Zorki

Zorki (meaning sharp-sighted) is a series of 35mm rangefinder cameras manufactured in the name of a series of manufactured in the Soviet Union, by the KMZ (Krasnogorskiy Mekhanicheskiy Zavod) factory near Moscow between 1948 and 1978. The first Zorki cameras were largely based on the Leica II, a trend which was discontinued later when the factory began producing Zorki cameras which were original to a great degree. Perhaps on eof the more notable feature of Zorki cameras was their shutter speed, which could only be set after the shutter has been cocked, and if the shutter speed was set before the shutter is cocked there were chances that the camera might be permanently damaged.

The first Zorki camera, the Zorki 1 was launched in 1948, which was followed by the Zorki 3 in 1951; later an improved version of the Zorki 2 was released, which was called the Zorki 3S. The Zorki 2 was launched in the year 1954, a flash version of which, the Zorki 2S, was release sometime later. In 1956, a self timer was added to the Zorki 3S, which was then sold as Zorki 4. Zorki 4 spawned two variants, the improved lever advance equipped Zorki 4K and the low-cost watered Zorki Mir. Zorki 4 is widely regarded as one of the finest Russian cameras and over two million of theses sold. Some of the other cameras made under the Zorki name were Zorki 35M, Zorki 5, Zorki 6, Zorki 10, Zorki 11, Zorki 12, etc.