All mechanisms and functions are in working order. The Zenith-E camera began to be produced at KMZ in 1965.
And it turned out to be so successful that it was produced at this enterprise right up to 1982. Over the years, KMZ has produced 3.3 million copies! But that's not all. The demand for Zenit-E (including abroad) was so great that since 1973 the production of these same Zenit-Es was additionally deployed at the enterprise of the Belarusian Optical and Mechanical Association (BelOMO) in Vileyka (Belarus). The total output of Zenit-E for all the years at both enterprises amounted to 8 million copies.
Over the years of production, Zenit-E has undergone some design changes. In fact, the cameras of the first and last year of release are completely different cameras. Now I will describe a copy of the 75 st year of release.
The bayonet of this specimen is M42 × 1 thread. The working distance is 45.5mm. Interestingly, the first Zenit-E models were produced with a mount inherited from Zenit-3M, i. With M39×1 thread and 45.2 mm flange. This mount was a purely Soviet standard, which created many difficulties with compatibility with foreign technology.
Therefore, the management of KMZ made a very correct decision and the bayonet on Zenit-E was promptly replaced with the GDR Kontax M42 × 1 standard with a working distance of 45.5 mm. This immediately gave a lot of positive results: - the export potential of the camera has increased; - the M42x1 mount was more suitable for creating high-aperture optics, and soon a solid fleet of good high-aperture lenses was created in the USSR; - optics from neighboring countries began to approach our cameras. The shutter remained the same as that of the Zorkiy-6 - fabric, curtain-slit with horizontal movement.
In general, for the vast majority of fans of those years, the set was, in fact, optimal. The flash bracket for the early Zenith-E was removable. Then they stopped making it removable. The central synchrocontact was never installed on Zenith-E.
The camera is equipped with a self-timer. The size of the image field in the viewfinder is 20 × 28 mm or 65% of the frame area. Type of focusing screen - frosted glass.
The weight of my copy without a lens is 700 gamma. This means that they are working, but old (from 30 to 80 years old).