Photography IS a cheap hobby. But the cameras and lenses aren't the cheap part of it.
If you liked the Kiev but your defective example wasn't good enough, spend some real money (like $100 🙂 ) and get one in decent shape. Kiev's are quite common as cameras go, but obviously only the ones that don't sell closer to home will make it to the Far North. You aren't going to find a cheap, perfect Kiev on Ebay. If anyone has a Kiev in perfect operating condition, it will never need cross an ocean to find a buyer.
A Canonet is a very good alternative, if you don't mind a fixed 40mm lens. But in my mind, paying US$100+ for a Canonet over a Kiev is something you do for the AE function, not simply to take pictures. I'd rather spend the $100+, what many here would consider "far, far too much," on a clean, light-tight, smoothly operating Kiev body. But then I already have a Canonet and three Kievs 🙂
Again, photography is a cheap hobby, but you do get what you pay for when buying dirt-cheap bodies and lenses. It's like used cars - if you think you found a killer deal, you found a "needs work" example. If you look only at the more expensive examples, you ought to be able to find a solid body and lens that won't make you regret the money spent. Don't sweat it when people tell you they paid less for theirs - they likely bought less camera.
