1951 Kiev 1 Restoration

[ZorkiKat]

Kiev-2. Restored April 2008.

This 1951 Kiev-2 was found in a working state, cosmetics not too good. The original leather(ette?) covering was torn and peeling. So it was stripped bare for recovering.

As expected with old Kiev, the shutter ribbon broke, one at a time. Left ribbon first, then the right. And they broke exactly where someone (very knowledgeable on Contax repairs) had pointed out where they always break: about 1-2 mm from the sewn upper ends where the most wear happens.

The ribbons were replaced with Aki-Asahi silk ribbons. 100% natural silk and very tough. Fits the friction clutch of the Kiev (and Contax?) width-wise. That's 3mm. The clutches have to pinched a bit to make them grip the ribbons. Without the clutches pinching, the lower curtain will fall loosely, pulled by the middle spring of the bottom roller. A properly 'pinching' curtain should not drop down easily even if it doesn't cling on the upper curtain tightly.

The ribbon is installed. Note the attempted cross-stitch. Tried to follow the stitching instruction given by I. Maizenberg. But clumsy fat fingers won't do good work with tiny needles on tiny ribbons. The works were also cleaned by spraying them with naphtha, and oiled with thinned 3-in-1 oil.

After fixing the shutter and calibrating it, a new skin was put on the Kiev. I used inexpensive thin vinyl leatherette bought from an upholstery supply store. The Kиев logo was filled in with black paint. It eventually rubbed off.

This Kiev is now a fine shooter. Perhaps a dozen rolls of film have gone through it. And contrary to the myth, it doesn't really need much fondling nor servicing every other week or so ....😀

 

[mooge]

very nice. and hey, cyrillic works here...

 

[le vrai rdu]

very nice, my kiev shutter was xrecked, I couldn't fix the ribbons, I gave up and regret it, it was such a funny camera 🙂

 

[Nikon Bob]

Now I know you have been busy lately. Another job well done.

Bob

 

[robin a]

You're very gifted..................

 

[rolleistef]

so cool... so you can actually recalibrate a shutter? very impressive! good job!

 

[ZorkiKat]

so cool... so you can actually recalibrate a shutter? very impressive! good job!

Using TV-screen test, and following basic adjustment tips from Maizenberg. I suppose the speeds are within acceptable range- haven't gotten bad pictures from erratic shutter exposures yet. No unexpected dense or thin negatives so far with metered exposures.

By the way these examples shot by the restored Kyiv-2 look, the shutter seems to be exposing well enough for practical purposes:

(Fuji Neopan 400, with yellow filter, 35mm J-12)

(Lucky color 200, 50mm Jupiter-8 /lens shown above with the Kiev-2)​

 

[newspaperguy]

Nice work ZK!

 

[ruben]

Great job - Congratulations.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[mooge]

about that...

when I CLA'd my Kiev, I calibrated the shutter by looking though it and comparing the view at 1/1250 with a Spotmatic F (still looking for parts for that one) at 1/1000. the Kiev never caught up, and I was afraid i'd ruin the shutter spring, so I slapped it all together and apparently it works fine as well. nothing overexposed when taken at 1/1250- though it's more like 1/1000- but that's a good thing. for me.

 

[rxmd]

Nice!

There's a number (4098) on the body, does it correlate to the serial number somehow?

 

[oftheherd]

Really nice job.

I hope I never have to do that, but I guess it happens to all Kiev owners at some point. Seeing how you and others have been able to do it, I will be willing to try repairs when/if needed. I just don't know that I have the expertise/dexterity.

 

[acheyj]

Really nice job.

I hope I never have to do that, but I guess it happens to all Kiev owners at some point. Seeing how you and others have been able to do it, I will be willing to try repairs when/if needed. I just don't know that I have the expertise/dexterity.

______________________________________________________
Be warned its not trivial, but none the less very rewarding, there is lots of help available here.
I wrecked a virtually brand new one the first time then bought a couple of not working bodies from Alex and by reading Rick, Zorkicat and Ruben got on top of it.

cheers

ron

 

[ZorkiKat]

Nice!

There's a number (4098) on the body, does it correlate to the serial number somehow?

Secret numbers! 🙂 The shutter crate also has its own number which show no direct relation on the number stamped on the shoe. The numbers on the shutter crate on early Kiev look cleanly stamped. those on the later ones appear to be hand-engraved and rough.

Numbers different from the camera body number also appear on the shutter crates of Zorki-5 and Zorki-6.

 

[ZorkiKat]

about that...

when I CLA'd my Kiev, I calibrated the shutter by looking though it and comparing the view at 1/1250 with a Spotmatic F (still looking for parts for that one) at 1/1000. the Kiev never caught up, and I was afraid i'd ruin the shutter spring, so I slapped it all together and apparently it works fine as well. nothing overexposed when taken at 1/1250- though it's more like 1/1000- but that's a good thing. for me.

How 1/1000 'looks' on one camera may not be similar in another. On a TV screen test, the top speed will look like a very narrow diagonal stripe. In two-blind shutters which are powered by two springs, a tapered diagonal will indicate a badly tensed roller.

But in Kiev, where the two metal-slat blinds act like a "single-curtain, fixed slit" such will not happen because both curtains actually run practically on one set of springs. The two outer springs in the outer roller does the main driving power. The lower blind is attached to a weaker spring roller but this does not do much to controlling the speed- this blind still rides on the ribbons powered by the stronger outer srpings.

The amount of tensioning is dependent on the curtains somewhat. Should just be enough to power the blinds through. Maizenberg recommended 8-10 turns of the tensioning screw. In the cameras I tensioned. 6 -7 turns often work. Perhaps this is due to the lighter and thinner replacement ribbons.

Avoid overtensioning, This will make the winding and shutter setting heavier at best, and break the tensioning springs at worst.

The Contax/Kiev 1/1250 was often considered a very optimistic value. It could be 1/1000 or it could 1/750 in reality. But that shouldn't matter. Most mechanical shutters do the same. The faster shutter speeds are given more leeway, and the apparent slowness is within acceptable tolerances.

 

[oftheherd]

______________________________________________________
Be warned its not trivial, but none the less very rewarding, there is lots of help available here.
I wrecked a virtually brand new one the first time then bought a couple of not working bodies from Alex and by reading Rick, Zorkicat and Ruben got on top of it.

cheers

ron

Point taken. I hope I never have to. But I will be willing to at least give it a try. I would probably do as you did and try to get a couple of non-working bodies to practice on first.

 

[mooge]

speaking of which... I can't recall how many turns I gave it. but it works fine, so I won't re do that whole business (my screwdriver ALWAYS slips when detensioning the shutter.)

and my wind is really stiff with film. like obscenely stiff.

I dig the avatar.

cheers.