  We report here the first direct lifetime measurement of the 2+1 state in
72,74Zn. The neutron-rich beam was produced by in-flight fragmentation of 76Ge
at the Grand Acc\'el\'erateur National d'Ions Lourds and separated with the
LISE spectrometer. The 2+1 state was excited by inelastic scattering and
knock-out reaction on a CD2 target and its lifetime was measured by the
recoil-distance Dopplershift method with the K\"oln plunger device combined
with the EXOGAM detectors. The lifetimes of the 2+1 states in 72,74Zn were
determined to be 17.9(18) and 27.0(24) ps, which correspond to reduced
transition probabilities B(E2; 2+1 \rightarrow 0+) = 385(39) and 370(33) e2fm4,
respectively. These values support the idea of a systematic maximum of
collectivity at N = 42 for Zn, Ge and Se nuclei. In addition, the available
systematics in the neighboring nuclei point towards a transition from a
spherical oscillator at N = 40 to complete {\gamma}-softness at N = 42.
