Zenit

Using the Zenit TTL

Zenit TTL, Helios 44M 58mm f/2, Kodak Portra 160

So far I am greatly enjoying using the Zenit TTL. I love it’s design which I find to be rugged and simple.

The Zenit TTL is a 35mm SLR from the early 1980’s with a M42 (aka Pentax aka Praktica) lens screw mount. As it’s name would imply it features through-the-lens metering including automatic aperture stop down with newer M42 lenses.

It’s metering is built into the shutter release. Partially pressing it down engaged the meter as well as stops down the lens aperture, and then pressing futher releases the shutter.

This is different than say the Pentax Spotmatic SP which has a separate lever to engage the aperture and metering. Either method works fine, though in practice I don’t check or change exposure every shot and therefore find the Pentax a bit less disruptive.

The metering itself is a bit suspect. I believe it averages light across the whole frame and seems to key off of any bright spots. It also engages at a slightly different point than the aperture stop-down.

I haven’t had any problems getting good exposures from it, but I have had to double- or triple-check many shots just to be sure I knew what it was thinking.

Olympics Past and Present

2014-02-01 09.47.10

The camera I hinted at last time is the Zenit TTL, specifically the edition commemorating the Games of the XXII Olympiad.  The 1980 Summer Olympics were held in Moscow and Zenit sold a souvenir flavor of their top film SLR for several years later.

So far this camera is a blast to shoot with.  It is a bit on the large and heavy side, although not nearly as much as I feared.  It does feel solid in a good way with its film advance and other functions having no slack or shifting at all.

The camera I found is in great shape and even the original leather case is perfectly usable.  It came with another Helios 44M lens, a 58MM f/2 standard lens with swirly out-of-focus elements when opened wide up.

With the Sochi Winter Olympics opening ceremony just around the corner I feel this is as appropriate a time as any to be shooting with this camera!

Welcome 2014

2014-01-18 23.18.22
Guess who?  (And from what camera?)

It was a busy holiday season for us as always, though this year was particularly packed for some reason.  I am just coming out of the trailing edge of seasonal activity and thinking once again about photography.

So Happy New Year to everyone!  Better late than never…

We are big olympaholics in this house and will watch summer or winter Olympics for hours on end.  Truth be told we slightly favor the winter Olympics, perhaps due to the higher speeds and greater likelihood of folks wiping out.

Given my recent penchant for M42 mount cameras I couldn't resist trying another model out.  I found one that will be very appropriate given that the Sochi XXII Olympic Winter Games are coming up soon.

See if you can figure out who the above figure is (not too hard…) as well as what was in the box he is printed on (perhaps a bit harder!).