Got my Kiev 4am today

[colyn]

This camera truely looks as though it has never been used.
All shutter speeds sound good and the lens is clean with no marks etc.

I'm taking it out this weekend for a test run and will post photos.
Maybe my 35mm J-12 will come in tomorrow... 🙂 🙂

 

[w3rk5]

Nice. I'm sure you'll enjoy using it. Be prepaired for some possilbe light leaks. I had some, but they were easily taken care of. Have fun. 🙂

 

[wlewisiii]

"Never been used"? Look out. A lot of those look like that because the first owner couldn't get them to work properly and shoved them in a drawer someplace. Hope yours is the exception.

William

 

[Solinar]

I just sold a Kiev 4am. It looked hardly used, but worked great. I let it go because I wasn't using it. My Kiev 2a looks almost new and it is in perfect working order as well.

 

[Ash]

Thanks to Spark on this forum, I have a great looking Kiev4a in contax's clothing. It looks 'vintage' apparently, but otherwise in excellent condition. It works fine if only I could work out the neg spacing issues!!

Good luck, I'm sure you'll love it 😀

 

[taffer]

Let me add to the positive vibs here. I also got my 'brand new looking' 4am and was a little scared by all the negative comments about the last Kiev generation but the camera ended working like a charm and (IIRC) the new RFFer using it now also was satisfied with it 🙂

Oscar

 

[rbiemer]

Colyn,
My first or second FSU purchase was a very nice Kiev 4a. I did almost all the things one is not supposed to do: bought from a seller basically unknown to me, didn't have a particularly good photo of the camera, and paid by wiring the $ to this guy. Not a ton of money but I was a bit nervous during the two weeks I waited for the camera to show up.
When it did, I was very happy. The camera looked very little used (the case, on the other hand was beat up pretty badly!), and has served me well for the past 5 years.
Hoping you like yours as well as I do mine!
Rob

 

[Jocko]

"Never been used"? Look out. A lot of those look like that because the first owner couldn't get them to work properly and shoved them in a drawer someplace. Hope yours is the exception.

William

I have to say that was exactly my experience. The camera in question (one of the very last, made in 1984, looked superb, but proved to be spectacularly badly made, with the innards on the verge of rattling around inside.. It took sessions with Steve Ash and Oleg to put it right.

As in all these things, it's very much a gamble what you get.

Cheers, Ian

 

[pshinkaw]

I bought a Kiev 4AM from a RFF member that looked hardly used, and it had been used to produce a whole bunch of photos on his personal web page. He brought it over to the US from Russia and had upgraded. He took good care of it and it worked great!

-Paul

 

[Ash]

It's definitely pot luck. When I was researching about RF's and all the Russian-made cameras, a multitude of sites frequently referred to the 'quality control issues' and how you really can't tell a bad one til it's too late.

Even the Fed-4 I grabbed from ScotForthLad, it looks horrible but it still works - if I saw it on 'bay then I'd have expected it to be a parts camera and nothing else.

That said, this isn't restricted to Kievs and Feds and Zorkis, just look at the problems with the latest Epson RD-1!

I think with Kiev's since they're basically a contax in another shell, so as long as you buy from a good source, and you can CLA or have the cash to send it to Oleg, buy it cheap and you can't go wrong.

Just take care of the camera, and watch out for the usual issues like light leaks, rf/vf alignment, frame spacing and take-up spools!

 

[ruben]

I have to say that was exactly my experience. The camera in question (one of the very last, made in 1984, looked superb, but proved to be spectacularly badly made, with the innards on the verge of rattling around inside.. It took sessions with Steve Ash and Oleg to put it right.

As in all these things, it's very much a gamble what you get.

Cheers, Ian

The last 4am I bought from Trofimov looks like new, feels like new, and works like new. And without any oil it is by far the softest winding one. A previous 4am I bought from Davidenko was almost as good, but not so incredible soft.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[Ash]

Strangely I agree - my kiev is deathly quiet in comparison to every other soviet camera I've used.

 

[colyn]

Nice. I'm sure you'll enjoy using it. Be prepaired for some possilbe light leaks. I had some, but they were easily taken care of. Have fun. 🙂

I did a light leak test today by placing a short strip of Tri-X inside and setting the camera in the bright Texas sun for several minutes then developing the strip.
There were no detectable leaks so tomorrow it gets loaded with film for its maiden run.

 

[colyn]

Colyn,
My first or second FSU purchase was a very nice Kiev 4a. I did almost all the things one is not supposed to do: bought from a seller basically unknown to me, didn't have a particularly good photo of the camera, and paid by wiring the $ to this guy. Not a ton of money but I was a bit nervous during the two weeks I waited for the camera to show up.

I bought this one from Alex photo and paid via paypal. He shipped on the 19th and it arrived yesterday. Faster than I expected. I also bought a Zorki-4 from him that should arrive early next week. I'm also waiting for a J-12 bought from another seller who shipped on the 20th.

When it did, I was very happy. The camera looked very little used (the case, on the other hand was beat up pretty badly!), and has served me well for the past 5 years.
Hoping you like yours as well as I do mine!
Rob

This one came with a black original case in surprisingly good condition. However I never use one since it is always in my way..
😛

 

[ruben]

BTW, it looks like either Soviet sellers or/and gear is to be held as suspicious or prone to break, but after a Yashica detour I took for the last months, most of the related gear I bought, mostly from USA sellers, was damaged, dirty (in my book of dirty cameras the Guiness peak is still hold by an USA seller), or screwed (by the famous Yashica seller jbeckwitht (the one shouting "Black Beauty!").

Now I would like to be clear that the problems are first of all related to the age of the equipment and not the nationality of the sellers. It is natural for the USA sellers to rank first in bad old Yashica gear since the USA is the main supplier of this oldish and cheap gear. But the same is true for the Soviets, and we should be aware of it. It is not just random quality manufacturing, but old gear too.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[jdos2]

The trouble I've had with my dozen or so Kievs is simply the shutter curtains. They either break, or the cords come un-done, or the mechanism that works 'em simply fails. I have three or four around here (slowly surrendering their mechanisms to fix other cameras!) that all are sitting with their film gates wide open, the bottom shutter is down, even though they are wound.

Good luck. I hope you got a new one. I've had close to a 20% hit rate.

Of course, if anyone needs a Kiev mount J-8, I've got "one or two..."

🙂

They take great pictures when they work. The one from Oleg blinds a bit on the top of the frame (I'm thinking the lower shutter is a touch slow at the bottom of travel) and the one from a fellow forum member just recently "fixed itself," and works well. Neither of them look new.

 

[stephen_lumsden]

Best of luck. I concur with jdos2, they do take great pictures when they work. The J-12 can be a lovely lens also.

regards

Stephen

 

[James Brannan]

This camera truely looks as though it has never been used.
All shutter speeds sound good and the lens is clean with no marks etc.

I'm taking it out this weekend for a test run and will post photos.
Maybe my 35mm J-12 will come in tomorrow... 🙂 🙂

I saw this thread and it really makes me impatient for mine! I ordered one off of eBay from Russia and am just about to hit my second week waiting. It's not alot of money and it's a seller that is moving quite a few so I'm not worried about getting ripped off, it's just the waiting that kills me.:bang:

Good luck with yours.

 

[ruben]

The trouble I've had with my dozen or so Kievs is simply the shutter curtains. They either break, or the cords come un-done, or the mechanism that works 'em simply fails. I have three or four around here (slowly surrendering their mechanisms to fix other cameras!) that all are sitting with their film gates wide open, the bottom shutter is down, even though they are wound.

Good luck. I hope you got a new one. I've had close to a 20% hit rate.

Of course, if anyone needs a Kiev mount J-8, I've got "one or two..."

🙂

They take great pictures when they work. The one from Oleg blinds a bit on the top of the frame (I'm thinking the lower shutter is a touch slow at the bottom of travel) and the one from a fellow forum member just recently "fixed itself," and works well. Neither of them look new.

This is interesting for me. I never held any of my Kievs as a workhorse, although I am going soon. I wonder if this problem is related to the shutter/cocking resistance to the user and the user manipulation of the knob, or due to the inner mechanics. Anyway I manipulate Kievs with my best care.

 

[jdos2]

I never man-handled my Kievs, I've had horrible luck with them.

I have one LTM FSU camera... Ooops! No I don't. I threw it away. Only paid $20 for it, though... It didn't work from the get-go.

My GF smiles and asks the obvious question to watch me wince: "Why would I continue to try?" and I do have an answer for her:
Jupiter-12 (which works on the SP, but NOT on the Contax IIIa)
J-8
J-9 (yes, it flares a bit!)
J-13
CZ Jena 50mm f/1.5 in brass, coated.
CV 21mm f/4.

All of 'em are excellent. The cameras are fun to use when they work. The fact that I have more working and accurate Kiev light meters than Kiev shutters makes me smile when I use 'em.