What have I bought ?

[JonR]

Friends;

I normally belong in the Nikon RF Forum since my interest is primarily Nikon rangefinders but I recently bought the following two russian cameras:



They look very similar but the Kiev name is embedded in different strong black letters.... are they both Kiev 4 (serial numbers starting with 73 and 62 respectively) ?? Also the lenses are 5 cm f/2 - is that what is called Jupiter 8 ?

I am going to try them out - any special things to take into consideration other than what I am used to with an all manual Nikon S2 or S3 ?

Appreciate any comments you may have!!

/Jon

 

[gb hill]

Those are some really nice Kievs. I don't know anything about them. Ruben is the kiev expert around here but here is a manuel that you can look at that may help you understand the cameras better.

http://www.keithberry.telinco.co.uk/kiev4man.htm

 

[Mr_Flibble]

If your lens reads "ЮПИTEP-8"

Then you indeed have a Jupiter-8 😉

 

[MicheldeG]

Be careful with shutter mechanism. It might get stuck: always cock shutter before changing speed.

 

[oscroft]

Also the lenses are 5 cm f/2 - is that what is called Jupiter 8 ?

They are both Jupiter-8s (and a good J-8 is a very fine lens).

 

[JonR]

Thanks for comments - the lens has the words "ЮПИTEP-8 M" - does the M stand for something and/or what does the S in Jupiter 8S stand for ??

Overall they seem to be in good shape with one exception - the lens mounting mechanism is "broken" on one of the cameras so when the whole lens moves when changing apparature unless you use one hand to keep it still. Given the reputation of russian cameras I am otherwise surprised with the conditions of those two.... it will be interesting to put a roll of film in them... /jon

 

[JonR]

.... and by the way - is the film speed setting in ASA or!?.... some very strange figures - no 100 but instead 65 and 130 !???
/jon

 

[rbiemer]

They are both Jupiter-8s (and a good J-8 is a very fine lens).

Jon.
I'm pretty sure that oscroft meant plural Jupiter 8 lenses.
The film speed numbers are in the GOST system. Here's a link to a conversion chart:
http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/marine/569/rusrngfdrs/gost.html
Nice looking cameras!
Rob

 

[oscroft]

I'm pretty sure that oscroft meant plural Jupiter 8 lenses.

Yes - one Jupiter-8, two Jupiter-8s 😀

 

[JonR]

🙂 Thanks!
Now I understand plural in the English language also!
/Jon

 

[wolves3012]

Nice looking examples. The '62 would be the one on the left of the photo I'd say. Check the speeds before you commit to film - slower ones especially - see if they sound right. The meters may work and be reasonably accurate, if you're lucky, but don't assume it. Rangefinders are usually good on Kievs but a quick check at infinity and 0.9m is worth it for the time it takes.

Precautions: It's safer to cock before adjusting speeds but sometimes the curtains are out of synch. Try the following two checks.

1) Fire the shutter on a high speed (1/125 or faster). Now, alter the speed to B with the shutter uncocked. Wind on, fire and release. Did the curtains close properly? If not, you need to make sure you *always* wind before cocking. You can *gently* close the curtain at this point and it'll probably behave afterwards.

2) Cock the shutter on a slow speed - preferably 1/2 or B. Now set a much faster speed while watching the curtains. If the first curtain begins to open you can close it again *gently* but it's probably sensible to cock the shutter at the highest speed then adjust downwards to what you want, never upwards.

The other check to make would be frame-spacing, this can be an issue. Put a scrap film through and mark the frames, with a pencil, through the front with the shutter open on B and the lens removed (the shutter can conveniently be locked open by turning the release button anticlockwise whilst pressed). Mark several frames at the beginning and near the end of the roll. Now take the film out and look at the spacings. If they're unacceptable then, as a minimum, the wind clutch needs a clean/adjust. You can find how to do that in other threads on here.

Failing the above, just put a film through and cross your fingers! Good luck, they're a nice camera when working properly and the J-8 is a fine lens.

 

[JonR]

Thanks wolves3012 - tried the shutter tests and from what I can judge both cameras work fine so I will put a film in the camera tomorrow and make a test with at least one of the cameras to start with!
The meeters work (=react to light) but I guess you cannot be sure so I will probably use my VCII-meeter that I can put in the hotshoe anyway (much better resuöts for me than the "sunny 16 rule")
/Jon

 

[outfitter]

The J-8M is a sonnar formula with one less element then the J-8 (Zeiss Sonnar 50/2 clone) you wont notice any difference.

Once you run though the speeds and establish that the shutter is functioning save yourself a lot of time and effort and just shoot a roll of chrome to get some idea whether the speeds are reasonably accurate. At best the Contax II design used in the Kiev couldn't be regulated to the degree of accuracy expected of post-war 35mm RF cameras so just enjoy (shoot more and worry less) even if you need to use a wider latitude film.

Michael

 

[dee]

i just set the gost speed to match my Weston , which is OK if you don't keep using different speed films . I have a later Kiev $ and latest Kiev 4m and I love 'em .

Incidentally , THe Jupiter 8m has click stops , a Jupiter 8 has not , so it tends to wander a bit if you don't take care !

dee

 

[USSRPhoto]

They are both Kiev 4, but one is Type 1, and another is Type 2, visually it's easy to tell by the plastic tab on a self-timer. Type 1 is all metal self-timer lever, Type 2 is plastic covered... otherwise they're identical except for visual changes... and I think Type 2 does not have that little step-like protrusion to the left of the lens mount..


Vlad

 

[JonR]

Thanks for all comments!

Thanks for all comments!

Thanks for all comments - I really like the RFF community. Yesterday Friday eavning when I got back from work I opened the box with my new two Kievs and had basically no knowledge what so ever about them and posted a question here at RFF. I had lot´s of good and extensive comments from so many of you and today Saturday morning I have now run the first roll of film through them!

Overall they seem to be in good shape. I am impressed with the brightness of the view/rangefinders (even better than my Nikon S3 but not as good as my S2 I think). Very easy to operate I think and the meeters seems to be pretty OK compared with my VC II (very close on the Type 2 and maybe one stop off on the Type 1). I never really managed to remeber the manual counter and maybe it was just a feeling but I felt that I got much more than 36 pictures out of my first roll (hmmmm !??).

Will post some results here later - film has been sent off to the lab now!

/Jon

 

[Xmas]

Guys

Dont forget to zero adjust the meters.

Noel

 

[JonR]

First film back!!

Just wanted to report back about the first test-roll with my two Kiev 4 and Jupiter 8M. Just got the film back and the result was excellent - perfect result, surprisingly sharp and overall very good outcome incl. a self-timer testshot of the photographer as can be seen below!!!



... and here is another one...



One question - maybe just the way the scanning went this time but when printing I got the impression that the Kiev did not fully utilise the full negative format. I had to adjust the printing format to print without small white borders which I normally do not have any problems with..... any comments on this!

Otherwise I must say I was positively surprised and I will now look for some other Jupiter lenses to expand this experience!

Jon

 

[NickolasB]

Hello.
Both cameras is pure "Kiev-4" modification with buil in lightmeters - was made in 1957...1979 years. And both cameras it is type-2 of Kiev cameras (with lightmeter). Type-1 haven't lightmeters.
Detail information about Kiev, if you interested you can look on my site:
http://www.siberian-shop.com/cameras_range_kiev.htm
😉