How to use the built in meter of Kievs

[Spider67]

Hi,
I keep forgetting it every time!
As my Kiev 5 and my 4 a have still working meters I could actually use them...but woe upon me either I shoulld write it down or find a link how to read them properly!
Can anyone point out a link for me?

(...well using a handheld meter has this certain air of expertship but...🙄
Thanks in advance

 

[Ed S.]

I’ve had good luck with the following procedure, based on one I found on-line; maybe here, maybe at the Kiev Survival Site, maybe somewhere else (I can’t remember). It’s similar to that for my Kiev 6C.

1. Set the film speed indicator (inner ring, left knob) to the film speed you’re using. You might need to convert ASA to Gost values
2. Open the cover of the Kiev’s meter
3. Adjust the outer ring until the needle is on the large mark (a lozenge on my Kiev) in the middle of its dial.
4. Read the range of settings from the left knob.
5. Compare these readings to readings made by another light meter or camera, made at the same time of the same scene.

How closely do they agree?

I’ve found that adjusting the film speed dial again, to make the Kiev meter agree with the other meter, is a simple adjustment, and makes the Kiev meter trustable, at least for the moment.

I do this by adjusting the outer ring to provide the aperture/timing selection the external meter recommends, then adjusting both rings and watching the Kiev meter needle. Since my Kiev’s meter is essentially new/unused (the camera was stored for 25 years, so the selenium cell is unused) this is a simple adjustment for me. A meter with much more use might need a few passes through the procedure.

Now, I can simply open my Kiev’s meter, adjust the outer ring to get an exposure range, decide if I believe it (I usually do), close the meter cover, wind the shutter and then select the aperture and film speed, then take the picture.

 

[Spyderman]

markings on scale are:
. (dot)
-4
-2
<>

1) zero calibration: with closed cover in dark room adjust the tiny screw on the back until the needle is over the dot

2) metering:
- set film speed
- open the cover
- turn outer ring until the needle is over the <> mark
- read shutter speed and aperture combination from the outer and inner ring

if the needle won't reach the <> mark, but only -2 or -4 then use 2x or 4x slower sh. speed.


Also - before relying on the 30+ years old selenium meter don't forget to compare the readings to some known good meter in sunny day as well as in lower light.

 

[dll927]

First off, we'd better get our models straight. My understanding is that the 4a did NOT have a meter. That was the plain 4.

It's too bad that it took manufacturers a while to hit upon the idea of adorning their products with the model designations. Nowadays they leave no doubt. Additionally, even the Leitz outfit itself used to "upgrade" older cameras to newer specifications if the owner took the trouble to send his/her/its camera back to the factory.

With that out of the way, why depend on those old meters anyway??? I have three Kievs, two of which have meters. The third (supposedly a 4a) does not. The meters were selenium type that in most cases eventually lost their power to calculate much of anything. Even the add-on Leitz meters weren't known for much accuracy. And if Leitz couldn't do it, God forbid that the comrades in Russia could.

For what it's worth, I think the Kievs without meters are better-looking machines.

 

[Spider67]

Thanks for your advice comrades! Shame on me as I had worked it out several times in the past....and have forgfotten it.
My Kiev 4´s (or three from the 60´s) and my Kiev 5´s meter seem to have still decently working selenium cells. And it´s strange not to use them brcause you can not read them properly.
Thanks Odrej you saved my day. I had worked out a combination where the needle was between 2 & 4!