The Zorki 4 is a rangefinder camera. It was built by KMZ (Krasnogorskij Mekhanicheskij Zavod Imeni S.A. Zvereva) between 1956 and 1973.
During these 18 years, the Zorki 4 was built over 1.7 million times, making it the most successful model in the series. This number is split between approximately 1 million of the Zorki 4a and 700,000 of the Zorki 4b. The difference probably lies in the manufacturing quality.
The Zorki 4 is equipped with an M39 thread. In most cases, it came with an Industar 50-2 3.5/50 or a Jupiter-8 2/50 lens. The exposure times go from 1 second to 1/100 second. There is also a 1/30 second setting for shooting with a flash connected to the sync socket.
The Zorki 4 operates completely manually without batteries. There is no exposure meter, aperture and exposure time have to be chosen by the photographer.
For manual focusing, the Zorki 4 has a built-in rangefinder. For sharp images, the two images in the viewfinder must be superimposed.
Films for the Zorki 4
According to the instruction manual, the Zorki 4 is designed for 35mm films. These films are still being manufactured and can be specified from almost any developing vendor.
Possible films for the rangefinder camera are the Kodak Ultramax 400* for color photos and the Ilford XP2 Super* for B&W photos. Both films are processed in the C-41 development process.
Zorki 4K
Produced from 1972 to 1978, the Zorki 4K is identical to the Zorki 4, but it has a lever for transporting the film.
MIR
The Mir, which is Russian for world or peace, was a cheaper version of the Zorki 4 for the home market. It dispensed with the slow shutter speeds. The Mir/Мир offers only 1/30 sec, 1/60 sec, 1/125 sec, 1/250 sec, 1/500 sec and Bulb.
