Ho..Ho...Ho! 'tis the season of goodwill - and...er!...GAS!

Dave Wilkinson

Dave Wilkinson

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Well, the 'estate manager' has some presents for me under the tree, but she says that as an extra treat I can have a 'little something' from that nice local used camera man!. The deed is done! and tomorrow I rush to pick it up - I must be going a little 'soft' in my old age! - 'cos here's what it is! - a hulking great Kiev 60 R/F SLR, complete with WLF, prism, filters and that smelly fitted case!.
This one comes with a Volna 80mm lens ( f2.8 I think! ) and of course I now need you folks to inform me of all the pros and cons of this wonderous contraption!. Well, if it turns out to be junk I can use it to prop open the workshop door in warm weather, or start pumping some iron! - but won't be too much out of pocket!
Seasons greetings to all!
Dave.
 
hans voralberg said:
That is notorious with frame spacing 😉 but fixable. I've used a fixed one in the past and it's quite nice to be honest. You have a local used camera man, lucky you!
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Well - 'local' in this case means about 25miles away!, and he trades at a lot of camera fairs. I'm still waiting for opinions on that Volna lens.....like shooting through the bottom of a jam jar?😀...or what?
Dave.
 
It's quite a decent camera. Much sturdier and more consistent than the Pentacon Six, of which it supposedly is a copy (in reality all they share is the form factor though). It's got a much better finder, lenses are cheap, and it is very easy to work on. The main disadvantage is that it's bulky.

Film spacing problems are common on the Kiev 60 because today's films have different thickness than they did back then. They are dead easy to adjust, though.
 
Hope you enjoy your new toy, Dave. I've got no experience with medium format Russian or FSU cameras, but just as with 35mm gear, the optics were rarely criticized, just the reliability of the camera bodies.
 
The Volna is a decent normal lens, not extraordinary, but a bog-standard workhorse. Good resolution in the center, cold-ish colour tones on my 1985 sample.

Take a look at the Mother of Lens Tests if you are into that sort of thing.

If you want to get some good and cheap lenses, the Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 50/f4 is an outstanding wideangle, and the Sonnar 180/f2.8 is a very good, if bulky, portrait lens. Both eventually had peers from Western companies (notably Zeiss Oberkochen) that outperform them, but neither those peers nor the cameras to which they attach are available for under $150. I don't use medium format a lot these days, but the Flektogon and the Sonnar were the lenses I used all the time. (Another was the Soviet 90/f2.8 Vega-15 for the Salyut-C, a nice normal lens with a slightly longish focal length and good close focussing capability that I got for $10.) All of these should work on the Kiev without problems.
 
SolaresLarrave said:
Seldom does one see Dave, the eternal skeptic, getting excited over a piece of gear... It must be Christmas! 🙂 Enjoy your grown-up new toy!
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You are quite right! - I forget myself!...Bah! Humbug!...Bokeh - Baloney!...CLA - Crap!...Sunny sixteen - Sh#t!..there! I feel myself again!, now someone make my day - with some Kiev 60 pics!.
Ebenezer.
 
Two other lens suggestions for you:
Arsat 30mm and Kaleinar (not sure of the spelling) 150mm.
The Arsat is, I think, an amazingly good, very wide angle--180 degree coverage on 6 x 6. Not too pricey new and less so used.
The 150 is relatively fast and a decent portrait length.
A link for your edification:
http://forums.delphiforums.com/n/main.asp?webtag=kievreport&nav=start A forum about FSU gear with its main emphasis on medium format.
I have lots more places bookmarked but am not sure if they are still current.

Next time some one whines about how heavy or how loud their camera is, the Kiev will give you a different perspective!
Rob
 
Well, hoping to hear how you like the new SLR.

I have a co-worker who has one. Although he has mainly gone digital, I have been weaving a web of folders and other film antics about his psyche. He has a Kiev as well, and has decided to get a little more serious about it. I have told him about RFF, but I don't think he is registered. I will ask him if he has any input.
 
oftheherd said:
Well, hoping to hear how you like the new SLR.

I have a co-worker who has one. Although he has mainly gone digital, I have been weaving a web of folders and other film antics about his psyche. He has a Kiev as well, and has decided to get a little more serious about it. I have told him about RFF, but I don't think he is registered. I will ask him if he has any input.
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Well, it's sat on my desk alongside the Rolliecord that Santa brought, both loaded with FP4+ ready to try - when I get through ferrying friends and relations around on icy and foggy roads!, they and the Jack Daniels will have to wait a bit longer! 🙁
 
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