Zenit Collector

I collect cameras. Actually, that’s not true. I collect Zenit cameras. Those cameras that started to be produced during the times of the Soviet Union. Simple, a camera that some might consider rustic, but the Zenits are all-terrain cameras. A camera that will always take the picture. And I like them. So much that I currently have 60 of them (April 2016). I have other cameras. I have around 20 more cameras that are also good, I also like… but they are not Zenits.

Collecting Zenit cameras is interesting. Each time someone is looking at my collection, in pictures or in person, I know I will get two questions for sure. 100% of the time:

• Do they all work?
• Why do you have so many of the same camera?

The answer to the first question is: not every single one of my cameras work. No. Some of them had a rough life. Some are dirty, some are broken, some have missing parts, but most of them work. I’m not planning to fix the broken ones, at least not for now. I like the fact that I keep the camera exactly as I received it, with all the signs of its usage. Rough or not. It’s part of the camera’s history.

Now… the second question. They might seem the same. But these cameras are not all the same. And I’m not speaking about the different models that KMZ and Belomo produced. No. I’m speaking about the same model, maybe even during the same year of production, can have two items that might look alike, but they are not the same. And that’s the main reason for me to create this blog: to show all the production differences these cameras have. And also to show off my collection, of course.

Here are some pictures of my cameras. Some I managed to fit in a glass cabinet. Some are still “outside”.