Quick Kiev test

N

Nikon Bob

Guest
This is my first post in the Russian camera forum and likely long and boring. I had a Kiev4 with meter hanging around for awhile. I checked it out and all the functions seemed to work except the timer was inoperative. The lens filter ring has a few dents form some hefty hits and the lens wiggles in the mount, in short dragged behind the proverbial army truck. I loaded with KM 200VX and shot it at 100 asa in very bright/contrasty conditions with no hood. All alittle tough on the old girl. I was very pleased with the results considering what the camera has been through. The only real problem is an intermittant light leak from the top of the frame. Should I be looking at the seals at the bottom of the camera? There also appear to be light leaks around the sprocket holes at the top of the frame. I also played with the meter and found that it would agree with my Sekonic incident meter if I set the film speed dial to 65 on the Kiev when using 100 asa on the incident meter. The 50/F2 lens is horrible into the sun from flare and no hood. I may have to check it for internal haze too. In short I think it performed very well for an old beater. Any suggestions on fixing the light leak? I have attached some photos of the usual handy subjects, nothing artsy fartsy, which also shows an example of the light leak.

Nikon Bob
 
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As far as the 50/2, is it a J-8? The J-8 is usually a pretty good lens, and while a hood helps, I would not normally expect it to be especially flare-y. Your idea to check for haze might be a good idea. I don't have any kievs, but have several of its Contax ancestors- fun to use, and capable of excellent photos.
 
I love the light rendering of that last one. Looks similar to the J-8 ltm mount that I had (see the barista in my gallery).
 
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Well, there's fairly obvious leak in #2.

Check out the sprocket advance spool following Kiev Survival Site suggestions, that might be it.

Liked the shot #3 a lot too; it's a flare but perhaps in this case we can safely declare it a glow :)
 
dexdog

All I can read on the front bezel is M8 so I suppose it is a J8. Had a better look at the lens and either there is some internal haze or the front element was cleaned with steel wool. Interesting.

captainslack

Thanks for the link. It looks like I will have a winter project.

Jason

Thanks, it looks like a cheap way to get that Leica glow.

Austintatious

Only the centre one shows a light leak in the area of the shoulder to elbow on the statue. I have more photos with greatly pronounced leaks in that area. Looks like the leaks are a 50/50 thing, half have and half don't. One of these cameras in 100% working condition would be nothing to sneeze at I think. It was alot of fun playing with it.

varjag

I could not agree more.

Nikon Bob
 
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The light leak looks like the shutter uncapping as it reaches the end of the recock cycle, the capping latches may be worn and need adjustment.

The triangle is characteristic of the uncapping.

Try removing the back and dry firing and winding on to see if the shutter uncaps, as it reaches the top of the body and hits the partly concealed hook, an uncap is more likely with 1/10 and slower, it can be intermittent. Handle the shutter curtains (roller blinds) like butterfly wings unless you are an expert...

Russ will tell you what to do to fix...

Noel
 
Noel

Thanks for the advice and I will check it out, but most shots were at about 1/250 .

Nikon Bob
 
If it is a light leak it should be more or less constanst. Otherwise is either flare (no hood) or Noel's idea.
BTW with old lenses I would regard a hood as mandatory.
Cheers,
Ruben
 
Nikon Bob

My post was too abstract:-
- The triangle at the elbow on your scanned example is actually a parrallogram, for as you cock the shutter you wind on the film, so the failure in capping occurs as the film moves across the frame hence the parrallogram. The remainder of the parrallogram should occur on the previous or next frame. The shutter can either uncap in two senses, the lower roller blind can stop mid frame, or spring back, the spring back is likely if you release the tension on the winder, part way through the cycle.
- The uncapping is more likely to occur when the shtter is prepared for a long exposure, if you want to confirm it happens and it is intermittent at 250, then setting it to a slow speed may help. It will still occure at 250.
Noel

P.S. My contax II is not intermittent it just 'flared' 90 out of 96 frames... I think the fix is easy, apart from removing the shutter module from the camera. If your J8 is not badly scratched it should be really good contra jour, with a deep lens hood. All my 90 were indeed at 250.
 
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