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Zenit is a Russian (and formerly Soviet) camera brand manufactured by the KMZ factory (Krasnogorskiy Mekhanicheskiy Zavod) near Moscow since 1952 and by BelOMO in Belarus since the 1970s. The Zenit trademark is primarily associated with 35mm SLR cameras. more...
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Amongst related brands are Zorki for 35mm rangefinder cameras, Moskva (Moscow) for medium-format folding cameras and Horizon for panoramic cameras.
The name is sometimes spelled Zenith in English literature, such as the manuals published by the UK Zenit-importers TOE. (However, TOE's imported camera bodies themselves retained the "Zenit" badges.)
History
Early years
The first Zenit was based on the Zorki rangefinder camera (itself a copy of the Leica II). In transforming the Zorki into an SLR, the simplest possible approach was taken: the rangefinder housing was removed from the top and replaced by a ground-glass screen and prism; a mirror was added below, with a rope-and-pulley setting system and the M39x1 thread mount was pushed forward to make room for the mirror inside.
During the first years of production (until the Zenit-E of 1967) Zenit camera development coincided with that of the Zorki cameras. The Zenit-S had PC-synchro for external flash units (almost like the Zorki-S) and the Zenit-3M also had an RF-sibling, the Zorki-6.
Zenit-E and its successors
During 1967 through 1969 KMZ built an automatic die-cast moulding line, allowing mass camera production. Camera production switched to the M42x1 thread (also known as P-wire or Praktica thread) and an instantly-returning mirror was also developed. This led to one of the most famous Zenits -- Zenit-E which saw (including its subtypes) over 12 million produced.
Towards the end of the 20th century, the Zenit-E heritage became an obstacle to the development of more modern Zenit models. This was because almost all low-end Zenits until the recent 412DX have been based around the Zenit-E die-cast chassis.
The major events of the further development of Zenit-E line was:
Introduction of an automatic 'jumping' diaphragm on the Zenit-EM;
TTL metering system (instead of a non-coupled Selenium-cell lightmeter) on the Zenit-TTL;
Switching to the Pentax K mount -- Zenit-122K;
DX-code introduction (instead of manual ISO-speed switch) -- Zenit-412DX;
Advanced models
The first attempt to make high-end professional camera by KMZ was the Start in 1958. This camera had a full set of shutter speeds (from 1 sec to 1/1000), a lens with an automatic diaphragm in a unique breech-lock mount, and even a knife for cutting-off part of the unexposed film. The photographer could choose between a pentaprism and waist-level finders. However, the camera was too complex and too expensive for the Soviet market.
Read more at Wikipedia.org
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