Russian-KMZ 85 VF?

[Bill58]

Anybody have comment on this VF? How about the dealer, DVD Technik?

 

[dexdog]

I don't know about the dealer, but I used to own a black bakelite KMZ 85mm finder made for the Kiev. The view through the finder was on the dark side, and the image was fuzzy. Also, no parallax adjustment mechanism. An OK finder if you can get it real cheap, but not near as good as a decent post-war Japanese finder.

 

[Dougg]

I bought a camera from DVD Technik, a smooth and easy transaction; item as described and sent without delay. I don't have an 85mm finder, but do have a KMZ 35mm viewfinder that's crisp and bright. Smaller than life-size view, small amount of barrel distortion, no bright framelines but fairly crisp edges to the field. Pretty good for the price!

 

[reagan]

I've dealt with DVD a couple of times. Absolutely no problems. Though brief, they've answered all email questions quickly. Their prices, IMHO, are just a smidge high [since I'm a total tightwad], but if I really wanted something, I wouldn't hesitate to buy there again.

 

[JimG]

I did a 5.50 bid for one on ebay two weeks ago and won it. It's OK but nothing like a CV finder.

 

[ZorkiKat]

The 85mm vf is a good finder. It's fairly accurate, though the view shown by the finder frame is a bit fuzzy at the edges. It's still good enough though to show the field accurately. The absence of parallax correction isn't a problem at all. From infinity to intermediate distances, down to about 2 metres, the view is quite accurate. At closer distances, the camera can be tipped a bit (very slightly) to make up for the difference of what's seen by the finder and the lens. Just like what is done when using the no-frame line, no parallax correction built-in finder of a FED or Leica.

The feature I like best about it is its size. It doesn't sit high and as far back as the turret finder. The turret finder protrudes too far back so that it can make focusing through the camera's VF difficult. The 85mm VF protrudes a bit, but not so much.

Also, the 85mm finder gives a more accurate view than the turret with my FED-1 and Zorki-1 as well as IIIseries Leicas. I've yet to get pictures whose tops were chopped with the 85 finder. Unlike the turret which has consistently given me that sort of pictures when used on shorter cameras.

 

[ruben]

I did a 5.50 bid for one on ebay two weeks ago and won it. It's OK but nothing like a CV finder.

a) Well, that's definitely an A V A T A R ! My greetings !

b) KMZ's finders: I honestly haven't seen the light through a CV finder. I have seen through the KMZ's. Hard to imagine how any other finder may be brighter than a 1:1 light ratio. Sharper perhaps ? Equally hard to imagine, but my experience is rather stretched.

c) DVD: honest, not high price, somehow seems to have access to mint gear stocked the hell knows where. But it seems to me they don't put their hands into the gear, meaning good for mint and unused or slightly used, period. For finders they must be good, in fact my KMZ 85 is theirs'.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[ruben]

... The turret finder protrudes too far back so that it can make focusing through the camera's VF difficult. The 85mm VF protrudes a bit, but not so much.

Also, the 85mm finder gives a more accurate view than the turret with my FED-1 and Zorki-1 as well as IIIseries Leicas. I've yet to get pictures whose tops were chopped with the 85 finder. Unlike the turret which has consistently given me that sort of pictures when used on shorter cameras.

Well my fellow Kat, that smells like a bit of slandering and one sided vision, due to the specific camera you may be puting below the Universal Turret, but here is too late by night. Perhaps tomorrow.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[JimG]

a) Well, that's definitely an A V A T A R ! My greetings !


Greetings to you Ruben, I'm not a Leicaphile dispite my avatar. There seems to be enough hostitility here against the Leica users that I felt like supporting them as I would any minority that's being unfairly abused. Besides it's cool looking vintage ad.

 

[ruben]

a) Well, that's definitely an A V A T A R ! My greetings !


Greetings to you Ruben, I'm not a Leicaphile dispite my avatar. There seems to be enough hostitility here against the Leica users that I felt like supporting them as I would any minority that's being unfairly abused....

What a minority you choosed ! perhaps a supporting donation will help ?

As for hostility, everything is relative, take Cameraquest for example.

Cheers,
Ruben

Very nice avatar, anyway.

 

[JimG]

Ruben, Abuse is abuse even when directed at the privileged. Cheers to you my friend. Jim

 

[ZorkiKat]

Well my fellow Kat, that smells like a bit of slandering and one sided vision, due to the specific camera you may be puting below the Universal Turret, but here is too late by night. Perhaps tomorrow.

Cheers,
Ruben

Ruben

I also get parallax'ed with Kiev-2, Kiev-4a, FED-2, Zorki-2S, Zorki-5, and Zorki-6. Only on the Kiev 4 (tall, with a meter), FED-5 and Zorki-4 does the turret finder gives satisfactory work. Those are 6 other camera types aside from the Zorki-1 and FED-1 and Leica III series which don't work well with the turret finder.

Jay

 

[ruben]

hi Zorki,
Would you expect from any other turret finder, the Japanese made for Nikon for example, to be parallax accurate for many different cameras ? You yourself understand that this is not possible.
What is possible is to select the specific main camera you want the turret to be attached to and the make your own marks of compensation on the turret.
Why such a dedicated (photography dedicated meaning) kindness to the Universal Turret Finder ? Because once you are done with your marks it is an extraordinary tool, even in comparizon to its foreign different competitors. I could write some meters of prizing but instead I refer you to a small recent thread about it at the RussianCamera User forum:
http://www.beststuff.com/forum/read.php?21,41672,41672#msg-41672

I would only ad one feature important to me about the Soviet Universal. The different lenses protrusions make focal lengths turret selection quite easier than reading marks on other models.

But I do recognize, of course, each of us should stay loyal to his experiences and needs. For you it may be not money convenient to have a turret per body. For me it is and have got 4 turrets for four different cameras, being them all of the same family - 4 Soviet Kievs. For me, and I repeat for me, the Soviet Turret is such a central component of the Kiev camera, that I have each one fixed to each body.
You, in contrast to me, may be shooting without much lens changing, as many other disciplinated and successful photogs. I am not, I do change a lot at to the point I have no "standard" lens, although I too use the J-8.

And BTW, this week I got a Carl Zeiss Jena turret, the original from which the Soviets made their own, and can tell you the Soviet version is a slightly improved one over the German original !

Nice to talk with you,
Ruben

 

[ZorkiKat]

Ruben

We've been discussing the parallax issues of the turret finder since the days of the old russiancamera group at yahoo. Never been to beststuff lately because for some reason, my email host refuses to accept anything from beststuff.

What we've discussed then (exchanged a lot of lengthy emails with Kevin Kalsbeek, comparing notes) about how the parallax issue can be circumvented. Among other things suggested was making, as you say, 'dedicated' marks for the parallax settings. One of the things we agreed upon was that the marks would only work for a group of similar cameras or cameras with similar heights. And that at times, the new mark will work for one lens/frame setting better than the others on the same finder.

And you have to note that it wasn't just the parallax issues which I find troublesome with the turret finder. In a previous post, I said that I found that the finder protruded too much at the back, making viewing and focusing actions a bit uncomfortable. See attached picture. The picture shows the finder on the Zorki-1, but the same happens with cameras like FED-2 and Zorki-5, and yes, even the Contax IIa. I focus with my left eye- my better eye- and having hard metal pressed against my forehead to focus doesn't go well with me.

And to your other question as to whether Japanese or German finders do better, I would say yes. Better in the sense that I don't encounter the hassles I get with the universal turret. I've tried a Canon imarect clone, a Sandmar (German made) mirror finder, and Japanese 50/35mm brightline finders which don't leave a mark on my forehead as I shoot. 😀 That makes them score high in my list. Same reason why I also like the single 85mm finder. Though it does protrude a bit at the back, it doesn't scratch or press as painfully as the turret.

BTW, I do have the universal turret finder. I like the way it frames the field. If only it did not have such a large behind 😀 ....

Jay

 

[ruben]

"I focus with my left eye- my better eye- and having hard metal pressed against my forehead to focus doesn't go well with me."


OK friend, that's the story you have to had started with.

Cheers,
Ruben