Kiev 4

[zhang]

My first Kiev is a 4AM made in 1984. It looks quite new however the lens has a small nick on the front glass plate. The right shoulder is a little bit higher and therefore the speed/winding wheel is a little bit tilted. Eventhough I haven't used any Kiev before I can feel the metal shell is thin (not solid as I expect).

Hi,

Another Kiev user from China? I am glad to meet you here.
A 4AM should have a Helios-103 lens and that is a real sharp lens. A well made Kiev 2 or 4 can be extremely durable so you don't need an old Leica that probably has pin-holes on its cloth curtains. 😀 Another candidate for a user is the Kiev 5 with a very bright view finder and a crank for quick winding. All kievs have a thin metal top plate that covers a solid die-cast shell, but earlier Kievs have a better finish and fit for those parts.

Cheers,

Zhang

 

[zhang]

Nothing else to add.

HOW ARE YOU COMRADE ZHANG ? A pleasure to taste your special flavour again!

Cheers,
Ruben

Hi Comrade Ruben,

I am very glad to hear from you again. Your DIY black Kiev sounds very impressive. I do hope you could post some images to feast our eyes!

Cheers,

Zhang

 

[claidemore]

Which Kiev would I choose if there were 25 of them lined up? (BTW I'm glad you know which model you want Stephane, now all you gotta do is find one! 🙂 )

Kiev 4AM. I know it isn't as pretty as a Kiev 4, ( to most eyes), but my eyes can see the shutter speed numbers easier. I like the smaller, meterless profile and being newer it's a wee bit easier to find one in good cosmetic shape. I'd be tempted to paint it black though, the all black ones look pretty nice to me.
But...my next FSU rangefinder will probably be a Fed 3a or Zorki 4k. (oops! did I say that out loud?)

 

[darkkavenger]

Seems that the concept of having a politburo for the Russian RF forum is good! What do you think, comrades ? 😀

 

[zhang]

Seems that the concept of having a politburo for the Russian RF forum is good! What do you think, comrades ? 😀

Well, I guess even if you say you want a capitalist crap Leeca, KGB will not arrest you at this time. After all a Kiev was not a real red Soviet camera to begin with. 😛

 

[zhang]

I have a Kiev-4 from 1960 and it is so quiet and even smoother than my contax IIa.

Here is my prize Kiev also my 1st, a 1965 Kiev 4 in mint condition. It even comes with the brass film cassttee and take-up spool. I could not believe that I only paid $25 for such an expensive camera. And the b/w images it produced is just amazing. No, I don't need another " better rangefinder camera". 🙂

 

[varjag]

Zhang, you sure can make an eye-candy.

 

[darkkavenger]

Well, I guess even if you say you want a capitalist crap Leeca, KGB will not arrest you at this time. After all a Kiev was not a real red Soviet camera to begin with. 😛

I agree that I often tend to mistake my Kiev-2A for a Contax 😉
I'm just a wannabe!

 

[FrankS]

The double shelled film cannister is for bulk loading film into. It is the film supply side rather than the film take-up side.

I just got 3 of these for my Leica IIIa and am figuring out how to use them too. 🙂

 

[varjag]

The double cassette opens when the latch on the back is locked and closes when unlocked, hence it can never scratch a film and when used as takeup spool allows user to shoot part of film and cut off the rest.

The latch controls the opening with buttons on the bottom of cassette. There is also a small tab on a ridge of cassette that should match with indentation in camera body for proper insertion.

 

[zhang]

"Here is my prize Kiev also my 1st, a 1965 Kiev 4 in mint condition. It even comes with the brass film cassttee and take-up spool."

Is this a metal chamber, inside another chamber? I have one of these and didn't know what to do with it. I put it in the take-up spool and dented the film plate trying to close the back.

What do you do with the brass film cassette? I know now what I did wasn't right. ..


What's the photographs from the Kiev & lens combination like, Zhang?

Well I never actually used it, but I think it is just a film cassette that can be re-used.

I lost the prints made by this Kiev 4. At about the same time I used a Canon A-1 with a zoom lens. To simply put it, you just want to keep the images made by the Kiev with the J-8M lens.

 

[ErnestoJL]

Recently I tested a 1956 Kiev 4a (or maybe it was a 3?), and the shutter noise was as quiet as mine, also a Contax II with almost same noise level (not measured, just tested by ear). A few days later I found another 4 (from 1963) and when testing it, it sounded good and quiet.
The only difference I found was that some cameras have noisier (but very slightly) clockwork than others, and when shoot at 1/125 or higher speed the difference between them was nil (IMO).
I guess it all depends on how the cameras were cared and maintained, but when it comes to reducing manufacturing costs, simplifying a mechanism, or just replacing materials, the differences should become more noticeable being noise perhaps the easier to detect.

Ernesto

 

[rolleistef]

hi again,
what are your favourite russian or ukrainian sellers?
It will be awful for the postage, because of French slugish custom service...=(
Stéphane

 

[Socke]

I have a '64 Zorki4 with J-8, a J-12 in Kiev mount and a Leningrad 7 meter from UA-Project. Shipping was 15 Euro for the Zorki kit and 10 for the meter and the J-12 in one package. I had no problems with customs here in germany.

 

[newspaperguy]

Mlle. Stef...

Please take a look here:

http://www.okvintagecamera.com/index.html

That's Oleg in the Ukraine (if he hasn't frozen to death... joke).

He is an excellent repairman and an honest seller. I have both a
Kiev 4am and a Zorki 3M that he CLA'd before selling to me and
they are both functioning perfectly.

Grandpa Rick

 

[darkkavenger]

Stéphane, I don't think that customs would be sluggish, especially if you buy from ex-URSS countries. My dad lives near Nice (yep, i'm french!) and it took him 12 days to receive his jupiter-12 lens. Or you can try to spot a Kiev in France, it will cost you a bit more maybe, but even then you might have a chance to check the camera, and a little colissimo or chronopost parcel will make you have the camera very fast 😉

//max

 

[rolleistef]

cool, there's a compatriot on this site, then! =)
(did we meet before on photim??)
well, there's a huge price difference between shop prices and ebay prices, and I can't afford it...
Darkavanger, it's a comforting news, that post is that fast... m.gandy had once told me (when I thought about buying a Bessa) that it had once taken a parcel 6 weeks before crossing our sunny border... but I've read that it' was a different system for 40-less€/$ merchandises...
Stéphane

 

[darkkavenger]

Of course Steph, it depends of the value of the thing. If you're getting a Kiev from ebay or from someone here, chances are that the people will mark the pack as being a gift, however if it's marked with a value, it'll lag behind. I received a pack from my girlfriend this autumn (she's in california) and it took almost four weeks before I had it. She wrote that there were gifts for a value of 20$, so since there was written a value outside, the czech customs charged me about 4 euros of taxes. bah!

I've never been on photim alas 😉
cheers
max

 

[rolleistef]

at last! I got it! It's a IIIa. His name is Mr. 568997. It works perfectly and had the chance to meet a really nice seller, so no ebay, no post, just a meeting at a photo store, in front of the chemistry shelves 🙂 I thank him a lot.
The camera is wondeful, very quiet, the lens is a J8 from 56 (nice millesima). being able to shoot 36 frames on the same roll is nice! With my rolleiflex, I'm limited to 12 (technicallytalking) shots, it's a bit short....
Thanks for your helpp, guys! It was really useful!

 

[Stanton]

I've got two Kiev 4's, one with meter, one without, from years 1980 and 1983. Both are fine, no tune up or work over required. I can't argue from experience whether the earlier ones are better, but I have had no trouble with either of mine. Dave