The Zenit-35F is simple Soviet camera manufactured at the Leningrad Optical-Mechanical Association (LOMO) from 1987 to 1992. The camera was intended for beginner photographers.
We must say right away that Zenit-35F has nothing to do with Zenit SLR cameras. The common name most likely comes from the desire to earn extra money on a well-known brand.
- Type: 35mm scale-focusing camera
- Manufacturer: LOMO plant
- Production period: from 1987 to 1992
- Format: 24x36cm on 135 film
- Lens mount: fixed lens
- Lens: unnamed 35mm lens
- Shutter: leaf shutter with a single shutter speed of 1/125 sec.
- Viewfinder: optical parallax viewfinder
- Lighmeter: built-in light meter
- Flash: built-in flash
- Selftimer: mechanical
- Weight: 270 grams
Zenith-35F was created for 35mm film and had a frame size of 24×36 mm. The body is made of plastic. To charge the film, you need to open the back panel. The cocking of the shutter and the simultaneous advancing of the film are done with a little knob.
The lens has only two glasses in its design, but it has a single-layer coating. It has a focal length of 35mm and is set to hyperfocal, which means that you can take pictures without focusing.
In the transport position, the lens is closed with metal curtains, the shutter button is simultaneously blocked and the power to the device is turned off.
Oddly enough, the camera has a light meter, which has one single value. In fact, this part of the camera is only necessary in order to inform the photographer about insufficient lighting.
The shutter in Zenit-35F is also as simple as possible and has one single shutter speed of 1/125 of a second.
So what is Zenit 35F?
In fact, this is the simplest camera possible, the complexity of which barely exceeds a pinhole camera. There is absolutely nothing complicated because the camera was intended for the most inexperienced user.
I must say that the Soviet Union created a huge number of ultra-simple cameras, such as Smena-8m. But despite all its simplicity, Smena-8m is still a full-fledged camera, unlike Zenit 35F.
We also want to note that in the early 90s a huge number of super-cheap simple Japanese point-and-shoot cameras poured into the post-Soviet markets, which did not leave Zenit-35f a single chance.
Nowadays, Zenit 35F is more interesting for collectors of weird cameras or lovers of very strange experiments in photography.