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Matt Jahans
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 11, 2004 - 06:30 am: | 
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Hi
I have recently aquired a Zenit ES Photo Sniper camera. Now I'll be totally honest and admit that I am an SLR virgin, I've never used one before so my knowledge is lacking.
It appears to be in working order mechanically and I will soon be trying a roll of film. However when looking through the view finder I get an image but it appears to be dirty as if a lense needed cleaning. I have cleaned the telephoto lens and the standard one and the problem still is present using either. The external face of the view finder has been cleaned and also the mirror and ground glass after removing the lense - but non of this cured the problem.
Could this be down to a dirty prism ? The camera was stored in a shed for many years so possibly damp may have effected it. A slight trace of mould (?) was cleaned from the telephoto lens so I imagine a similar fate may have happened to the prism ?
I would also be interested if there is anywhere in the UK that would service such a camera should this be required
Any ideas apprciated.
Thanks in advance
Matt J |
Will
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 11, 2004 - 09:02 am: |
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Hi Matt,
It's possibly dirt or fungus on the prism. But more likely it's that the mirroring of the prism has deteriorated. If that's the case, you will need to find a good used prism or find someone that can re-silver your original prism. G/L.
BTW, that is a really cool camera!
Will |
Jon Goodman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 11, 2004 - 09:25 am: |
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Hi, Matt.
That model of Zenit wasn't known for having a super bright viewfinder, but it should not look dirty. A longer lens will exacerbate the dim viewfinder problem a bit, but not terribly so. I agree you may have a deteriorated pentaprism, however it may also help to disassemble and clean the focus screen and the lens which sits atop it. Fortunately, this camera is not super difficult to work on, and there are some excellent websites to help. For a link to a very friendly man in The Netherlands who knows a great deal about photosnipers, please go here (you'll also find repair tutorials, and you'll see my name mentioned if you prowl around long enough):
http://www.xs4all.nl/~tomtiger/
Good luck with it!
Jon |
rick oleson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, August 11, 2004 - 10:05 am: |
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Before tearing into it though, see if a friend has another Zenit that you can borrow just to look at. You mention that you're new to SLRs, and it's a fact of life that even a bright SLR viewfinder has a rather grainy appearance compared to the direct view you get with a rangefinder camera. A Zenit finder is grainier than average, and it will be more so with the f/4 telephoto lens on it than with the normal f/2 lens.... so it's possible that what you're seeing could be normal for the camera. |
mattjahans
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 16, 2004 - 05:14 am: |
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Thanks for your feedback guys.
It may well be that my view is as grainy as normal for a Zenit. I will try some film in it today.
Another thought, if the problem is down to a mouldy or dirty prism, will that only effect the view finder image or will such dirt also show up on my actual photographs ?
In the mean time I have ordered two books from amazon on SLR cameras (basics) so I'm looking forward to using it.
Thanks for your replies they have been most helpful.
Regards
Matt |
Jon Goodman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 16, 2004 - 07:49 am: |
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Hi, Matt.
What you see in the viewfinder is merely a reflection of what the lens sees. That reflection must pass through a pentaprism, magnifying lens, etc so it can be seen as your eye "expects" to see it and not inverted or minimized in size, etc. What the lens imprints on the film will be unaffected by anything in the viewfinder chain.
For what it is worth, I went through a Zenit 3M last night. I replaced the pentaprism with a new one and removed the focus screen/magnifying lens and washed it really well. Even with a new pentaprism and clean as new focus screen, the graininess is still there...it is brighter, however only by a few degrees. Primarily, I've only managed to elminate an annoying line (from pentaprism deterioration/desilvering) and a weird black spot on the focus screen. Still, the camera cleaned up really well, and I believe it will be a very nice one to use. Smooth and strong movement.
Jon |
mattjahans
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - 02:23 am: |
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Hi Jon
Thanks for your feedback. It is as I hoped then, that the film is not affected by the viewfinder parts. I am getting a roll of film developed today which will prove it all.
I photographed passers by and aircraft (I'm on the Heathrow airport flight path) from my office window as a test, thankfully I wasn't spotted or an armed police unit may have raided my office thinking I was trying to shoot down an airplane!!!
I will be happy to live with the viewfinder graininess, knowing that the photographs will not be affected, considering what you have mentioned about your Zenit 3M.
Thanks again for your help its been very informative, especially as I'm a complete novice.
Best regards
Matt |
mattjahans
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - 09:41 am: |
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The film has been developed with very good results, no distortion at all :-)
Thanks again
Matt |
Dennis Ronca
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 06, 2006 - 03:40 pm: |
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Hello, I have recently aquired a zenit F12 photo sniper camera and can't figure out how to rewind the film. The teeth/sprocket that cary the film only go one way. I have a manual in english for another photosnipe model that says to push in the shutter button while rewindinding but this does not work for my camera. Any advice?
Thanks,
Dennis |
Marco
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 09, 2006 - 10:52 pm: |
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Are you sure it doesn't instruct you to depress "the collar AROUND the shutter button"? It thus work in some my Zenit cameras. |
Sergey Ilyin
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 02:31 am: |
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You have "Fotosniper FS-12"? If so, it is based on Zenit-12 camera. I don't have an english manual for Zenit-12 but here is manual for Zenit-122 which is nearly the same: http://www.zenitcamera.com/mans/zenit-122/zenit-122-eng.html
According to russian manual for FS-12, Marco says absolutely right -- you need to push the collar around the shutter button until it locks in lowered position. |
