Focusing problems with Kiev 4

[farmersteve]

I bought this Kiev some time ago and ran a couple of rolls through it when I got it and all closeup shots and those that were wide open were out of focus. Thought it was the rangefinder and forgot about the camera for a couple of months. Picked up this past weekend determined to find out if the rangefinder was the culprit. Put it on a tripod and ran some focusing tests and the rangefinder was dead on.

So, if the rangefinder is accurate, what would cause the lens to take out of focus shots? I should mention that it has a Jupiter-8 on it... I don't have any other contax mount lenses to try with it...

 

[fidget]

Hi, how did you check it, against the scale on the dial or actual focus on a ground glass plate in place of the film?

 

[farmersteve]

Ah... I see where you are getting at... I need to find some ground glass to test it The scale on the lens might be off too... Anyone know where I can get a small piece of ground glass to test my lens?

 

[Jocko]

Hi Steve - if you get a strip of transparent adhesive tape and rub a section of the glue with your finger nail, working in several directions to get an evenly rough matt surface, you'll find it provides a servicable focussing screen - and one which will stick in your camera. A lightly sanded section from an old cd cover also works 🙂

Cheers, Ian

 

[farmersteve]

OK, I just did a quick and dirty gound glass and did some focusing tests on a candle. It looks like the damn thing is way off. At f2 and a meter away, the scale on the lens is showing 1.3 meters. Of course, the rangefinder is off too... Do I have a bad lens? Is there some way to adjust the focusing?

 

[fidget]

Ah! sounds like you will be exploring the very interesting subject of lens collimation (don't rely on this spellin'). I've not been there, but have seen several posts which appear to give very good help here.


Edit: just nipped back to have another go at spelling colli-watsit.

 

[rolleistef]

Hi farmersteve,
there aren't many solutions for rangefinder calibration. The first (and simplest one) is to remove the front plate (with the "kiev" engraving) and take a pair of screwdrivers. Under the rf windows there are two pairs of screws : a big one and a small one. What you need to do is un-screwing a bit the two ones, and then move the smaller ones. It's very well explained on http://www3.telus.net/public/rpnchbck/ better than I would anyway.

 

[nzeeman]

i think lens is off, dont touch anything on camera. try to find another kiev lens to check out this.

 

[fidget]

If farmersteve's lens scale reads 1.3m when the actual focus is at 1m and the rf image is not coincident, would this not suggest a lens problem rather than a rangefinder problem? It's a shame he doesn't have access to a known good lens to compare.
Am I right in thinking that you don't need a lens fitted to check the infinity focus point matches the distance scale and coincident image?

 

[fidget]

Farmersteve, does the lens mount distance scale show infinity when the rf image is coincident on an object at infinity? Suppose that would be a good start.

 

[Spyderman]

- Lens collimation

- Look here - 3rd image

 

[farmersteve]

Check that... I just double checked the rangefinder against the lens. The rangefinder is accurate. The lens is off. I'm going to try and get another one somewhere... Anyone have a Jupiter-8 or Helios they want to part with? Otherwise I'm off to eBay...

 

[farmersteve]

Ah ha... I had a closer look at the back of the lens and someone has clearly fiddled with it at some point in it's life... argh! Time to get a new lens. I don't have the tools (or energy) to fix a $20 lens...

 

[Xmas]

farmersteve

If the rngfdr is ok at 8 and 1m on the scale then there are other most likely suspects are
i) The lens focal length
ii) The lens register
iii) The body register
If the lens has been tampered with by kitchen mechanic then the problem may be any of i) to iii), i.e. the mechanic probably failed.
You can still probably get new condition helios from the FSU ebay sellers, if you cannot borrow one easily, these should be better then J8 or J8m if you are fussy.
It is possible to fix any of i) to iii) relatively easily if you want to try. Russ the mad Canuk explains it all in photos on the site references in earlier post. He exven explains how to reassemble the lens so it works...

Noel

 

[Igor.Burshteyn]

I have similar combination - kiev with J8 which focuses some 5cm behind target wide open on close distance. Since I have J9 which is spot on even wide open on that body, I am quite sure it's the lens. Try another lens on your body. My J8 is pretty sharp when DOF (or my misfocus) covers focusing mistake - so I don't want to give up and I am waiting for rainy day in order to collimate lens to the body. Though my J8 seems to be sharper on portrait distance than on infinity.

 

[farmersteve]

Focused to infinity or stopped way down, like f16 or 22. The lens works fine. I'll have another look at the lens disassembly instructions, but I think I'll at least order a new Helios since they seem so cheap and plentiful on eBay... Thanks for all the help!

 

[Xmas]

Steve
The J8 optic body is threaded into the mount and held against a shim by (an external) grub screw, if the lens is ok, you can discard any shim, stick 3M matt tape across the inner rails of the gate and use a loope on image of Jupiter or Sirus, focusing with the lens to mount threads, blue tack the lens to mount when finished, while you tap or punch a grub location dimple.

The lens will work ok with just the grub screw holding in a dimple.

You may prefer the J8M image...

Noel