The Zorki 4K

To call this camera the poor man's Leica is to give it something of a misnomer. To be honest, this thing has little in common with a Leica in terms of the shooting experience. When I come to shooting this thing having had my MP in my hand for a few hours, there's just no comparison. The viewfinder is far dimmer and smaller. The cocking lever is extraordinarily rough by comparison (but then again, even the ratchet on the FM3a seems crappy when compared with the brilliant piece of engineering showcased on the Leica). The rangefineder isn't nearly as accurate due to the less impressive base-length. There are no extra framelines in the viewfinder - it's 50mm or nothing.

BUT

That doesn't quite mean that this thing should be consigned to the scrap heap. At least not just yet. The primary reason I picked this thing up was just how cheap and innocuous it was. I can walk through most of London with this on my person without being unduly stressed, because it was £40 all told and if anyone did try to nick it, I could always just whack them around the head with it without risking damaging it. Seriously - this thing is built better than most russian tanks. It also has a rather good lens attached to it. In fact it's a bloody good lens considering that it was less than £20, and that it is over 25 years old. Even not considering those two factors it's a bloody good lens. Probably the equal of my 50mm f/2 Nikkor H-C, which is high praise indeed from a Nikkor-phile like me.