Re: Kievs...
In this part of the world, Ruben is the local expert on FSU gear and I have
learned much from him. Last year, I bought the Kiev 4a which was a long
running production model; mine was made in 1960. And, the long Kiev RF
base is great.
The Kiev's have a couple of minor, annoying quirks:
- spacing between negative frames is uneven.
- In advancing the large winder knob for film advance and shutter cocking,
it is easy to inadvertently change shutter speeds, with a slight, accidental
upward pulling on the knob.
The above being said, the special quality of the Jupiter lenses, especially
the J8, is legendary.
If you want a Kiev, go for it. Some of the better Sellers are:
Oleg at okvintagecamera.com, Yuri at fedka.com, and in eBay
it's leon1965jazz and alex_photo.
Cheers, mike