Zenit 3M

[Philip]

Earlier this year I was in Santa Clara de Cuba and I visited Che Guevara's grave.  There, in the attached museum, I saw his camera, the one he owned when he was killed in Bolivia.  It was a Zenit 3M with a Helios 58mm f/2 lens.

Methought, "I must have one!"

I looked for several months and finally nabbed one on that big auction site. It arrived today from the Ukraine.   It's solid enough, though it really looks as if it was used constantly for the nearly fifty years of its life. I've never seen a working camera look so worn.  But the seller had given it a good working-over, and its functions are good.

Just the same, it has a skewed image in the viewfinder.   I see specs for the 3M say it had a 70% field of view.  And I also see the mirror is not a square (or rather not a rectangle); it's a kind of six-edged trapezoid.  (Yeah, yeah, I know: trapezoids have four sides . . . .)  I'm wondering if the skewiness I see in the vf is a function of that weirdly shaped mirror.

Any Zenit 3M users around?

[LarryD]

I had a Zenit B early model that had that same mirror. I can't say it had a skewed image in the viewfinder.

[shadowfox]

No sirree, my Zenit 3M has a square viewfinder.
The edges are maybe a bit fuzzy as I recall, but it looks normal, almost like looking through a ground glass.

[Philip]

Yeah. . .  I guess it's just something odd about mine that I'll live with.  Thanks, fellas.

.

[Julio1fer]

I did not know Che died using a 3M. I was shooting mine at the same time!

A Zenit 3M with a Helios 44 (58mm f/2) was my only camera for about 12 years, starting at age 15-16 IIRC. I bought it used from a camera store, who supposedly bought it from a Russian in his way to the Antartic. Russkies used to carry cameras abroad as a way to get some extra foreign exchange in those days.

The camera was simple, tough and easy to use. It had a round viewfinder and just a plain ground glass to focus. The lens was a dream for portraits. I did not know at the time that the lens could be changed, but in any case M39 Zenit lenses were not available. I sold the camera about 10 years ago to a photography student, just before catching the old cameras bug.

Philip, mine did not have a 70% field of view, more like the 90% plus of the K-1000 I used later. Maybe they are referring to the reduction factor or something like that. And the view was definitely not skewed at all! Your camera needs help, I think.

I have often thought of getting a 3M once again. You know, this silly idea of "let's get back every camera you've ever shot with". I got by with a Zorki-6, which is essentially the same thing with a RF instead of the prism.

Thanks for a post bringing back so many sweet memories.

[br1078lum]

Just looked at my EM Philip, and it has the same mirror you describe.  Looking through the viewfinder, everything seems okay.  But if you look into the mirror box from the front of the camera, something looks skewed.  Not sure if it's the mirror itself, or the frame around the focusing screen.  Mine won't shoot because the shutter mech is jammed up.

Julio, I purchased a Sears TLS (nee Ricoh Singlex) as a replacement for the one I originally had in high school, and also the lenses and other accessories to complete the kit.  Then I took it home to shoot on the weekend of my high school 40th reunion (post to follow).  I now remember why I traded it in on my first Nikkormat!  But that's the only one I've bought out of nostagia sake.  All the other models have been because I never had one of them before, but now they are within my price range.

PF

[Philip]

  Thanks, Julio & Phil.
  My first "serious" camera was a Zenit E, a younger sister of the 3M.  I used it for several years before I understood the manual stop-down thing: I realised finally I'd been shooting at f/2.8 all the time!   Soon thereafter, the shutter died and I went looking for another camera, and got a Minolta X370.  There is a solidity in the Zenits (and their lovely chunky clockwork sounds) that is missing in most other non-Soviet cameras.  (I've been using a Univex Mercury II lately and it has that solid feel, too. And some of those windy noises.)
  When I look inside the 3M's mirror box, everything looks perfectly square and plumb. But when I look through the vf window, the ground glass seems to be out of alignment.  I'm not sure how that will work out in taking pictures, as it suggests to me that the view will show uneven planes of focus.  In any case, I'll be trying a roll soon.
  I'll report back.

    Philip

[radiophoto]

I just did a google image search of the Z3M, and it's a pretty sleek SLR, to be sure.  Is it heavy?  It looks heavy and solid.  Che G. might have used it from time to time for a little troop discipline. 

[Philip]

Pete, yes, the 3M is fairly heavy. I suspect it would hold up well to being used as a weapon from time to time.  There's no plastic inside it and the metal work looks like they were not trying to save bulk.   

I just compared it to my Nikon FE and it's about the same mass, though it is a little shorter (in side-to-side length);  it is a thicker camera than the FE, and both are about the same height.  The FE is a heavy camera, but the 3M is a little heavier -- though I may be comparing apples & oranges since the Helios 58mm f/2 lens is a lot bigger than the little 24mm f/2.8 lens on my FE right now.

[Julio1fer]

Philip, probably there is something out of alignment in the light path of the VF optics - either the ground glass or a mirror after it. If it focuses correctly in all of the glass surface, it is a mirror for sure.

As for heavy, I don't remember the 3M as particularly heavy. It is made of metal but it is rather small. And it had a nice release sound which is the same as the Zorki-6.

I LOL with your 2.8 anecdote. You do have to remember to work down the outer ring, kind of "manual set" aperture. My Helios had a nice quirk, when in f/2 it had a very small play in the outer ring. You had to use the play to unfreeze the movement of the aperture ring.  That was a good point to forget in a frantic shooting opportunity!

Of course the first mirror stays up until you wind again.

[Philip]

Philip, probably there is something out of alignment in the light path of the VF optics - either the ground glass or a mirror after it. If it focuses correctly in all of the glass surface, it is a mirror for sure.

I'm pretty sure you're right that it's the mirror between the  ground glass and the VF window itself. I'll test it with a roll before I decide whether I need to get that realigned.

I'm sure, by the way, that if I take it apart, it won't go back together.  I need to decide whether the repair is worth the sixty dollars I figure I'll pay at my local repair shop.