Can't make up my mind

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

I have a few Kievs (II, IIA, 4a), and I think they're great. They're so common and relatively inexpensive that it seems better to just keep it.

Kiev/Contax cameras are definitely quirky, but it's easy to get used to. Negative film generally has enough latitude that slight shutter speed deficiencies are not a big deal. They are really surprisingly robust (all of mine work well, and are pretty close to accurate). Obviously they must have been made in such vast numbers for a reason. At one time Contax cameras were used by some photojournalists (Robert Capa used one when he landed on D-Day); this tells you something about their handling and toughness.

I have two Leica screw mount cameras that I hadn't shot with in at least a decade —*and both have broken slow shutter speeds. Yet all three of my Kiev's seem to be fine, and they too sat on a shelf for ten years until I recently got back into shooting film.

Not just Capa, but also Ansel Adams and Stanley Kubrick to name a couple.

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

Before I start this is not a for sale thread, please do not ask to buy it or swap for it.

A long time ago I bought this:

Whilst not quite the same, its resemblance to the Nikon S2 drew me in (mirror window is wrong side) as I couldn't afford a Nikon and liked the addition of the S2 in MGS Peace walker (its a game for those a bit older).

I'd had my Zorki a while at this point and I thought I'd try using it along side it. On field test it did really well with the Jupiter 8m taking some nice sharp shots and there being little to fault it bar the rewind button popping out and the spring going awol, now replaced with a slightly too long but usable spring. But this is where it kinda stops.

I've not really taken it out since as things bugged me about using it. The fact it locks when you focus to a close point and needing the lever touched to unlock costing valuable seconds which on the street is no good.
The speed settings being on the wind dial are a struggle to read quickly, again costing seconds, the dial also feels a lot stiffer than that of the Zorki to lift.
I'm not a fan of the way the aperture stops can move the focus point if you haven't got it held in place, another lens may be better but when you aren't using it frequently it doesn't make sense to buy lots of glass.

I do see the pros, it will allow me to use Contax stuff if I wanted, it has lugs so a strap can be used without that annoying ER case with some of my other backups lack, it also has the metal shutter making it less prone to failure.

It feels like it'll want a CLA soon, the speeds don't quite feel spot on but I'm not 100% on whether I should really keep it as I've used it once in about 5 or 6 years. But I keep getting torn as it looks pretty and I'm a sucker for USSR stuff, what do you guys think?

The Kiev doesn't resemble a Nikon—actually, it's vice-versa. As the Kiev is a replica of the Contax that the Nikons imitated in certain respects, (sadly not by including the superlatively precise Zeiss rangefinder, since Nikon elected to follow Leica with cloth focal plane shutter and a short base length rangefinder, both retrograde features).

 

[Sega]

It's its passing resemblance, I've been facinated by the Cuban revolution and Soviet Union for years (I do not however follow communisim) and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is set around the time of the cuban missile crisis and is set around there with the main character obtaining a Nikon S2 which is also supposed to have been a favourite of Castro himself.

A few of my Japanese cameras seemed to have adopted the Leica style guts although if I remember right a Minolta I've got in storage has a shutter like the Contax/Kiev one.