I do find it funny when other KZfaqrs describe Canonets, Electro 35s etc as "poor man's Leicas". Not even close.

I love your videos Howard,

Thankyou, Howard ... another learning experience, and I like the "Zorky" name!

Hi Howard, great video, many thanks.

Good morning Howard. Ooh these are a rabbit hole to fall down. My uncle passed and I found one of these among his belongings. The low shutter speeds are all buggered. He didn't know about not winding before setting. Another excellent production Howard.

I just got one off eBay fully refurbished like brand new.

I've got a Contaflex with the wide angle and 115mm telephoto supplementary lenses. The camera is all working even the selenium meter which is cracked. In the hand it has the heft and quality feel of well engineered kit. I love using the camera particularly with black and white film. The contrast from the 50mm is superb. The 115 feels and looks like a cine lens, and gives excellent results if carefully used. This camera has a timeless feel, in the 50's I used to stare in camera shop windows at these unobtainable masterpieces.

As you say, it's crazy how these mechanical wonders are so undervalued compared to later models. Good for us, although buying vintage camera bargains is too addictive!

Thanks for the review. The first thing I will consider when selecting a RF is it must have auto parallax compensation build in, the other thing is the lens in use. Since I can not change lens on fixed lens RF camera, the lens in use must suit my needs. I don't think 50mm lens is good for everyday use, my ideal lens to use is 40-45mm range, that covers street shots and head and shoulder portrait while having dinner with friend.

Great video Howard, I picked up the f2.8 model of this a while ago and should be getting my film back from it this weekend. Unfortunately halfway through the roll I realized how far out the rangefinder adjustment was, but luckily most of the shots were in bright conditions with a small f-stop. Hopefully I'll be getting an f1.9 model tonight for a princely sum...

i’m a little confused on what setting to put it on, on my film it says 400 speed and 135 - 36 exposure do you know what setting i should put it on? i don’t think the auto setting works on my camera because the film real doesn’t move with it on

Local camera shop is having a sale and I got this for $30! Thanks for the video, it was very helpful!

How to remove the bottom plate? I removed the screws and the handle but it won't come off

I've just had a number 1 version of this camera delivered to me today, which I bought. I love how good these things look and I think I'm going to collect all of the different models. At least the ones that except the use of a cable release on the shutter button, as in my eyes the quality isn't the same on some, due to the f-stop hole being square and not round for some reason. Going to do some photos to judge the lens quality soon. Does anyone have any experience on using the cameras with square aperture and what if any, any benefits they bring to the final photograph. Regards, James

I have zero knowledge about cameras and I have one of these m5 my dad gave it to me and I think it’s lenses are cracked but I’m not sure and that green light doesn’t work (I don’t know if it’s broken or not maybe it’s just a battery problem). Should I take this to some sort of service? Would this worth to spend money on?

Another great video, another lovely rangefinder

What an awesome video. I'm so tired of KZfaqrs talking about the same cameras. I love rangefinders and now I'm tempted to get an Auto S2. Thank you!

Half frame?

Thanks for explaining the green numbers! (bulb settings)

Another great informative video my friend. You are the KING of film cameras! I have had this on my list for years. Lots out there, but I have yet to see and try one. One day.

Great to see another review, Howard!!

Incredible bargain. Just got a virtually mint one for $90 including shipping + a Canon 50mm f1.8 for $140! Leica quality at 1/5-1/10 the price!!!

A lovely little attractive camera. Your collection is quite diverse. I appreciate the effort you take to make these videos; and hope you are well. I just found two mercury batteries in an old light meter of mine. I replaced them in the light meter, so I can use what's left of their charge in a Rollei 35. Wish we lived closer, I lend it to you to review.

Hi Howard, never owned a Yashica Electro, looks a nice camera. I'd heard of the pad of death but never knew how to check for it. Many thanks for the explanation.

I didn't realise that these were sold until about 1980. As someone born in 1975, it makes it seem almost modern! I also didn't know about the "H" for Hong Kong production. I'll have to check mine. Thanks for the info.

Thanks Howard, always very informative, I sold my black GTN ages ago as it just seemed too big to carry around but it was a lovely camera to use - especially compared to the Yashica Minister III with it's selenium meter. Maybe I should get another one! I'd never realised the red and orange arrows on the lens of the electro directly related to the exposure lights but it seems so obvious now!

good to see you back again howard..

Just got this camera and am soooooo appreciative of this video.

Thank you very much for this video! I have this camera at home and was hoping to take some pictures with it. I have no idea if it works or how to even insert the film, but I will try to figure it out - This video was very helpful! English is not my native language and I know nothing about cameras so there was one thing I didn't really understand - The first circle where the numbers go from 1,1 to infinity is that how far away the object is? So if it is at 2,5 the person (or thing) I want to be in focus has to be 2,5 meters away? Or did I misunderstand it? Thank you so much again! Really enjoyed the video 😃😃

Very interesting video. Thank you.

I just got the Vitomatic II a with the f 2.8 lens. Thank you for teaching me how to use it. I thought I was broken but you said that it needs film for the shutter to work

Mine has very blurry vague split image in RF fucusing zone. is it easy for expirienced repair shop to fix?

Son comparaciones valederas pero leica es una sola a través del tempo y sigue como si nada

Now all these Cameras are unuseful, because film is not available in market, now the digital age.

I winded it manually and it fired once, but when I tried again the shutter stopped firing, even though it's not stuck and I can wiggle it a little, but it won't fire so I can cock it again. Any ideas?

I have one just like it, the only problem is that the release button doesn't work!I It will not click! Unable to advance the lever... can you help me?

Just picked up a wonderfully clean IIIA with the 50mm 1.8 Hexanon lens. It really is a work of engineering art.

In the 1950s, Agfa cameras were sold in the US following an older cooperation of Agfa with Ansco. Solinettes would be rebranded "Ansco Regent" and "Super Regent" respectively. The Solinette was not Agfa´s top of the line, the Karat was (faster lenses, lever winder instead of knob). Ca. 1954 came the Silette/Ansco Memar as successor of the Solinette/Regent (fixed lense).

Great little instructional! I just bought one, and just wanted to check out the various settings without sacrificing film in doing so, and this video hit the spot.

This is definitely the best review out of all the Exacta examples, I have just bought one which has a sticky second curtain, any idea how I could it fixed?? John Moore.

I enjoyed your review, Howard, which I have only just found two years later. I am 78, and my first serious camera as a student in 1964 was a second-hand Exakta Varex (1951), which had just the waist level finder (with a thoughtful feature that folding it shut locked the shutter button) and a non-auto Primoplan lens, so it really was slow to use. But, as you say its engineering was a joy to behold and it upped the quality of my photos considerably. I am left-handed, and found its handling very comfortable (gripping and focusing with right hand, operating with left). The following year I bought a new Varex IIb with Pentaprism, automatic Zeiss Tessar lens, and coaxial socket for electronic flash. I began using one camera for colour and the other for monochrome, at which time my photography really took off. I am sad that I don't still have at least one of these wonderful cameras, but the advantages of a built-in light meter and automation were irresistible. I still have the "35mm Exakta handbook" by KL Allinson ARPS, so offer some historical details: The earlier models sported two pairs of sockets on the sloping front shoulders of the camera, prior to the International standardisation that resulted in coaxial sockets for flash. I was interested that your model was produced in 1954, and on the left-hand side sported a real oddity that straddled these two eras - a plug-in adapter for a coaxial electronic flash connection. You were puzzled by the need for a second pair of sockets on the right-hand side. Prior to the arrival of electronic flash, the pair on the camera's right catered for a type of flashbulb termed a focal plane flashbulb. This was used for cameras like the Exakta with a focal plane shutter, which involved a pair of synchronised curtains travelling from one side to the other very close to the film plane. The focal plane flashbulb had a long slow burn, and could be used with faster shutter speeds, when the synchronised curtains in effect moved a slit across the long axis of the film. The very even burning of the bulb during shutter travel ensured evenness of the sequential lighting of the resulting image. The pair of contacts on the camera's left were for shutter speeds of 1/25 or slower, when the curtains exposed the whole of the film at once for a short period of time, rather than the sequential (effectively shorter) exposure produced by a moving slit of varying width. It was important, with the more prolonged full exposure of the frame (1/25 or longer), to know whether your camera synchronised flash with "first curtain" or "second curtain", because moving subjects would show a smeared motion trail following, or preceding, the brighter image produced by the flash (a trail after the bright flash image tended to look "more natural"). Of course, with a focal plane shutter electronic flash (or a standard flashbulb) could not be used with higher shutter speeds, because this would have simply exposed a slice of the image, at the beginning or end of travel of the slit! Thanks for this tour down memory lane. During the 1980s and 90s I moved on to TTL metered film cameras (Chinon Memetron, Olympus OM10, Canon & Pentax; and now I use digital (a Canon Powershot SX50, for video as well as still images). I feel very lazy - Exakta made you work for your photos, and was like a precision mechanical timepiece! 😉

Picked up one of these cheap yesterday, everything seems to work well apart from some fungus in the lens so I'll have to take that apart and clean it. It's the later 1/500 version which is nice, all of the shutter speeds except 1/2 seem to work reliably.

Oh my god, thanks Howard, you know what, I got a Zeiss ikon super B as well. Today I just finished a film, when I rewind it, I met a problem, it encounters a power, it does not rewind smoothly. Then I was looking for a button that release rolls. Since my camera has a special back , it has two meter on the back, and a card, if you search "zeiss ikon super b interchangeable film back you can find what I described. Now I got how to release and then rewind from your video. Forgive my poor English. Thanks you so much, from UK a Chinese man

What's the purpose of the mirror lockup?

awesome how you decided to make content on it for the people to learn about!

This is one of my favorite street cameras.. it’s really small to have a full manual mode and the it’s automatic mode is a prize. Not a single wasted shot. Fits in your purse.. the battery will last you weeks as the only thing the camera uses it for is the needle in the viewfinder. The viewfinder if working in manual mode will tell you the settings to capture a good exposure with a half press. Really it’s the size that is great, and the price can’t be beat.

My mom found her mom's camera the other day and now I'm trying to figure out how to actually use it and whatnot. Thank you for this video as it was helpful to figure out all the parts. I've never used a camera other than the one on my phone but I'm hoping the Petri 2.8 will be a good introduction to this potential new hobby. Best Wishes!

Thank you for posting this video. I have a 500, and like you said, there isn't much info on them out there. Mine is almost exactly like yours, but with a few differences. One being that mine does not have the flash sync (red) lever on the lens, though it does have the pc socket in the same location. Another being the rewind release lever on the back. Mine is a push button in the same location with a leatherette insert to mach the camera back. Mine also has the letters E.P. stamped into the bottom of the film advance lever in a small diamond and the knobs to open the back are a little different, with no markings on the right knob, and a plainer ASA/Din scale on the left. I'm guessing that I have one of the later versions. I have ran film through it with good results, but it sure is a quirky little camera to get used to.

Hi I've just got a AL1 and it's making a metallic noise when I press the shutter, is that bad? What could it be? I've checked the mirror damper and that's fine

It is good, I enjoyed using mine... But professional quality it is not, I had high hopes for it until I took one apart for an overall. Compared to cameras from other makers at that time, this camera is flimsy inside and out, I can say that with confidence. It feels like a cheap Yashica Electra in terms of internal quality.