Zenit (camera)

This article is about the Russian camera and photographic equipment brand. For the astronomic or geodetic instruments directed to the zenith, see Zenith camera.

For other uses, see Zenit .

Zenit () is a Russian (and formerly Soviet) camera brand manufactured by KMZ in the town of Krasnogorsk near Moscow since 1952 and by BelOMO in Belarus since the 1970s. The Zenit trademark is associated with 35mm SLR cameras. Among related brands are Zorki for 35mm rangefinder cameras, Moskva (Moscow) and Iskra for medium-format folding cameras and Horizon for panoramic cameras. In the 60s and 70s they were exported by Mashpriborintorg to 74 countries.

The name is sometimes spelled Zenith in English, such as the manuals published by the UK Zenit-importer TOE. However, TOE's imported camera bodies as from 1963 retained the "Zenit" badges. The early Zorki-based models before that time were labelled "Zenith" in a handwritten style of script. While frail and a technical improvisation they were the cheapest Pentaprism-SLRs in the UK at the time and are highly desirable collector's items today.

History

Early years

The above Zenith was based on the Zorki rangefinder camera (a copy of the Leica II). In transforming the Zorki into an SLR, the simplest approach was taken: the rangefinder...
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