Since my childhood, Soviet cameras were close to me. My father immortalized, with black and white photos, a beautiful stage of his children. Thanks to his habit of going out with camera in hand, today we can enjoy those photos, which reflect our birthdays, outings to different places, meetings with friends, etc.
Time went by, and as age and her work responsibilities stole her time, she left her camera behind.
One day our house was robbed, and among the things that were taken was his Soviet camera Kiev. From that moment on, I didn't see my father wanting to buy another camera. It hurt a lot to lose so many objects, which had a sentimental value.
But as you know, I followed in his footsteps, and apart from medicine as a profession, I did buy my first analog camera, to continue the tradition of immortalizing moments through photos.
Now, I have my digital cameras for daily use, but for collection, nothing better than analog cameras, which I have been able to acquire and collect, over the years.
Today I will share with you my collection of Zenit cameras, in their silver version.
They are analog cameras manufactured in the Soviet Union (USSR).
Single lens reflex camera. The photographer sees the image to be taken through an optical viewfinder.
Location of its controls on the right.
They use 35 mm film rolls.
The brand has transited its history, from its first model Zenit, also called Zenit 1, manufactured in 1952, to the Zenit KM and the Zenit KM Plus of 2005.
Within this collection, it is my favorite camera. It is the most compact, and maintains its robust construction, which gives it great durability.
Its elegance distinguishes it. With a vintage design that I love. With a beautiful contrast between a quality metal and a coating of black volcanite, which gives it high resistance.
You could see it on the market in blue and black. It is an improved version of the initial model. Its viewfinder is large and luminous. You can see in the photos that it comes with its original lens, an Industar-50 f3.5/50.
This camera is bottom-loaded; it lacks a lightmeter and selftimer, but has a flash sync port.
This model has an attractive design, without the coating on the top. It has a rear cover, to facilitate the loading of the film, unlike the previous camera, where its roll is loaded from below.
The same camera, but with variations in the position of the model typeface and the color of the selftimer
It was the most popular camera model, with just over eight million units produced.
It incorporated a selenium light meter and an automatically lowering mirror.
They were sold with a Helios 44-2 1:2 f=58 mm lens.
It is a version very similar to its big sister, the Zenit E, but with automatic diaphragm, and heavier.
It was marketed with a Helios-44M 2/58 lens, which provided more quality and luminosity than the Helios-44.
It had several versions within the same model, depending on the countries where it was marketed. We found it in silver and black versions.
Friends, it's been years since I've taken pictures with analog cameras. But it is a pleasure to have some of these models together. To know that they condense a well elaborated design, that you feel in your hands an equipment without any electronics, and that they can still work in our times.
That's the magic of these analog cameras, that make us learn with their use, the basics of photography. I wish you a good start of the week.
Own photos. Camera: Panasonic Lumix model DMC-ZS100
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Text by Andrés Brunet
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