Help me decide: Kiev 4a or Zorki 3

You can find any modern nylon strap from any brand of camera. I put Olympus Pen's strap on Leica IIIC.

I recently bought 1977 Kiev 4a with 1978 Jupiter-8M $62.13, still on the way from Kiev, Ukraine.
 
Kiev 4a came in!

Haven't loaded any film onto it but my observations thus far of the camera are as follows:
  • ****ing infinity lock. I suppose I will get used to it.
  • Leatherette is peeling in some places. Are there camera leather vendors that sell covers for Kiev? Or can I just glue back the bits that stick out?
  • The Helios 103 has very shiny aperture blades; I was warned of this.
  • Closest focusing distance is not very close. I guess I've been coddled by SLR lenses that can focus as close as 0.45 meter or more.
  • I know to change the shutter speed only after advancing the shutter. However, I noticed there being a bit of friction on the dial when changing a fast shutter speed to a slower one (such as from 1250th to 500th). It slides perfectly into place when changing speeds the other way though (slow to fast). Is this normal?
  • Back comes off easy, but takes a bit of fiddling to put it on again.
  • The camera looks nice and fits in my hand neatly. It's smaller and lighter than I expected; then again, I am an SLR-guy.
  • Is this a camera I can carry around in my backpack? My fear is that doing so would bump the rangefinder out of alignment.
  • Somewhat slower to handle than an SLR. At least with an SLR I can focus on a subject using the ground glass without reframing the shot. With a rangefinder, I have to focus first and frame afterwards. A bit tricky too if I shoot in portrait orientation.
 
  • ****ing infinity lock. I suppose I will get used to it.
Yes, you will. It just takes time. Once you get used to the Contax grip, it's not even a problem. It's right there under your finger.
  • Leatherette is peeling in some places. Are there camera leather vendors that sell covers for Kiev? Or can I just glue back the bits that stick out?
You can glue it back. Any strong glue will do, but you only need the tiniest bit.
  • The Helios 103 has very shiny aperture blades; I was warned of this.
I don't think I've ever noticed any blade-related flare. But still, buy yourself a lens hood as soon as possible. You want a 40.5 screw in hood.
  • Closest focusing distance is not very close. I guess I've been coddled by SLR lenses that can focus as close as 0.45 meter or more.
You get used to 90cm pretty quickly. But if you want something that appears closer, try getting your hands on a Jupiter 9 (85/2). At close focus (1.15m) you get quite an effective "close-up" shot.
  • I know to change the shutter speed only after advancing the shutter. However, I noticed there being a bit of friction on the dial when changing a fast shutter speed to a slower one (such as from 1250th to 500th). It slides perfectly into place when changing speeds the other way though (slow to fast). Is this normal?
Yeah, that's totally normal. I wouldn't worry about it. It always feels like it's rushing to get to a faster speed, like it's unwinding something inside. I've never stripped a Kiev so I don't know exactly how the mechanism works, though.
  • Is this a camera I can carry around in my backpack? My fear is that doing so would bump the rangefinder out of alignment.
I wouldn't, personally. I'd assign it an individual pocket, if there's one that it fits into well enough. The rangefinder mechanism is more sturdy than the Leica clones, but still... don't bash it around too much.
  • Somewhat slower to handle than an SLR. At least with an SLR I can focus on a subject using the ground glass without reframing the shot. With a rangefinder, I have to focus first and frame afterwards. A bit tricky too if I shoot in portrait orientation.
That's par for the course. I actually find it faster because the RF spot is much easier for me to clearly find focus on than on ground glass; less mucking about focusing one way then the other. You do get used to it, though. Even moving to a different viewfinder (such as with different focal length lenses) feels second nature after a while.

Depending on what you're shooting, you may want to try and learn hyperfocal techniques. That'll speed things up no end. It's actually as fast (if not faster) as an autofocus camera that way.

Overall though, are you pleased with your purchase?
 
Utilizing hyperfocal distance/deep DOF might be difficult; I like to use slow films like Ektar 100.

Very pleased with the camera, and once I run a roll through it, I'm sure I'll end up pleased with the lens too. Funny I got it just in time for the FSU contest.
 
Congrats, David! Once you learn the personality and quirks of the Kiev 4, I'm sure you'll enjoy using it.

One thing: the take up spool on my Kievs have that strange centered hole for holding the film leader ... another annoyance. I find I always have to take a pair of scissors and trim the film leader to a small centered 'tab' and use a small piece of tape to hold it in place after I stick the film leader through the slot.

Just a suggestion. You may find your own way to deal with this 'quirk'!

Regarding throwing it in a backpack: I think the camera would be fine, as long as you're not throwing you backpack around like a maniac or anything. I use a small ThinkTank Retrospective 5 bag for all my daily camera adventures ... never had a problem with any of my cameras going out of alignment.

Post some photos when you get your first roll back! 🙂 🙂 🙂
 
Yuri at Fedka was kind enough to include an extra take-up spool with a slot that accepts the modern leader width. Very useful.

Made some slight modifications to the camera:
- Cut a piece of plastic to push back the infinity lock at the face of the camera. Took care of that annoyance.
- Made a duct tape "mask" to cover the abrasive ring around the viewfinder. My glasses are safe for now.

I'm currently running a roll of Ektar on the Kiev; looking forward to how it turns out.
 
davidtan said:
Made some slight modifications to the camera:
- Cut a piece of plastic to push back the infinity lock at the face of the camera. Took care of that annoyance.
- Made a duct tape "mask" to cover the abrasive ring around the viewfinder. My glasses are safe for now.
Click to expand...

Enjoy your Kiev. I use mine a lot. I try to keep my infinity lock off, but if its not, its becomesecond nature to click it off with my forefinger when I bring the camera up to my eye. The other thing I had to work on was a diffierent grip so that my finger didn't cover the rangefinder window.

I am a glasses wearer as well but I can manage without them. When you feel like buying your second rangefinder check out the Canon P's. They have a large bright finder and 35mm frame lines, so useing a 50 for instance its easy to see all round the finder with glasses on. I take my glasses off when useing the Kiev but I can leave them on with the Canon.
 
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