A bit of a lens comparison, inc. some Soviet lenses and focusing accuracy issues

[Coldkennels]

@GeorgeRazmadze - I would consider getting a Contax or Kiev that has been recently cleaned to use the Sonnar. This would cost less than the adapter, and solve the compatibility issues.

...it does mean you have to deal with the Contax/Kiev's absolute nightmare of a design, though. And if the rangefinder's a bit out of whack? Tough luck.

 

[GeorgeRazmadze]

@GeorgeRazmadze - I would consider getting a Contax or Kiev that has been recently cleaned to use the Sonnar. This would cost less than the adapter, and solve the compatibility issues.

I have already Contax IIA but i prefer usability and organomics of Fed-2 thanks♥️✌🏻

 

[Mark240590]

...it does mean you have to deal with the Contax/Kiev's absolute nightmare of a design, though. And if the rangefinder's a bit out of whack? Tough luck.

Rangefinder isn’t all that bad to fix on a Kiev. You just need to pull he front shield off. Done a few over the years but generally they’re ok since it’s a big prism. I’ve swapped a couple of fractured ones out too on that with success. There are kievaholic help guides somewhere for it.

 

[Coldkennels]

Rangefinder isn’t all that bad to fix on a Kiev. You just need to pull he front shield off. Done a few over the years but generally they’re ok since it’s a big prism. I’ve swapped a couple of fractured ones out too on that with success. There are kievaholic help guides somewhere for it.

This depends heavily on how far out it is.

I've done minor horizontal adjustments this way on a couple of later Kievs, but if there's a particularly extreme adjustment necessary, it involves a total tear-down and a lot of trial-and-error while you play around with prism positions and the gearing between the RF mechanism and the lens mount. And if vertical alignment is out, there's absolutely no simple fix - you need to dissolve some glue to adjust and reposition a prism, and hope that it doesn't shift slightly while the glue sets. It's an absolutely ridiculous design that always makes me think Zeiss' engineers were somewhat arrogant: it seems they made it assuming that it'd never go wrong, instead of designing it in a way that it would be easily adjustable when it did.

Meanwhile, with both the screwmount Leica and the FED 2, you don't need to disassemble anything significant - just remove a single cover screw and a RF bezel/surround. You can get a rangefinder from completely out of whack to within spec in less than 10 minutes on a FED 2 if you know what you're doing - and you don't have to know much!

 

[Mark240590]

This depends heavily on how far out it is.

I've done minor horizontal adjustments this way on a couple of later Kievs, but if there's a particularly extreme adjustment necessary, it involves a total tear-down and a lot of trial-and-error while you play around with prism positions and the gearing between the RF mechanism and the lens mount. And if vertical alignment is out, there's absolutely no simple fix - you need to dissolve some glue to adjust and reposition a prism, and hope that it doesn't shift slightly while the glue sets. It's an absolutely ridiculous design that always makes me think Zeiss' engineers were somewhat arrogant: it seems they made it assuming that it'd never go wrong, instead of designing it in a way that it would be easily adjustable when it did.

Meanwhile, with both the screwmount Leica and the FED 2, you don't need to disassemble anything significant - just remove a single cover screw and a RF bezel/surround. You can get a rangefinder from completely out of whack to within spec in less than 10 minutes on a FED 2 if you know what you're doing - and you don't have to know much!

Aye indeed. I quite like the access hole on the Leningrad’s for the adjustment. So great.

I haven’t happened across a Kiev myself which needed more than the tweak. Or the whole replacement as I did that time. Honestly, I don’t know if I’d dedicate much time to any Kiev other than my 49 body for repairs

 

[Coldkennels]

Most of them need a slight vertical adjustment, but it's never worth the hassle. My first Kiev only needed the little tweak; the second one was completely out of whack, and that needed more through adjustment. Then I acquired another Kiev that was raddled with fungus, and in the process of cleaning it, the bloody moveable prism - the one that controls vertical alignment - dropped apart. The glue had dried up and gone brittle.

The absolute nightmare of rebuilding that had to take a back seat when we got a new cat - couldn't leave a Kiev in parts on my desk with a new cat around - and I still haven't gotten around to putting it back together. There were a lot of nights of getting to a point where it was almost right but not perfect. Not looking forward to finishing that job one bit.