Philip Whiteman
Old hand returning to the fray
The title is tongue in cheek, but based on my own Kiev and Contax voyage of discovery over the first three months of 2017. It started when my son Will, knowing I was 'Kiev curious' presented me on Christmas Day with a 1981 4M. Once I learned how to hold it properly, I realized that it was fully functional (yes; I did start with one finger over the rangefinder window).
However, while the first film revealed quite how good the Heliar 103 f1.8 53mm lens is, it also revealed a light leak (cue a visit to the Kiev Survivors site...) On a trip to Copenhagen problem no.2 with camera no.1 manifested itself: in cold weather, horrible grinding noises from inside and overlapping frames. I may have fixed these things - there's now a test film in the camera - but in the meantime Kiev no.2 found a home with me.
No.2, a 1978 4, was liberated from the local camera store for £25 because they weren't entirely sure it was working and it was missing its take-up spool.
Before a replacement spool arrived from Ukraine, the same store - perhaps now sensing they had an an addict, or at least a glutton for punishment on the premises - sold me the broken 1939 Contax II whose take-up spool I had asked to borrow for the second Kiev. It came with a collapsible 2/50 Sonnar they had already loaned me to try on Kiev no.1.
While I took the Contax apart with an idea of replacing the broken shutter ribbons and freeing up the frozen-solid focus mount - a saga that drove me close to madness - I discovered that Kiev 4 no.2 (stay with me) also had light leaks. Argh!
As if two problematic Kiev 4s and a broken Contax II were not enough, an eBay seller in Hungary was offering temptation in the form of a 1953 Kiev 2 in mint condition, with pristine ever-ready case, original box... and, as he honestly described it, a sluggish shutter. Had to have it, didn't I! And if the Contax's shutter proved impossible to repair, perhaps I could swap over... (Don't go there, I hear you chorus)
So now I have four Kiev and Contax cameras: a 4M that, now I have had it apart and added some light sealing around the shutter crate, may now be light tight, but still feels like a pepper grinder when you wind the shutter; a 4 that feels much smoother and may also now be light tight with even more sealing added; a Contax II that I did get working without substituting a Kiev shutter, but remains untested; and a Kiev 2 that is absolutely pristine but needs some attention to the shutter.
Apart from the nightmare of tensioning the Contax shutter - something I will describe elsewhere - this whole adventure has been hugely enjoyable without being at expensive (the Contax came in at £30 - perhaps £50 in total if you count new silk shutter ribbon from Japan and pricey watch oil and other sundries - and only the Kiev 2 approached the £100 barrier). Working or not, I love these cameras for their design and historical significance.
I have also have in my own hands the evidence that it is true: a 1950s Kiev is just as beautifully made as a prewar Contax (in fact, the Soviet chrome plating actually looks better than the German original).
It is also true that the decline in quality of Kievs - startlingly apparent when you expose the works inside - is also evident.
Neither of the first two Kievs was working properly when I got them, and for a different reason (I think the shutter tension has gone) nor was the third. So I am still wondering; How many Kievs do you have to buy before you get one that works!
However, while the first film revealed quite how good the Heliar 103 f1.8 53mm lens is, it also revealed a light leak (cue a visit to the Kiev Survivors site...) On a trip to Copenhagen problem no.2 with camera no.1 manifested itself: in cold weather, horrible grinding noises from inside and overlapping frames. I may have fixed these things - there's now a test film in the camera - but in the meantime Kiev no.2 found a home with me.
No.2, a 1978 4, was liberated from the local camera store for £25 because they weren't entirely sure it was working and it was missing its take-up spool.
Before a replacement spool arrived from Ukraine, the same store - perhaps now sensing they had an an addict, or at least a glutton for punishment on the premises - sold me the broken 1939 Contax II whose take-up spool I had asked to borrow for the second Kiev. It came with a collapsible 2/50 Sonnar they had already loaned me to try on Kiev no.1.
While I took the Contax apart with an idea of replacing the broken shutter ribbons and freeing up the frozen-solid focus mount - a saga that drove me close to madness - I discovered that Kiev 4 no.2 (stay with me) also had light leaks. Argh!
As if two problematic Kiev 4s and a broken Contax II were not enough, an eBay seller in Hungary was offering temptation in the form of a 1953 Kiev 2 in mint condition, with pristine ever-ready case, original box... and, as he honestly described it, a sluggish shutter. Had to have it, didn't I! And if the Contax's shutter proved impossible to repair, perhaps I could swap over... (Don't go there, I hear you chorus)
So now I have four Kiev and Contax cameras: a 4M that, now I have had it apart and added some light sealing around the shutter crate, may now be light tight, but still feels like a pepper grinder when you wind the shutter; a 4 that feels much smoother and may also now be light tight with even more sealing added; a Contax II that I did get working without substituting a Kiev shutter, but remains untested; and a Kiev 2 that is absolutely pristine but needs some attention to the shutter.
Apart from the nightmare of tensioning the Contax shutter - something I will describe elsewhere - this whole adventure has been hugely enjoyable without being at expensive (the Contax came in at £30 - perhaps £50 in total if you count new silk shutter ribbon from Japan and pricey watch oil and other sundries - and only the Kiev 2 approached the £100 barrier). Working or not, I love these cameras for their design and historical significance.
I have also have in my own hands the evidence that it is true: a 1950s Kiev is just as beautifully made as a prewar Contax (in fact, the Soviet chrome plating actually looks better than the German original).
It is also true that the decline in quality of Kievs - startlingly apparent when you expose the works inside - is also evident.
Neither of the first two Kievs was working properly when I got them, and for a different reason (I think the shutter tension has gone) nor was the third. So I am still wondering; How many Kievs do you have to buy before you get one that works!
