M Camera made by Zenit

[IWC Doppel]

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£4-5k is this for the body or body and lens ?

 

Not exactly el-cheapo is it, might as well buy a Leica

[willeica]

I bought a nice vintage Jupiter 3 (Sonnar based) lens in St Petersburg last April. I tested out a few examples in the store with my M10 and the young fellow who was there said that Russians could not afford Leicas. I had already noted that Leica Stores in Russia were charging an additional mark up of 20% for current Leica items. I would assume that the Krasnogorsk items will be sold for considerably less than their Wetzlar counterparts if they are to match the lower incomes in Russia. This will also provide some nice cameras and, particularly, lenses for Leica users outside of Russia. As for Dunk's point above about telephotos my recollection is that there were some nice rifle stock and mirror lenses available in the FSU days.

 

William

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[Robert M Poole]

I will not be buying it for €5000. If it was Fuji prices I might have considered it.

[6bit]

35/1 I thought the announcement was a practical joke. 

[jaapv]

IF it is an M-mount camera (as the name suggests) it might be a nice way to pull in new M users, or a decent backup camera. Is it just me, or does it look more like a Digilux2 than like a M240?

 

Anyway, Leitski is here

 

 

Thought: Could that 35 - 1.0 be  a Leica Noctilux design that didn't quite make it in the 12.000 Euro quality bracket?

[TheGodParticle/Hari]

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[mikemgb]

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€5-6000 for a Zenit? I was wondering how to get one in the US until I saw that!

[TheGodParticle/Hari]

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[frperdurabo]

I note it says "DESIGNED in Krasnogorsk, Russia."  Does that mean it's actually built in the far east?

[Hello]

interesting but weird.

[farnz]

Since there looks to be a microphone at the left hand end of the top deck and the M button on the top deck it seems likely that it will offer video.

 

The pictures show some clear similarities with the M240 ... including the lack of a frame selector lever.  I wonder what the rangefinder magnification is.

 

So it has an M-mount 35/1 Zenitar lens but it leaves me wondering how good it will be optically since many optical shortcomings in lenses these days can be corrected in-camera.  If the lens needs optical correction then its shortcomings will be emphasised when used on a Leica M-mount camera.  I wonder whether it supports 6-bit coded Leica lenses through a similar detection system.

 

Pete.

[WhippingPost]

That Zenitar 1.0/35 lens looks very interesting. Could it be a derivative of the oft-rumored 35mm Noctilux?

[Douglasco]

Seems a bit odd that Leica are going to let them produce a copy of an M camera. They may start losing sales due to this. I wonder if the M line is coming to an end in Leica eyes. I hope not.

[ynp]

€5-6000 for a Zenit? I was wondering how to get one in the US until I saw that!

It’s a Leica M Typ240, at least the innards are. The body shell might be the only Russian made piece of the camera.

[Viv]

Grrrr. I asked Zeiss to produce a digital version of the Zeiss Ikon film rangefinder and they said there was no market for such a camera.

[totocaster]

I sure hope my Zenit 12sd just got more expensive (like 20 bucks maybe?) 

 

The Zenit M is technically based on the Leica M Type 240 platform, but was modified both in terms of hardware and software.

 

 

Interesting to know more details though, is it really tad different or just rebadged M240?

 

Edit: Edges look a bit different and angular, so not 100% M240 shell for sure.

Edited September 26, 2018 by totocaster

[willeica]

Since there looks to be a microphone at the left hand end of the top deck and the M button on the top deck it seems likely that it will offer video.

 

The pictures show some clear similarities with the M240 ... including the lack of a frame selector lever.  I wonder what the rangefinder magnification is.

 

So it has an M-mount 35/1 Zenitar lens but it leaves me wondering how good it will be optically since many optical shortcomings in lenses these days can be corrected in-camera.  If the lens needs optical correction then its shortcomings will be emphasised when used on a Leica M-mount camera.  I wonder whether it supports 6-bit coded Leica lenses through a similar detection system.

 

Pete.

 

6 bit coding is for 'wusses'. I am sure that the Russian Rig will be for 'real men'. 

 

William

[sdk]

This seems silly, though presumably it appeals to some rich Russians. I'd rather have an M mount camera with a better resolution sensor in the 42-50MP range (or at least 36MP). When is Leica going to catch up with where Nikon and others have been for years in terms of sensors? I'm guessing never. 24MP is OK, but the good lenses cry out for more resolving power for landscape work or to reduce moire and color aliasing for photographing people and their clothing.

[earleygallery]

My first SLR was a Zenit B. It's great to see the name back, although who ever thought it would be a name to be associated with Leica!

 

The partnership - as far as the camera goes - seems to be a bit like the one that Fiat made with Lada, letting them produce versions of their old models.

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[ynp]

https://ria.ru/economy/20180926/1529359545.html

Link in Russian

 

The Representative of Zenit said that they plan only the limited edition of the camera, only 500 numbered cameras will be manufactured by Leica.

 

Yevgeny