Zenit-18 Zenitar-ME1 Square Bokeh VERY RARE Bokehmonster

Product Information

The Zenit-18 is a very rare SLR camera. Collector's item. It was only produced in small numbers. Between 1980 and 1987 only 7001 Zenit 18s were made.
That is why the camera is very rare and in great demand.
Will be delivered to me with an even rarer Zenitar-ME1 lens (bokeh monster with square bokeh).

What makes this camera so special? It was one of the first Soviet SLR cameras to have an aperture priority program, simply set the aperture and the camera calculates the speed. An impressive achievement. Especially since the programs were fairly new in the late 1970s. The Lomo was released in 1983 and the Kiev 35a only in 1984/1985, but there were also other cams with programs, let's not forget the Zorki 10, which debuted much earlier, in 1964. But by the late seventies, programming on cameras became the norm, but the 18 was special. It also carried a lens with electrical contacts, a first in Soviet M42 optics. In fact, the lens of the Zenitar ME1 1.7 / 50 mm is even considered rarer than the camera.

The contacts are there for the camera so that the program can work with the lens wide open. Immediately the question 'Does the program work with other lenses?' appears. And I can say for sure, yes it does. But you have to stop the lens down.

Condition: the camera body has not been checked, therefore only offered as a collector's item (it can be checked, adjusted or repaired if necessary).
The Zenitar-ME1 lens is fully functional.