I have an old Russian Zenit TTL camera, with Helios 44 mm removable lens. It belonged to my father, and I think he bought it in 1970's. You can focus on a needle held 10 feet away, adjust the aperture, speed, etc, most of which I don't understand.
I would like to gift it to Mr. Arya. So he can get in touch with me. I called up the number given, but got no reply. If Mr. Arya checks the missed call history, he can call me, on my mobile. Last three numbers are 371
Re: My fathers old film camera as gift!
by Vijay K on Dec 26, 2014 04:15 PM
We Indians do not value history and antiques much, rather we treat both to be garbage, kabad and scrap. There are very few exceptions like Mr. Arya and Mr. Shashi Kadapa. Thanks a ton !
Re: My fathers old film camera as gift!
by palanki narayana on Dec 27, 2014 05:25 PM
I have taken some of my best pictures using Zenit (58mm lens).There are two virtues of this camera. Its lens is very good and the camera is very inexpensive. However it is a very basic camera with every step to be manually controlled. Until 1980 the camera did not even have a hot shoe! The TTL metering was not reliable, using a cadmium meter and the scale was marked in Russian GOST instead of ASA or DIN. Taking a single picture may involve up to seven steps, all manual and depend on the photographer's instinct. Due to time involved, one cannot hope to take a fleeting picture like a flying bird or the sun going down the horizon.
Re: My fathers old film camera as gift!
by Ajit Birdi on Dec 27, 2014 11:41 PM
It is very easy Shashi Kadapa just need to understand a bit of speed and light and time relation thats all. Camera is built on the principle of human eye. To much light and the pupil goes smaller and to little light and it becomes big. Lets see for example if you are sitting in a sun and you wish to stay there but the sun is too bright what do you do. Ans: Put up a shade such as umbrella and wear sun glasses. In other words you cut out the amount of light reaching you. That is exactly what aperture does. Restrict the amount of light reaching the film. Speed on the camera is set according to the type of Film it is marked on the Film such as 125ASA etc. If for any reason you want to use large aperture then lot of light will reach the film and over expose it so you restrict the light by increasing the speed of the shutter , this will restrict as to much seconds the film is exposed to light. This just a basic concept. If I was you I will not throw your zenith or give it away, It is a brilliant and simple camera. Try exposing a film or two and you will see how simple and versatile a film camera is compared to a digital. Okey with digital one gets to see a photo take immediately. But the end results of a film are 100 times better then Digital, unless you go to higher end professional level of digital photography. Many will not agree with me the one has to see a picture with a professionally trained photographic eye. I still use my film cameras and will never change them.
Re: My fathers old film camera as gift!
by Ajit Birdi on Dec 27, 2014 11:42 PM
It is very easy Shashi Kadapa just need to understand a bit of speed and light and time relation thats all. Camera is built on the principle of human eye. To much light and the pupil goes smaller and to little light and it becomes big. Lets see for example if you are sitting in a sun and you wish to stay there but the sun is too bright what do you do. Ans: Put up a shade such as umbrella and wear sun glasses. In other words you cut out the amount of light reaching you. That is exactly what aperture does. Restrict the amount of light reaching the film. Speed on the camera is set according to the type of Film it is marked on the Film such as 125ASA etc. If for any reason you want to use large aperture then lot of light will reach the film and over expose it so you restrict the light by increasing the speed of the shutter , this will restrict as to much seconds the film is exposed to light. This just a basic concept. If I was you I will not throw your zenith or give it away, It is a brilliant and simple camera. Try exposing a film or two and you will see how simple and versatile a film camera is compared to a digital. Okey with digital one gets to see a photo take immediately. But the end results of a film are 100 times better then Digital, unless you go to higher end professional level of digital photography. Many will not agree with me the one has to see a picture with a professionally trained photographic eye. I still use my film cameras and will never change them.
Re: My fathers old film camera as gift!
by Ajit Birdi on Dec 27, 2014 11:43 PM
It is very easy Shashi Kadapa just need to understand a bit of speed and light and time relation thats all. Camera is built on the principle of human eye. To much light and the pupil goes smaller and to little light and it becomes big. Lets see for example if you are sitting in a sun and you wish to stay there but the sun is too bright what do you do. Ans: Put up a shade such as umbrella and wear sun glasses. In other words you cut out the amount of light reaching you. That is exactly what aperture does. Restrict the amount of light reaching the film. Speed on the camera is set according to the type of Film it is marked on the Film such as 125ASA etc. If for any reason you want to use large aperture then lot of light will reach the film and over expose it so you restrict the light by increasing the speed of the shutter , this will restrict as to much seconds the film is exposed to light. This just a basic concept. If I was you I will not throw your zenith or give it away, It is a brilliant and simple camera. Try exposing a film or two and you will see how simple and versatile a film camera is compared to a digital. Okey with digital one gets to see a photo take immediately. But the end results of a film are 100 times better then Digital, unless you go to higher end professional level of digital photography. Many will not agree with me the one has to see a picture with a professionally trained photographic eye. I still use my film cameras and will never change them.
