Zorki's Leica II copy — compact Barnack-style 35mm rangefinder, Leica Thread Mount, 1948.
The Zorki 1 is a Soviet 35mm rangefinder made by the KMZ plant at Krasnogorsk near Moscow, a copy of the Leica II derived from the FED design. Production began around 1948, starting the long Zorki rangefinder line. It uses the Leica screw mount and the Barnack-type body layout, and early examples share much with the pre-war FED tooling.
This is a 35mm coupled-rangefinder camera in the Barnack pattern, using the Leica Thread Mount (39mm screw). It has a horizontal-travel cloth focal-plane shutter and separate rangefinder and viewfinder windows like the Leica II it copies. Focusing is by the coupled rangefinder and exposure is set manually; there is no built-in meter. Film is bottom-loaded in the Leica manner.
The Zorki 1 suits users who want a compact Barnack-style screw-mount rangefinder at low cost, working with Leica Thread Mount lenses including Soviet Industar optics. Its small body and separate finder windows follow classic Leica II handling. It is fully mechanical and fires without a battery, though the bottom-loading and separate finder take some familiarity.
On the used market the Zorki 1 is affordable and offers strong value, but the sample-to-sample quality-control variance typical of former-Soviet-Union bodies means each one should be assessed. Check the rangefinder patch for contrast and horizontal alignment, inspect the cloth focal-plane shutter curtains for pinholes and capping, and confirm the slow speeds run. Curtain material and shutter ribbons can perish with age, so a serviced example is preferable.