Kiev 4a rewind problem ...

[afaceinthecrowd]

Just wondering if any of you Kiev / FSU gurus out there have any simple fixes for the rewind mechanism on a Kiev 4a. It seems that the cam that disengages the clutch on the film transport mechanism doesn't quite push the pin far enough. If I push the pin manually with the back of the transport freewheels OK ... but with the back on and film in it's locked up tight.

Any ideas? Is there an adjustment for this or a tweak?

Thanks in advance!
dan

 

[physiognomy]

Hi Dan,

I am also having troubles with rewinding my 4a, but my problems don't seem to be as grave as yours...

My camera DIY leaves a lot to be desired so far, so you would probably be better off disregarding any advice I have to give.... That said, I'm sure you have thought of adding some height to the pin that pushes up from the bottom plate? ... My other suggestion would be to lubricate and try again...

Why the pin is not engaging the mechanism is probably a good question to investigate before any surgery though...

I couldn't find my calipers, but the pin on the bottom plate of my camera extends approx 1-2mm... Is there a chance that there is some small obstruction that stops your release pin from fully extending?

Cheers!

Just wondering if any of you Kiev / FSU gurus out there have any simple fixes for the rewind mechanism on a Kiev 4a. It seems that the cam that disengages the clutch on the film transport mechanism doesn't quite push the pin far enough. If I push the pin manually with the back of the transport freewheels OK ... but with the back on and film in it's locked up tight.

Any ideas? Is there an adjustment for this or a tweak?

Thanks in advance!
dan

 

[afaceinthecrowd]

I've thought about extending the pin ... but what I may try first is to epoxy some shim stock to the surface of the cam that depresses the pin. 🙂

It doesn't work now so I won't be out anything if I make it worse ...

dan

 

[RichardS]

Isn't the Kiev 4 the one where you have to move one of the bottom locks to line up with a red mark on the base of the camera? At least that is the way mine works. Mine works fine but you might try setting it slightly to once side or the other of the red mark and see if that does anything.

Dick

 

[ErnestoJL]

If the camera wasn´t abused, it is forcing it to rewind, exerting extreme force on any mechanism, it shouldn´t be anything broken (unless the camera was shooting continuously for the past 40 years - I guess it didn´t happen!). Check if the pin protrudes from the bottom plate and its movement is unobstructed. Check also if the camera back seats properly aligned with the body. A battered camera may have some play in the locks on either side and the back may then be a little tilted, thus preventing the pin to reach the innards of the transport assembly. Please note that this last is extremely unusual!
The travelling distance of the release button for the Contax II is from 3.6 mm to 7.6 mm it is 3 mm, and for my Kiev 4 (´66 model) is from 3.45 to 5.9 mm it is 2.45 mm (I´ve just measured it with a caliper).
Hope this will help. Good luck!
Regards
Ernesto.

 

[ErnestoJL]

Isn't the Kiev 4 the one where you have to move one of the bottom locks to line up with a red mark on the base of the camera? At least that is the way mine works. Mine works fine but you might try setting it slightly to once side or the other of the red mark and see if that does anything.

Dick

Dick:
I don´t know about other Kievs, but mine is a 4 made in ´66 and has no red marks in the bottom plate either external or internal. Also it doesn´t matter which of the locks is open/closed first. It works OK.
Which is your Kiev´s manufacture date?

 

[afaceinthecrowd]

Mine works off of the right (??) locking key. There is a red dot and I've tried to rewind in other spots in it's rotation but with no luck ... it just doesn't push the pin up far enough 😀

These things are so cheap that I could easily try another but with my luck I'll get another one with a problem or two ... Of course if my Kiev ever shows up from our friend Nick in Moscow then I'll be set 😉

dan

 

[RichardS]

Dick:
I don´t know about other Kievs, but mine is a 4 made in ´66 and has no red marks in the bottom plate either external or internal. Also it doesn´t matter which of the locks is open/closed first. It works OK.
Which is your Kiev´s manufacture date?

If the serial number shows the date of manufacture, mine was made in 1985. The red mark is located next to the right bottom plate lock. You turn the lock so the part that lifts up is even with the red mark and that allows the film to be rewound. This is a description of how it works from Keith Berry's web site

"For the photographer who never uses the two cassette option, it can be annoying that the take-up spool can fall out of the camera when the back is removed, and for him/her the Kiev 4M and 4AM has a fixed take up spool and a flip-over crank on the rewind knob. By turning the base lock key to point at the red dot, the drive sprockets are disengaged, to save having to hold in the button of the earlier models while rewinding "

The URL for the website is http://www.keithberry.telinco.co.uk/Kiev-4.htm

Dick

 

[Pherdinand]

My Kiev 4 has a painfully hard rewind as well. Bottom pin works fine though.

 

[ErnestoJL]

Thanks Dick for your answer.
Reading the other posts and thinking that Kneb production ceased few years later than yours were made, I think that QC was dropped from the production line as a superfluous production step (at least, as long as the cameras were able to shoot, it was OK). There is no way to trace production changes, so there are few chances of knowing if the camera was made with the right parts or not. Perhaps some small variation in components made a lot of savings, who knows? The changes in design may reflect also the interest of Arsenal of having a good product to sell, however the way they did wasn´t the ideal one as we may think of it.

They were mainly selling cameras to a captive market, something very different from ours.
Regards
Ernesto.