FSU Quality control is the subject of many curse- it is so... Well...
I've 4 Kiev bodies now. Only one of which works (from Oleg) and even it has trouble, the flash goes off before the bottom shutter is all the way open. It's a 1963. The ones I have range from 1963 all the way until the late 80's and I can say that the next one in line is a 1973 model- which has the most potential to work well again. It was the first I bought, and got it because it was within 120 miles of me. It actually had some sort of "soft shutter" release on it- and was VERY well used.
It leaks light like a fine mesh screen. I've fixed some of the leakes, but I really have to send the camera in- the rangefinder top doesn't fit quite right into the body so the back doesn't seal quite right... It has the plastic film transport gear, and that seems to indicate some (downward) step in the evolution of these cameras... At least according to the Russian sellers I've run across and spoken with...
I don't believe that one can quantify how much more reliable one year's run of cameras is over another- it's sort of an Eastern Philosphy thing, if it's worked this long, it's bound to work a long time to come. In other words unless it arrives broken, or breaks within the first 10 rolls of film (or 1/2 hour exercising the shutter) it'll be fine for a long time.
I've tested the CZJ lens wide open and against light. A hood helps about as much as a hood on my Nikon S-2's 50mm. In spite of the bubbles (and there are several) it's a wonderful lens, forming quite attractive images and surprising detail- surprising because it's obviously soft wide open, but very attractive none-the-less. I've seen it in many of the lenses of the day: "if you can't make it sharp, make it look good!" That the FSU continued the camera for so long really speaks to their impression of it-and I agree. It's a good image maker.
Now, if I could only find an 85mm without horrible veiling (at odd times)
