Zorki

A 35mm rangefinder system created on the basis of pre-WW2 LEITZ developments and produced by the Krasnogorsk Mechanical Plant (USSR). The choice of these particular developments as a prototype was most likely due to the fact that LEICA cameras were one of the most popular 35mm cameras at that time.

A copy of LEICA camera, the FED, began to be produced in 1934 in Kharkov (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the USSR) at the plant of the labor commune named after Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (later the Kharkov Machine-Building Plant "FED"). At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War (1941), production was evacuated from Kharkov and the technical documentation for the camera was transferred to the Krasnogorsk Mechanical Plant (KMZ).

THE CAMERAS:

THE FIRST GENERATION (separate viewfinder and rangefinder, bottom loading)

• Zorki (FED, FED 1948 Zorki, FED 1949 Zorki) - an almost exact copy of the pre-war FED;
• Zorki-S - as the Zorki, but with improved body, and flash synchronization;
• Zorki-2 - as the Zorki, but with a self-timer;
• Zorki-2S - as the S, but with a self-timer;

THE SECOND GENERATION (combined viewfinder/rangefinder, extended range of shutter speeds, rear loading)

• Zorki-3 - significantly improved model with die-cast aluminum body, removable back, combined viewfinder/rangefinder with diopter adjustment, and extended range of shutter speeds on two separate dials: top dial for fast speeds and front dial for slow speeds;
• Zorki-3M - as the 3, but with a single shutter speed dial;
• Zorki-3S - as the 3M, but with a modified top plate, and flash synchronization;
• Zorki-4 - as the 3S, but with a self-timer;
• Zorki-4K - as the 4, but with a shutter winding lever, and a non-removable take-up spool;
• Mir - as the 4, but without slow shutter speeds;

THE THIRD GENERATION (combined viewfinder/rangefinder, bottom loading)

• Zorki-5 - model with increased rangefinder base / reduced finder magnification, shutter winding lever, removable back, flash synchronization;
• Zorki-6 - as the 5, but with a hinged back and a self-timer;

THE FOURTH GENERATION (combined viewfinder/rangefinder, extended range of shutter speeds, rear loading)

• Drug - similar to the 4, but with bright-line frames in the viewfinder for 50 and 85mm lenses, hinged back, shutter release button on the right of the front plate, and a shutter winding lever at the bottom plate.

THE LENSES:

The range of lenses produced for Zorki cameras partially coincides with the range for Kiev-II/III/4 cameras produced by the Arsenal Plant (Kiev, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the USSR): a number of models were available in versions with the CONTAX bayonet mount or LEICA screw mount.