No serial number camera

Hello everyone
I suspect you will need a better photo of the card which was in the case-my computer with my photo and paint programs is in pieces. Anyway, I want to know what you think of this Zorki with no serial numbers. The lens is the usual Industar 22- number is 0120793. I'll try to post a better photo of the card. Thanks for any information.








JimmyB

Hello Jim,

Very probably, the cover and the body don't belong to the same series.
On the first series, the serial number was engraved on the cover. On the last one, it was on the back of he body. You should have an early body with a last cover...

Amitiйs. Jacques.

I wondered if that might be the case. The body has no flash sync nor strap lugs-a 1c apparently. Here is a another picture of the card. Perhaps notes for a customer.





JimmyB

Zorki 1s don't have strap lugs or flash plugs. Usually!..

The moulding of reinforcement round the lens comes with the 1d; the difference of engraving (back rather than cover) at the end of 1d (1954). And the normalized speeds (1/25th..., rather than 1/20th...) with the 1e.

The card shows couples of speeds/diaphragms with the normalized speeds. If the speed dial shows the same normalized speeds, your camera should be a 1e. As for the lack of serial number, there can be several possibilities: forgetting, parts changed during repair...

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Looking closely to your pictures, it seems the speed dial reads "1/20th, 1/30th..." so, the old range (up to the 1d).

It would be fine to have a picture of the front part too, to see the moulding: round the lens or not?

Jacques.

Here is the front and bottom as well. There is no molding around the lens-a 1e body then. The speeds go from 1/20 to 500. The camera appears to have been well-taken care of. The seller was in Germany. As you say, there could be a number of reasons.








JimmyB

No moulding round the lens, so, it's a 1c.
For the lack of serial number: the cover was changed. Or the workman in charge of the engraving had drunk too much...

oops-1c! I know what happens when numbers(production output) take precedence over all else
I'm going with the inebriated engraver theory myself because it siounds more fun for the worker at least. I think this accounts for engraving errors in the other thread as well

JimmyB

I doubt that being caught drunk at work in a Stalin-era NKVD labor commune was much fun for the worker involved...

There is a reason the quality of post-war equipment was quite high.