Zenit 19 (House Brick !)

23-12-17

My sister bought the Zenit 19 from a charity shop for £10.00p hoping it would be a good starter film camera for my niece, and would I try it out to see if it works. I’d never seen this model before, it’s quite old but has some good features, shutter speed to 1/ 1000th of a second and stop down metering. The bad thing about it is that it should take two PX625 mercury batteries, I used 675 hearing aid batteries and a coil of silicon tube to hold them in place. The Zenit weighs a ton and the meter is really slow to react compared to a more modern film camera.

It came with a Bell & Howell 35-105mm zoom lens, which looks very similar if not the same as a Tokina. I decided to try it with my newer version Helios 58mm lens and a roll of Kodacolor 200, expired in 2001. The hardest part was trying to find a day with some semi reasonable weather.

Still Clinging On
 

Contre Jour Cafetiere & Hands

Watchful Eye 

Bokeh and Barbwire

St Stephens & Winter Sky

Barbwire & Snow

Captured Star

Knot & Ice

Not really a camera for a beginner, although I really enjoyed using it. Managed to get a Pentax Z50p with 28- 80mm af zoom lens for my my niece for only a couple of pounds more than the Zenit, it should be a lot easier for her to use, it’s certainly a lot lighter !