Kiev Konfusion

[analogueman]

I have a Kiev rangefinder camera that I think is a 3A, but I'm not absolutely certain. It has a max shutter speed of 1/1250 sec and a stabilising foot, and has the serial number A 5610052. Can anyone help me identify the exact model? Thanks

 

[konicaman]

Hi analogueman and welcome to this nice and friendly forum 🙂
I am sure you'll like it here.

As for identifying a KIEV, I have always found this a bit tricky, but they have a very good wiki section over at ussrphoto:

http://ussrphoto.com/Wiki/default.asp?WikiCatID=20&ParentID=1

and this might also help

http://www.rus-camera.com/camera.php?page=kiev

Identifying old Soviet cams can in general be very tricky as the factories would sometimes change small design features or functions (sometime due to a whim, sometimes due to shortage of materials, and sometimes due to vodka).

A word of warning: FSU cameras can easily become an addiction - beware! 😀

 

[analogueman]

Thanks, guys. In answer to DanOnRoute66, yes it does have a selenium meter, so it looks like it might be a 3A. Plus it has a 5cm Jupiter-8 lens, the serial number of which also starts 56. I'm not sure if that's significant.

I'll check out those sites konicaman, and I understand already the attraction of FSU cameras. I've had my Kiev for years but have only just got round to playing with it - or should I say, making sense of it. Great fun though, especially without instructions! It makes my Mamiya RB67 seem like an early learning camera.

 

[fanshaw]

If it is not flash synchronised it is a Kiev-3. These are less common than the 3A.

 

[analogueman]

Thanks Fanshaw. It has flash synchro, so I guess it's a 3a.