Another dumb newbie question

[Tim Murphy]

Dear Board,

So I got good answers on my question about the turret viewfinder so I figured I'd press my luck and ask about the 35mm, 85mm and 135mm lenses that I have for my Kiev.

I feel safe in assuming that the turret finder I have will give me a field of view reference for each lens. What I don't know is how do I focus each lens?

Some of them mount externally of the main lens mount while some mount internally. Can I use the rangefinder to focus or must I sort of guess and zone focus?

Again, I apologize if my question seems sort of dumb but I have very little shame and I will gladly defer to folks that have far more knowledge and experience than myself rather than forcing something and boogering up my gear.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[Bill Clark]

Hi Tim!

Welcome to rangefinder forum.

No such thing as a dumb question here as we are all helping each other!

Enjoy your time here and I hope we can help you.

I didn't answer your question as I don't know. Sometimes I'm kinda like Curly who said, "I tried thinkn' once but nothin' happened!"

 

[marcr1230]

The rangefinder still must be used to focus - the turret viewfinder shows the framing for each focal length

 

[Tim Murphy]

Dear Marc,

Maybe I wasn't clear about my question?

Can I use the little wheel to focus or must I manually turn the lens barrel to focus? I've seen posts about the helical gear in the focusing mechanism and I don't want to booger it up.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[marcr1230]

focusing the turret finder is not linked to focusing the camera lens

you might sharpen up the turret view, but you still need to focus the camera

 

[Tim Murphy]

Dear Marc,

I know the turret finder only provides the FOV for a particular focal length.

My question related to the actual focusing of the lens, or lenses. Can I use the wheel to focus any or all of the lenses I own or must I manually turn the lens barrel to focus them through the rangefinder?

I've read a number of posts that refer to a helical gear that operates the focusing mechanism for internally mounted lenses. I know that some of the lenses I own mount external to the normal lens mounting mechanism which is why I asked my question.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[marcr1230]

the focus wheel on the camera body should be used for the 50mm (internal mount)

using it for the external mount lenses is not recommended - it stresses the wheel focus mechanism more than designed for , as far as I kn

 

[marcr1230]

https://www.cameraquest.com/conrf.htm

cameraquest states the contax focus wheel it was designed for 50mm and wide angle lens, not the heavier lenses

 

[Tim Murphy]

Dear Marc,

Thank you for the link, I've saved it. Everything is making more sense now.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

You'll find a manual for a Kiev 4 and 4A here;-

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/russian/kiev-4/kiev-4_kiev-4a.pdf

and here;-

http://www.russianplaza.com/Kiev%20man/kiev4man.htm

That's assuming you've a 4 but the 2 is pretty much the same and, of course, there's Contax manuals out there.

This is also interesting:-

http://www.mattsclassiccameras.com/kiev_4.html

EDIT: Thinking about it, I've never seen a manual for the 2's.

Regards, David

 

[wolves3012]

The only dumb question is the one you don't ask! The answer is that you should use the RF to focus on all of your lenses. The turret finder will only provide the correct frame for the lens, whilst the VF/RF window provides only a 50mm frame plus focussing. Worth remembering that the turret finder also has (some) parallax correction for closer distances with longer lenses, it's a bit crude but better than nothing.

You could probably zone-focus a 35mm but that's unlikely to be successful with 85mm or 135mm. You can use the focus wheel (or not, your choice) for the 50mm lenses that mount on the inner bayonet but it's not advised for any external-bayonetting lens (and you may find it too stiff anyway). Use the lens barrel for externals.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I always jam the infinity lock with a bit of toothpick and focus ALL lenses using the barrel, even 50s. Unless the camera is reasonably freshly lubricated that little circular saw of a focusing wheel is painful to use.

Cheers,

R.

 

[lxmike]

I always jam the infinity lock with a bit of toothpick and focus ALL lenses using the barrel, even 50s. Unless the camera is reasonably freshly lubricated that little circular saw of a focusing wheel is painful to use.

Cheers,

R.

excellent tip Roger l will remember that, glad you got sorted with your questions Tim🙂