Zorki MIR - First roll of film was a disaster!

[Yuey]

Hi everyone! I recently bought my first rangefinder camera - a Zorki MIR. I absolutely loved shooting with it. I read several online manuals on the MIR and tried to follow them as well as I could. However, when I got my first roll (Ilford Delta 400) developed, the results were less than stellar. I got my negatives back and saw that there were only about 5 exposures, the rest of the roll was blank. The five exposures I got were all jumbled with multiple exposures fit onto a single frame... see for yourself:



The rest of the pictures were all very similar, for anyone interested, here is the full album.

It would be great if anyone can help me with this issue, I absolutely love shooting with this camera and it would be such a shame if I can't capture the amazing images I know it's capable of producing.

Thanks for your help!

[Martytoof]

I'm just guessing completely, but it looks like your film advance might be broken. Try to buy a sacrifice roll at the drugstore and load it in the camera, then fire a few shots with the back open and see if it advances properly.

[Dez]

There are three likely causes for this problem. I seem to recall that this camera has a removable back. Open it up and put some resistance on the sprocket wheel with your thumb while winding it. It should advance exactly eight teeth on the sprocket wheel. If it doesn't, there is something messed up in the advance mechanism, almost certainly stripped gear teeth. If that is the case, look for a new camera cheap on ebay. It will cost more than the value of the camera to repair, unless you are handy and have spares.

If it does advance eight teeth while applying resistance, you have a different problem. Look at your film: are the sprocket holes torn or distorted? If so, there is probably something jamming the film as it moves past the film plane. You will probably see scratch marks on the film showing where it is jammed.

If the sprocket holes are OK, you probably have insufficient tension on the film to keep the holes engaged with the sprocket teeth. Verify that the take-up spool turns properly with the film advance. These sometimes get loose. It should be possible to make it slip on the advance shaft a bit, but there should be a good bit of resistance.

If it turns out that your camera needs professional repair, and if you like the MIR, I would suggest buying a Zorki 4 on ebay, one of the older ones that has engraved shutter speeds instead of painted ones that always rub off. They are very common, fairly reliable, and inexpensive. Most of the Russian/Ukrainian vendors are quite honest and reliable. Check out their descriptions to make sure they have checked the camera. As always with ebay, go with a vendor that has good feedback.

Good luck,
Dez

[Crazy Fedya]

If you will become interested in another Zorki, I have a Zorki 4 I plan to list in classifieds soon. Let me know, i will list it sooner.

[Phantomas]

The camera simply decided to produce art

[pakeha]

Originally Posted by Phantomas

The camera simply decided to produce art

Actually,that is not a bad answer. Go with Dez`s 4th paragraph.
regards

[wolves3012]

Certainly looks as though your camera failed to wind on properly. A common fault on the Zorki 4/4K/Mir is for the rewind-release mechanism to get gummed up. First, check that it really is on "advance" by making sure the collar around the shutter button is fully anticlockwise (might help to work it back and forth a few times). Now cock the shutter and do the checks Dez suggests, check that the sprocket gets powered round and that the spool is turned with some resistance. It should not be possible to "freewheel" the sprocket unless the camera is in rewind mode.

Let us know the result of your checks and we can make further suggestions or maybe a "fix".

[kievman]

Looks like your camera needs a good Cla try fedka.com they do good work and quick turn around. _ kievman

[Valkir1987]

Looks like the film failed to catch up with the take up spool. The problem can be solved easily.