The “Зенит ЕТ” (Zenit ET)

Published March 08, 2023 · 4 min read
#photography #review #guide

This type camera was built around 1990 (± 10 years, depending on the source and exact model) in the soviet union. A very good manual analog camera, if you find one that is working (→ known faults). At the time of writing this, these cameras are sold for around 20 € - 100 €. Again, depending on the condition and exact model.

All further information will be in reference to my personal camera being a silver Zenit ET built in 1984 with a non-standard lens by "Индустар" (Industar). I will consider the lens to be part of the camera, because that is how I recieved it, and still use it to this day.

Specs
Aperture:f/2 - f/16
Focus Range:0.65 - 20 m
Shutter Speeds:1/30 s - 1/500 s & Bulb

Other features:

Known faults

The selenium exposure meter is quite sensitive and is probably going to be damaged when it comes into contact with water. Also, it only works with bright sun light. So when shooting with most artificial or insufficient lighting, the lightmeter may be useless.

The Frame counter can degrade over time, so that when pulling the winding lever the frame count advances too much or too little.

Usage

My first question when I saw the Zenit ET (being my first ever analog camera) was: How do I know how my image is exposed?

The light sensor

It starts with the selenium sensor. (Given that is still works. If not skip ahead to other methods)

Once the lightmeter senses light, a tiny needle on the top of the camera moves from right to left. The user has to have properly set the film speed by turning the middle ring on the left-most knob so that the cutout points to the approximate value on the respective scale. Only then should the user turn the outer ring on the same knob until the position of the needle is matched.

This then gives the user all combinations of acceptable aperture on the inner rinner ring and shutter speed on the outer ring. Then it is up to the photographer's skill and experience to choose an actually appropriate setting.

The aperture is controlled by the atteched lens. On mine, you have to be careful not to over-turn the coresponding dial, as this might detach the actual aperture from the reading on the lens.

Other exposure methods

If the selenium sensor is broken on your camera, there are basically two other methods you can use to set up a more or less great shot.

Option 1: Guess.

I'm not kidding. This old soviet camera is quite forgiving. Of course the image won't look great if you guess wrong, and details might be lost. But in most cases it will still be quite an acceptable result. Besides, after developing, the images usually look quite old, if you know what I mean. So what I'm saying is: small errors won't be noticable by the average person.

This does not mean that you should always guess, though. I rather think of it like this: In a live or die situation you might get away with it. Else you should probably rely on option 2.

Option 2: Use proxy measurements.

In other words: either use an app, your phone or even another (potentially digital) camera. From my understanding, this is actually a very popular choice among analog photographers. The idea behind it being: Whatever device you use, it will probably be more acurate than an antique machanism. Of course it might be fiddly at times. But once you get the hang of it, it will become second nature.

Closing notes

If you ever come across this old camera, give it a chance. It may turn out to be a fun hobby. And the low financial and intelectual cost to operate this camera makes it a perfect entry camera, in my opinion.

Also, just a head's up: The knob on the right is the shutter speed and should apparently never be turned from 500 to B directly on some models, as this supposedly breaks the mechanism inside. I have not verified this, and am probably not going to try, because I like this camera. So wether you are going to believe this ledgend, is up to you.

Further resources