Nanocrystalline Zn$Fe_2O_4$ oxide-semiconductor with spinel structure was synthesized by the polymerized complex (PC) method and investigated for its photocatalytic and photoelectric properties. The observation of a highly pure phase and a lower crystallization temperature in Zn$Fe_2O_4$ made by PC method is in total contrast to that was observed in Zn$Fe_2O_4$ prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction (SSR) method. The band gap of the nanocrystalline Zn$Fe_2O_4$ determined by UV-DRS was 1.90 eV (653 nm). The photocatalytic activity of Zn$Fe_2O_4$ prepared by PC method as investigated by the photo-decomposition of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) under visible light (${geq}$ 420 nm) was much higher than that of the Zn$Fe_2O_4$ prepared by SSR as well as Ti$O_{2-x}N_x$. High photocatalytic activity of Zn$Fe_2O_4$ prepared by PC method was mainly due to its surface area, crystallinity and the dispersity of platinum metal over Zn$Fe_2O_4$.