dee
Well-known
Sorry to highjack your place again , Roger , but it seems to be the forum most open to interpretation and lateral thinking [ something inbuilt with Autism LOL ]
It began to dawn upon me that I had read many comments from engineers who have serviced both Kiev II and Contax II , who avow that the quality of an early Kiev is the equal of Contax .
That the German and Ukrainian engineers were determined to create a flagship quality item - eventually to be compromised under impossible production targets .
But I could not grasp this . At first , I thought that it was ASdee which gets stuck in the groove of same / not same , but then it dawned upon me just how I had been conditioned into Soviet Sub-
standard and German Superlative .
It's as if the moment we see Cyrillic engraving it signals ' inferior copy '
whereas , it was probably a genuinely respectful tribute to the original camera created by the engineers who designed the Contax .
It took both a properly serviced [ by an ex Arsenal tech ] 1951 KNeB II which is just whisper smooth and quiet and a near mint 1952 KNeB II to convince me ... and to recognise that , even at £130 , an as new pre 1952 KNeB II may be a true bargain among classic rangefinders .
Even in respect of later USSR cameras - TOE , the English Importers assured me back in the 70s , that the majority of cameras brought in worked perfectly - though they were checked over as a matter of course . Warranty claims being no worse than Japanese cameras .
My two TOE Kievs 4 and 4a in box , tend to bear this out as they work perfectly after more than 30 years . The finish may be basic , but they also wear well - kind of at-tractor-tive .
In retrospect - would TOE have created a very successful business importing junk ?
Soviet engineers seemed to be tarred with a similar label - disproved by engineers and designers at Skoda - bringing their own unique understanding of a smart , tough inexpensively designed vehicle to local and world markets . Mike Haley assures me that the ex-Arsenal techs have been pleased to bring my broken Contax cameras back to life - undoubtedly amused that they should be called upon to rescue what they term a ' Kiev copy '
I had been condtioned into believing this , just as I had been Stupid util I knew that I have a glitch - and that , in some limited fields , this can be Other-Wise .
I wonder how much else is distorted by biased popular opinion ? Certainly much of who how I am - which , I guess prompted this Kontax Kuriosity .
It began to dawn upon me that I had read many comments from engineers who have serviced both Kiev II and Contax II , who avow that the quality of an early Kiev is the equal of Contax .
That the German and Ukrainian engineers were determined to create a flagship quality item - eventually to be compromised under impossible production targets .
But I could not grasp this . At first , I thought that it was ASdee which gets stuck in the groove of same / not same , but then it dawned upon me just how I had been conditioned into Soviet Sub-
standard and German Superlative .
It's as if the moment we see Cyrillic engraving it signals ' inferior copy '
whereas , it was probably a genuinely respectful tribute to the original camera created by the engineers who designed the Contax .
It took both a properly serviced [ by an ex Arsenal tech ] 1951 KNeB II which is just whisper smooth and quiet and a near mint 1952 KNeB II to convince me ... and to recognise that , even at £130 , an as new pre 1952 KNeB II may be a true bargain among classic rangefinders .
Even in respect of later USSR cameras - TOE , the English Importers assured me back in the 70s , that the majority of cameras brought in worked perfectly - though they were checked over as a matter of course . Warranty claims being no worse than Japanese cameras .
My two TOE Kievs 4 and 4a in box , tend to bear this out as they work perfectly after more than 30 years . The finish may be basic , but they also wear well - kind of at-tractor-tive .
In retrospect - would TOE have created a very successful business importing junk ?
Soviet engineers seemed to be tarred with a similar label - disproved by engineers and designers at Skoda - bringing their own unique understanding of a smart , tough inexpensively designed vehicle to local and world markets . Mike Haley assures me that the ex-Arsenal techs have been pleased to bring my broken Contax cameras back to life - undoubtedly amused that they should be called upon to rescue what they term a ' Kiev copy '
I had been condtioned into believing this , just as I had been Stupid util I knew that I have a glitch - and that , in some limited fields , this can be Other-Wise .
I wonder how much else is distorted by biased popular opinion ? Certainly much of who how I am - which , I guess prompted this Kontax Kuriosity .
