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Otherwise Anonymous
!R09./old82
>>69439Am I setting myself up for a world of hurt if I buy, say, an old Zenit 12?
You are. Main features of Zenit cameras: - small and dark as devil's butthole focusing screen, covering about 65% of the actual frame. Focusing in other conditions than broad daylight and full open aperture will make you crave blood. - times ranging between 1/30 and 1/500, and especially the faster ones being more of wishful thinking than real ones. - faulty horizontal mechanical cloth shutter, which goes crazy once temperature goes below 10 Celsius. - flash synch at 1/30. - out of 5 Zenits I had in my hands, none had a properly working lightmeter (or working at all). But maybe you'll be the lucky one...
That's not to say you can't take pictures with it. I did, and I daresay that with some success. It gives you what you need to take photos and learn photography from the very basics (because it only has the very basics). It's just a pain in the ass way more often than it should, and unless you firmly know you want to do photography, it might turn you off.
One exception is Zenit 19, which is the only relatively decent model. Vertical electronic titanium shutter with 1 to 1/1000 sec times, bigger and brighter focusing screen with 95% coverage, flash synch at 1/125. The difference is huge when switching from any other model (E, ET, 12, TTL). But if you're going to take it, you might as well pay probably less than twice the price for a nice Pentax in good condition, which will still give you so much more.
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