Zorki 4 range finder repair 

They are very much fun, and well built. If it werent for the old lubricant these would work forever.

Your welcome, I'm glad this could help.

sir how would you able to fix stuck shutter? Can you give details? I have the same problem.

That is the most common problem I have had with most old cameras. I dont know what was used for lube but after a mere half century it turns into glue.

Without the camera in hand I cant even guess. Here is a youtube link to a video that shows the workings of the speed control, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WiQ2NZqLnVY.html You might also check the online forums for Zorki repair, there is lots of good info available. Good luck.

This is a tough one. here is a guess. Is the shutter lock ring engaged? If you dont know, that is the ring around the shutter release button, if it is engaged the shutter wont fire and you wont be able to change shutter speeds. At least not on either of mine.

Did you also remove the four screws around the lens mount? The ones right on the threaded ring.

Yes I did!! But already fixed the problem! It was just stuck. Next problem I need to solve is my shutter problem. Only the left shutter curtain seems to work, the right one is stuck. I think it happend afer removing the pin for lubrication. Now i'm not sure what to do with it, you have any idea how to fix this? Thanks for replying!

The tab that I think you are talking about (the one the lens will push against) is in a fixed position (this is for the tab itself, not the arm), it shouldn't move. The only time you would force it to move is for more complex adjustments (I havent attempted this) and requires slight bending of the arm itself. It sounds like you are having the same problem I was having, one or both of the ball bearings has been knocked loose. Once you have removed the top, check the arm with the prism, it should move forward and back smoothly, it also has a spring on it to make it return. It should not move up and down. It may also have jumped over the cam ( the arm with the tab attached to it). The cam does not have a spring on it (or at least mine does not) so it will move and stay where you move it. If you dive into this, do so over a clean surface, perhaps a large tray covered with paper towels or some similar covering, this is to prevent small parts like a tiny ball bearing from bouncing into oblivion. If a ball bearing is loose in the top cover it may be hiding in any corner and is not easy to see. If I am not covering your problem let me know any more details and I will try again to help.

So what I'm having is that the cam doesn't move back into the front when i focus my lens back, and the arm with the prism moves freely, though I am very confused and wonder if does it need a lubrication or cleanup from grime? Thanks though

Hmmmm, a good cleaning and a dot of oil go a long way after 50+ years. I am wondering, the arm with the prism moves freely, thats good, but is the spring still pressing on it properly? I added a note in the video at 3:13 pointing this out. Anything is possible but the way these cameras are built I cant imagine what it would take to screw up that cam, or its shaft the goes down into the shutter space below it. Let me know what you find.

The arm is still be properly pushed onto the cam with the spring but when I try and replicate the movement of the arm, it needs ALOT of force to move a little. During this I somehow managed to screw up my shutter, the gear next to the takeup and the lower gear under it doesn't meet when I'm trying to cock it, so it just freely moves around without contact Big thanks for the help though

If you are looking in the back of your Zorki with the back off and are talking about the roller with the sprockets at both ends, that sounds like you disengaged the rewind clutch. The knurled ring around the shutter button is a push and twist, twist it one way and it separates those two gears for rewind, twist it the other and it reengages the gears for normal operation. Sorry I couldn't help more. It may be worth it to get another for parts, it took three to make one for me. If that arm or shaft are bent you might be able to replace it. There are some exploded views on the web.

Those things are pretty sturdy so I am not so sure anything is broken. Does the film speed dial not turn when the shutter is released? If not it is possible the little tab sheared off when it fits into the speed index. If that is the case its unfortunate but not tragic. Little screwdrivers, a loupe and lots of close up pics will fix it. This video might help figuring it out. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WiQ2NZqLnVY.html

Thank you for your input... the problem seemed to resolve after gently turning the shutter speed clockwise and trying the film advance at the same time... thanks for the informative videos

Without it in my hands its hard to say. If the arm that should push the cam @3:16 is working but the cam (with the arm that touches the lens) isnt, it may just need a dot of oil and to be worked by hand to help it along like @3:50. I dont recall that there is any spring on the lens arm and is solely dependent on the arm under the cover @3:16. It is also possible to remove the crew at the bottom of the cam (from inside the camera) and remove the little cam and shaft to clean it, this is not complicated but requires strong nerves as reassembling this little thing is not as simple as taking it apart. Let me know how you make out.

I also see you asked about the lens, that is not so simple, several lenses were offered with the Zorki 4, or are you referring to the split image in the viewfinder?

tobroken1965 yes I’m just concerned with the range finder. The spring which is responsible for bouncing the arm back seems to have lost its strength..or perhaps the lens lever is giving too much resistance due to gunk and lack of lube. Hard to say as I don’t have anything to compare it with. When I move the lens lever with my finder it moves quite freely so it’s puzzling why the top spring can’t push it back... 🤷🏼‍♂️

@@sapienstudio Hmmmm, ok, that narrows it down, there is a limited number of problems it could be, at 3:14 look at the tip of the pencil, immediately to the left (from your point of view) you will see a screw (out of focus so its hard to tell) that spring wraps around that screw, the leg extends to your right to the lens lever cam, that spring must be anchored properly around that screw, the part that pushes against the arm must have a tiny bent end that makes contact with the arm to press it back (they can slip off or even get stuck under the cam given the right circumstances). That arm must more freely in any event, not up and down, just front to back. Its possible the ball bearings the prism float on are sticky or missing, the arm wont move in any useful manner if this is the case, use a loupe to see if the top one is there, the bottom one is not so easy, up and down motion (at the point it meets with the cam) in the arm implies its moved or missing. Also check that the arm isnt stuck over the cam, mine did that, it also has an adjustable screw at the cam end of the arm (dont adjust this) check to make sure its touching the spur spot on the cam. let me know what you find.

Another thought, if you think the spring has lost its tension, check the coil end of the spring where it is screwed down. The bottom of that coil will have a cut end that lays against the big blocky lens holder, the cut end should be against this block with the cut end facing out at you, if not it may have been removed at some point and wrongly reassembled. See 3:22, its an unclear pic but it will give you the basic idea. If its loose, it will need to be reset.

There is considerable debate about speed changing, I always wind before changing shutter speed but have experimented on other cameras with no harm. Its possible your camera had already been badly used by a previous owner. I like these cameras and if you get a good one there are as good as any other similar camera, at least I think so. The biggest problem I have had is the old lubricant, its gets gummy after 50 years or so.