Zenit

Throughout its history, cameras from the Krasnogorsk Mechanical Plant (KMZ) were exported not only to developing countries but also to Germany, Italy, Austria, France, and England, where they successfully competed with Western products. The "Zenith" series "E" became the most mass-produced SLR cameras in the world: approximately fifteen million different modifications were produced. "Zenit" cameras often won prestigious awards and received enthusiastic reviews from the public, media, and experts. For example, in 1979, the popular English photography magazine "What Camera?" recognized the "Zenit-EM" as the best camera of the year.

It all began immediately after the end of World War II when the Krasnogorsk Mechanical Plant was tasked with producing peacetime products: projection devices for the State Library named after V.I. Lenin, theater binoculars, and, finally, cameras. In 1947, KMZ established a production base for making cameras and scientific instruments. A year later, the first fifty "Zorki" cameras were produced, which gained great popularity and became the prototype for the "Zenit" series.

The history of the "Zenit" cameras began in 1952, when further experiments and design developments of the "Zorki" model led to the creation of a new mirror reflex camera. In 1955, the first truly mass-produced camera of the "Zenit" family - the "Zenit-S" - was released, which featured an improved shutter and synchronization contact.

The "Zenit" and "Zenit-S" had a mirror that only descended when the shutter was cocked, so the frame in the viewfinder was visible only when the shutter was cocked. Since leaving the shutter cocked was quite damaging to its springs, early "Zenits" strictly followed the rule known to every owner: "Cocked the shutter - take the picture."

After high-quality rangefinder cameras like the "Zorki-3" and "Zorki-4," which were on par with world standards, were developed and put into production, KMZ decided to create a new "Zenit." Initially, it was named "Kristall."
 

This camera had an extremely precise and durable aluminum alloy body, which was a single piece that was years ahead of the global development of mirror cameras. Additionally, the top cover of the camera was also cast, with very thick walls. In 1962, the camera was renamed to "Zenit-3M": the only difference from the "Kristall" was in the design of the top cover, which was no longer so monumental.

The third-family "Zenits" became the first "millionaires" in Soviet photographic industry and were also the first to go into mass export. At the same time, an automatic machine line for high-precision processing of bodies was ordered in Germany, which became the technological basis for camera production at KMZ until the late 90s. The bulky, large, and heavy "Zenit-4" replaced the successful third-family cameras.

It had its advantages – a sufficiently wide range of exposures for the mid-1960s, and most importantly, what many modern cameras lack – synchronization at any shutter speed with any flashes. Additionally, the "Zenit-4" was the first to feature a built-in exposure meter and viewfinder. The exposure meter worked without limitations both with a prism and with a convenient finder with a magnifier for precise focusing. The viewfinder was a significant plus for this camera, but there was one major drawback - the delay between pressing the shutter release and the shutter firing, which essentially ruined all the good points of this camera.

The fifth family of "Zenit" cameras was a real breakthrough in Soviet and Western photographic industries. The "Zenit-5" introduced the world's first built-in electric drive among series-produced general-purpose cameras.
 

It was powered by a formally unchanged battery, but composed of ordinary "D" type batteries (which could be replaced as they failed), advanced film at a speed of about 1-1.5 frames per second, and was charged from a 127 or 220-volt network using a charger included in the set. In other components, the camera did not differ from its predecessor, the "Zenit-4."

The next generation of cameras - the "Zenit-6" - featured significant simplifications and limited capabilities. In particular, the camera was not equipped with an exposure meter. The camera named "Zenit-66," released around the same time, differed from the "Zenit-3M" only by its reversing mirror, which allowed seeing the frame in the viewfinder before cocking and immediately after releasing the shutter.

The aforementioned "Zenit" cameras of the fifth and sixth families met the same fate - quick oblivion. This is because they were replaced by the new "Zenit-E," which became a true classic. In fact, when we talk about the "Zenit" camera, it is most often the unpretentious, reliable, and durable "Zenit-E" cameras that come to mind, which spread worldwide in tens of millions.

The "Zenit-E" incorporated all the best features of its predecessors. The threaded lens mount and soft, well-feeling shutter release, the permanently visible mirror, built-in exposure meter, and other technological features became the foundation of the success of these cameras. The time between pressing the shutter release button and the start of the shutter curtains' movement is probably the shortest among all "Zenits," allowing for "in-flight" shooting rather than with a delay of significant fractions of a second.

The "Zenit-E" was phenomenally successful, sold massively both in the Soviet Union and abroad. The demand for these cameras was so high that in Belarus, in the city of Vileika, a new camera production was set up with technical assistance from KMZ. However, while the quality of the first releases was at a proper level, by the late 1980s and early 1990s, Belarusian "Zenits" started to significantly lag behind their suburban counterparts.

A cheaper and simpler variant of the "Zenit-E" model was the "Zenit-V" camera, which was produced with an external exposure meter that the photographer could purchase separately if needed.

Later, the "Zenit-E" family of cameras began to noticeably age, and KMZ needed to improve the camera without increasing its cost and while not disrupting the well-established mass production. Therefore, all technological innovations were quite modest. This led to the appearance of the "Zenit-EM" and "Zenit-BM" cameras, which featured a jumping or, as it was called, "blinking" aperture.

As a result, the operational efficiency with lenses equipped with such an aperture mechanism (index "M") sharply increased. The second addition was a focusing screen with a central microprism, which significantly facilitated precise focusing. The new "Zenit" family named "TTL"/"12" introduced changes to the shutter design that improved the accuracy of exposure times and the uniformity of curtain movement.

The need for this innovation was due to the gradual development of color photography in the country, and these issues became critically important, especially for slide shooting. The most durable of these series of cameras produced at the Krasnogorsk Mechanical Plant was the "Zenit-11": the last of these cameras were assembled at KMZ until 1992.

This camera was produced for eleven years and proved itself well in operation. There were other modifications of the "Zenit" cameras that had both technological innovations and significant drawbacks. Some of them, like the "Zenit-18," were soon discontinued due to design flaws.

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The "Zenit" camera became a real pride and a bright achievement of Soviet photographic industry. The cameras born in the 1950s and 1960s lived long lives and even outlived their era. Today, many photography enthusiasts still use their "Zenits," despite the advent of modern, younger, and more accurate automatic cameras. These cameras captured happy moments in the lives of millions of people around the world. The "Zenit" entered history as the most mass-produced SLR camera of the 20th century!