Zenit 12 сд (1983)
"Boat Anchor. Crude, heavy, and clumsy to use".I'l agree all but the boat anchor. The Zenit 12 CD (Zenit 12 XP was a similar export model) is clumsy and heavy an also quite big but it is a camera you can take pictures with. The Helios lens is sharp and the camera has almost all the features you will need except the long shutter times.
I got a bundle of four Zeniths at 30€. Cameras were brand new in original packages. You may say that you don´t get anything for nothing but I think that they were cheap.
By the way, that Anchor? Perhaps all four in a bundle?. Seriously, if you think the cost you have to admit that Zenit is quite a camera for it´s price.
Opinions about the Russian cameras varies a lot. Worst verdicts are often given by a person who has never been even near the Ruskie or he could be a person who has purchased a Zorki and expecting that it is a Leica. I have taken some pictures with that Zenit and I must concede that I don´t especially like it. The viewfinder is not the brightest one and the functions are really clumsy and somewhat scrappy. Main thing is that the pictures are excellent.
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Specifications
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Zenit E is a single-lens reflex camera, fitted with a built-in and uncoupled exposure meter and with a reflex mirror of instant return type The camera is supplied in two variants: with HELIOS-44-2 lens 58 mm f/2 and with INDUSTAR-50-2 lens 50 mm f/3.5. Specifications
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One of the most common and also most reliable SLR's made by KMZ. According to statistics total amount of 781,678 cameras were made between years 1962 - 1970.
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