CLA'd!

[mooge]

it still needs work (light leaks! aghhh!), but the speeds are up to par. total time span: a month or so, on and off of course, my shortest time so far. J-8+kiev4= $50. not bad, eh?

score!

cheers,
Dragunov

 

[acheyj]

Looks good, or as the youth today says COOL !.

Fascinated with the oiler, I have one the same branded Diawa (of the fishing reels), oil viscosity seems about right, on the subject found a silicon grease for fishing reels does the job where grease is called for.

Good luck with the leaks.

ron

 

[Nikon Bob]

Looking good. If you do a search on here there should be a number of threads dealing with light leaks on Kievs. It seems to be a fairly common thing with them and that is from personal experience. Once you get them all sorted out they are very decent picture takers.

Bob

 

[mooge]

"COOL" as i'd say? well, I need a pin that says I HATE SQUINTY VIEWFINDERS on it... the Kiev is terrible. it DOES take good pics though, albeit leaky ones.

actually, I didn;t use that oiler much. it's too viscous for ANY of the shutter timing and stuff gears.

cheers.

 

[Nikon Bob]

Some of the later Kievs did away with the black mask in the VF window and as a result the finder appears to be not as squinty in use.

Bob

 

[ruben]

"COOL" as i'd say? well, I need a pin that says I HATE SQUINTY VIEWFINDERS on it... the Kiev is terrible. it DOES take good pics though, albeit leaky ones.

actually, I didn;t use that oiler much. it's too viscous for ANY of the shutter timing and stuff gears.

cheers.

My best congratulations for the enterprise. There is always a need for another Kiev CLA/repairer here in the forum and you are most welcome to forward your secrets, failures and successes. If the Kievs are to last over time they need more and more people doing the job you did - which is a big time predator job.

As for the squinty viewfinder, I myself use the new models 4AM, with the big and round eye window, and according to the need I exchange a part here and there with a part from the older and good models.

Anyway, for me, the Universal Turret Finder is an integral and no removable part of the camera, despite its size addition, even if the only use I could give it is to have a 100% crystal clear image of the 50mm field.

Having said that, and after a long time I don't use the previous models, the contrasty viewfinder image of the the Kievs, i,e, overall dark image against yellow patch, is in my opinion the best one that have stood the test of times, among cameras priced up to +- $300. I assume the same is true for the sister Contaxes, according to other RFF friends testimony.

In other words, the Kiev requires a slower operation in this area of distance metering and composing as two separate viewings, like the oldest Leicas. Once you get used, and dexterous in this, you will enjoy the best parts of the cake.

Becoming used and dexterous in the use of the UTF will transform to a great extent the Kiev capabilities, or if you want it better, will better cover for the Kiev disadvantages vis a vis modern system rangefinder cameras.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[mooge]

though fun, camera repair would make a lousy full time job... but someone's gotta fill the gap after the pros are gone... and the old timers have to teach the few young repair folks- you can't learn to repair a Leica by trial and error.

I removed the Kiev's eyepiece. that's what's been bothering me all along. the round peephole underneath is better, but if you remove the condenser, it becomes a 1:1 finder... ahhh, Zeiss... if only...
(it's too small to offer a 50mm FOV- my guess is it's closer to a 85mm. or so...)

and that RF patch is surprisingly contrasty for a $20 camera. first time I took it out I thought it had de-silvered, there was a chevron shaped patch blacking out the bottom half of my RF patch. of course, it is my finger...

turret finders are so retro. i'd get one if I wasn't saving up for a better RF kit. the Kiev is fun, but often frustrating to me.

cheers.