
• Exa Ia on Camerapedia
• Exa on Exakta.org
• Ihagee.org

Ihagee Exa

• Version: 4
• Serial No: 504555
• Manufactured: 1957
• Manufacturer: Ihagee, Dresden, Germany
• Shutter: “Guillotine-type” Exa specialty
• Speeds: 1/150, 1/100, 1/50, 1/25, B
• Lens: Meyer-Optik Görlitz Trioplan 1:2.9/50
• Lens No:1996718
• Apertures:2.9, 4, 5.6, 8. 11. 16. 22
• Lens mount: Ihagee/Exakta/Exa bayonet
• Last CLA: unknown

This is one of the best looking things ever made. No doubt about it. Look at this picture. Something you want to possess immediately, isn’t it? The good news is that you can buy one for less than EUR 50 on ebay.

Ihagee Exa

This camera is the older brother of the Exa Ia, I’m going to compare with. People often call it Exa 0 to distinguish it from the latter I and II models.

The most striking difference is the look. The Ia was a nice camera but the 0 is simply beautiful. Sparkling metal everywhere, knobs and buttons, and this nice engraving on the front plate, all in all, this camera is a dangerous seducer.

Ihagee Exa

The cheap feel of the Ia is not present when you hold the Exa 0 in your hand. It feels solid and precise. And it’s so damn good looking that you tend to forgive anything anyway. Even the sound of the shutter which is the same empty can noise as of the Exa Ia. But don’t hear, look!

There is charm everywhere on this camera. You can set the shutter speed with a stick for example. Isn’t it delightful? Of course it is.

Ihagee Exa

Now let’s see the handling. This camera have a Trioplan lens which is great but it doesn’t include automatic aperture stop down so you have to set focus on maximum aperture and stop down manually before the exposition. Another issue is the finder. There is no focusing aid in the prism so using it is more difficult than the finder of the Ia which is brighter, have better loupe and gives us the comfort of a microprism. So the Ia is much easier and faster to use.

But the Exa 0 is a piece of gem and it even provides us with a “sport finder”. Or at least a hole that can be called this way. It cannot be used to focus or set anything but it’s so nice that it even exists.

Ihagee Exa

Ihagee Exa

Maybe beauty is not everything but it is almost. That’s why we love this camera. Finally some words about the lens. I love the Trioplans since I tried one on my Altix. They render beautifully, especially compared with the Domiplans. The Domiplans are boring, the images are unsharp and the colors need lots of digital post-processing not to be dead-grey. The best you can tell is that they are reliable and even the old ones are in generally good shape. But don’t go for it. There is a large lens selection for the Exas. Tessars for example. But the best choice can be the Trioplan. It is a mid-priced lens and this suits well for the cheap-SLR concept of the Exa family. Trioplan is the best on the mid-priced lens palette, standing out the same way as the Exa stands out from the other cameras of its price range. Or even more.

Some test shots in BW

Before hitting the road

On the road

And here is the undeniable evidence of the superiority of the Trioplan lens. Look at them in full res. Look at the textures. And the bokeh. Crisp like nothing else. I love it.

I'm in love with Trioplan - 1

I'm in love with Trioplan - 2

She's out of focus

Lookout tower

Wheat

• The Exa shutter
• Exa on exakta.org
• Exa on photoethnography.com
• The Original Exa - cameraquest.com

Voigtlander Bessamatic

• Serial No: 66717
• Manufactured: 1958 - 1960
• Shutter: Synchro Compur
• Shutter speeds: B, 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500
• Lens: Color-Skopar X 1:2,8/50
• Aperture: 2.8 - 22 stepless
• Lens No: 4970657
• Lens mount: Bessamatic bayonet (very similar but not identical to the Retina Reflex mount)
• Last CLA: unknown

Voigtlander Bessamatic set

Big? Yes, it's big but there are other big cameras as well. Heavy? Like a rock but it's still not a unique feature. If I had to use one word to describe the Bessamatic it would be the quality. The unimaginable Voigtlander quality is what makes this camera outstanding. And the handiness.

By the way, this was the first camera in the World wich had a zoom lens, the 36-82mm Zoomar as an accessory. On my wishlist. But let's get back to the camera itself.

Bessamatic was the last in the line started with Contaflex and followed by Retina Reflex, both whith leaf shutter and interchangeable lens. These SLRs were quite compicated with a lens shutter and a second shutter behind the mirror. The push of the shutter release button triggered a series of complex events which had to take place very quickly: close the lens shutter, reduce the lens aperture to the preset f-stop, raise the reflex mirror, open the second shutter and finally open and close the lens shutter to expose the film to the light. You could hear the noise of slim metallic parts busily swirling.

Voigtlander Bessamatic set

I'm not sure which camera was the first with the meter match needles displayed in the viewfinder but lots of photographers were thankful for this feature. The designers of the Bessamatic tried to make the whole picture taking process as easy as possible. You just have to turn the topleft dial to match the needles in the viewfinder and turn the aperture/speed ring to shift between the corresponding aperture and shutter speed values. Or set the speed first with the ring and find the appropriate aperture with the dial. Two moving small red indicators show the dept-of-field for the given aperture as you set it with the dial. Focusing is guided by a split image prism. Everything feels so natural.

Voigtlander Bessamatic

Here are some field experiences with the Bessamatic. It's too heavy to told it in your hands for long time. It's too heavy to hang it on your neck using the neckstrip of the everready case; it causes muscle pain after a while. It's too heavy to bring with you everywhere but it worth the effort. This camera can cause a sort of addiction. You don't want to use anything else after you tried it. It's so precise, it works like a clock. It operates easy. Everything on it is extremely good quality.

For night shooting the Bessamatic is almost as good as the Werra Matic, however, you can have difficulties seeing the speed/aperture settings in the dark. Be aware that he otherwise precise selenium cell is not accurate in low light conditions. Here are some sample shots on a high ASA Ilford Delta film:

The Muflon Drinking-Trough

First staircase

Hatshop

And some color shots:

Color-Skopar X

Pioneers

Somló

I love this camera. Here is a last shot using the macro extension lens:

Certo Dollina

• Voigtlander Bessamatic on Photoethnography
• Voigtlander Bessamatic on Camerapedia
• Mike Connealy on Bessamatic
• The Bessamatic page of Retrography.com
• Mike Elek's Bessamatic review