Soviet Cameras 4 - Zenit 3M / EM / TTL / 122

The Zenit family is large, with many types and subtypes. The last time I searched, I found "just" 26 subtypes. I'll talk about the ones I had. They were mainly made by KMZ near Moscow, but other factories like MMZ (Russia) and Lomo (Belarus) also made them.

Zenit 3M with an Industar 50

This is a cool camera. For me the best looking SLR from KMZ. It's not the first Zenit, but an early model. Older than this are the Zenit 1 and S types and subtypes. There are 14 Zenit 3 subtypes, just to give an idea of how crazy things can go.

The 3M is, like most Zenit SLRs, all mechanic cameras with just the "high" speeds. This means no speeds below 1/30s (maybe one obscure subtype has 1/25s).

The 3M mirror has no automatic return. If the shutter is not loaded, the mirror will be locked up and the viewfinder will be black.

The model above had no focusing aid of any type. No microprism, no split image, just a very murky and dim ground glass and it's a pain to focus with an aperture smaller than F2. This camera also lacks a light meter.

Usually, it comes with an Industar-50 (50mm F3.5) Tessar type lens or a Helios-44 (58mm F2) Biotar type lens, in  M39 thread mount for SLR instead of the usual M42. Be careful, they are NOT the M39 Leica thread mount for rangefinders.

Other lenses are the MIR 1A 37mm F2.8 , the Jupiter-9 85mm F2 and the awesome Industar-61 L/Z. They are fine performers but very prone to flare. Again, pay attention when buying them because they can be found in M39 SLR, M42 SLR and even M39 LTM (except for the Mir 1A). For me, the I-61 L/Z is the best Russian lens by a large margin.

INDUSTAR 61 L/D = M39 Leica thread mount lens

INDUSTAR 61 L/Z = M39 (old Zenit) or M42 SLR mount lens

Mir 1A in M39 SLR

Jupiter-9 in M39 SLR

Industar-50 in M39 SLR

ZENITs models "S", "3" and "3M" uses M39 SLR Thread mount. All other ZENIT SLRs uses M42 Thread mount, except the 122K model that uses Pentax-K mount.

Zenit EM
(C) Alexandr Komarov
(temporary low quality picture)

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of my own EM, then I borrowed one from my friend's website. This camera was, like the 3M, a VERY solid one. You can hammer nails with it, it's almost all-metal.

The main differences, when compared to the 3M, are, besides the obvious different look, the addition of an uncoupled selenium light meter on the top plate, on the right side with the cell in front of the pentaprism housing, above the lens. Note that this light meter is not a TTL type and it uses no batteries.

This model has an instant return mirror and a so-so focusing screen with microprism aid.

The ZENIT-TTL is the same camera but it uses a CDS light meter with through-the-lens metering instead of the above-the-lens selenium cell. It's rarer than the other Zenits based on the same chassis. The meter is very basic but the film sensibility setting is in GOST/DIN and when converted to ISO gives some very weird values, making it not usable for positive film, but ok for negatives. GOST is about 80% of the ISO value, so GOST 80 = ISO 100.

Zenit TTL with Helios 44M-6

For me, the TTL is the most desirable of the Zenits. It's classy, has a nice old style zero center needle light meter. The main caveat is the focusing screen, it's horrible, dim and with a huge light fall off. Finally, I dared to change it for the original 122 one, and what a difference!

If you plan to change the screen, be advised that it can be a real pain to do the adjustment. In my case, I had to use three Zenit shims (black ones, 2 "thick" and 1 "thin") and three of those aluminum shims above the screen. The original screen is much thicker than the 122's one, maybe 3 or four times more. And to make things really annoying, the screen locking system is made of two springs. This is the most stupid way I ever saw in my life to do this. Be careful to not lose them. I passed a thin copper wire through a small loop the springs have to not lose them.

Zenit 122 50 Years of KMZ Edition
Bought NEW in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1995

The 122 is a more recent camera, with an electronic TTL light meter with 3 not so very bright LEDs on the viewfinder and a much better (but still not great) focusing screen with both microprism and split image. Otherwise it's the same old formula, but with extensive use of plastic instead of metal but still a tough camera. The lens is a Helios-44-M6 (in M42 thread mount)

So, what's the deal with the Zenits ? Simple, they are VERY cheap and the lens is indeed very good. 

The normally included lenses are the Helios-44 and the Industar-50 but the good thing is they're compatible with any M42 lens, so don't complain. If you don't like former USSR/Russian glass, just put a SMC Takumar, Tomioka, Zeiss or whatever you like on it. There are hundreds of options for experimentation.

There are many Helios-44 subtypes in M42 thread mount. I have two picks: The 44-2 and the 44M-6. The first one is an early design with a preset diaphragm and a cool 8 blade iris. It's a good choice ir you plan to use it on other cameras because of the preset manual aperture. It's a joy to use on a mirrorless system camera. The 44M-6 is another story: Its a fully automatic aperture lens. This means that there's no automatic to manual lever on it. If you plan to use it on other camera systems you WILL need an adapter with a flange to pull the aperture control pin.

Optically speaking, they are exactly the same formula, a six-element Zeiss Biotar, but the 44M-6 has a better coating and better resolution. Think about them like a Zeiss lens with poor quality control. They can be very good or a lemon, depending on your sample.

It's a nice first camera for someone who doesn't want to spend much money on film photography and a very good learning tool. Expect to pay less than $30 with lens.

Zenit cameras are so cheap that IMHO every film photographer should try them at least for one roll of film.