Shocking Kiev??

[Ducky]

I tried a few flash shots with my Kiev 4am using a NistarAZ300 flash. When the shutter was cocked and the flash charged I got a shock when my finger touched the PC plug. Is this normal. Flash is no a priority but I was curious.

Also, what is the, if any, sync speed on the Kiev for the hot shoe. I used 125 and it looks like the lower curtain cut off the lower 1/4 of the shot. I had a hood on but was bouncing the flash.

Thanks

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I think the sync speed is 1/25th; that is what worked best on my Kiev 4. 1/125 is bound to be a problem.

 

[ruben]

With flash mounted and turned on, the flash will fire endlessly until you wind and cock the shutter. I assume you touched the plug before winding.

And Brian is right, the flash synch is 1/25.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[Ducky]

Nope, if I touch the plug with the shutter wound I get a shock. If I touch it after firing there is no shock, even with the flash charged. Maybe mine is wired wrong, or maybe I'm wired wrong.

 

[Pherdinand]

lol. maybe,..maybe.

 

[wolves3012]

The PC socket and hotshoe are connected internally, almost certainly. Touching the PC socket means you will get a shock if the flash is charged and connected to the hotshoe. More modern cameras have hotshoes that are "hot" only when a flash is attached but I doubt the Kiev has such refinements. I bet if you connect to the PC socket then the hotshoe will give you a shock.

By the way, your flash must be old, all modern flashes use low-voltage triggers to avoid the shock and to reduce the load on the camera. Some modern cameras fire the flash electronically and an old flash gun can destroy the trigger circuit in them. Mechanical cameras aren't in that category, of course!

 

[dll927]

Would it be safe to say that many FSU cameras came out back when flash bulbs were still the norm? Those used a slow (by today's standards) synch speed, and weren't geard for electronic flash. In addition, electronic may have been pretty scarce in the land of vodka.

 

[rxmd]

Would it be safe to say that many FSU cameras came out back when flash bulbs were still the norm? Those used a slow (by today's standards) synch speed, and weren't geard for electronic flash.

No. The difference is in the startup time before the flash fires. Flash bulbs need a few milliseconds to start burning. So for flash guns the contact usually closes already when the first curtain starts travelling ("M-sync"), for electronic flash it closes when the frame is completely open ("X-sync"). On some Soviet cameras you can adjust this amount of delay.

Regarding the sync speed: actually with flash bulbs you can shoot at higher speeds, because the bulb will burn longer. When speeds are shorter than the maximum sync speed, the shutter forms a slit as the curtains travel across the frame. With electronic flash, only this slit will be illuminated. Flash bulbs burn long enough that the whole of the frame may be illuminated as the slit travels across, so with flash bulbs you can actually use 1/125-ish speeds and hope for a well-illuminated frame. You may need to play around with the delay for firing the bulb, though, which on a Kiev will be difficult.

In addition, electronic may have been pretty scarce in the land of vodka.

I don't know when the first Soviet electronic flash gun appeared, but cameras had dedicated sockets for electronic flash quite early. The Zorki-5, Zorki-6 and Start all had two flash sockets for M- and X-sync in 1958/59. So electronic flash must have been available to photographers by then. The Kiev only had X-sync, which points to the fact that it must have been the dominating technology. Thanks for pointing me to this, I'll ask around a bit on the history of Soviet flash guns. 😉

Philipp

 

[kb244]

Some of the older flashes can have their polarity switched... its not all that uncommon of older flashes. I had a shock right into my eye using an older small vivitar flash on my Olympus Pen-FT. I ignored it the first time, then went to shoot again and as the flash charged up it zaped me in the eye again lol, or should say just below the browe, I changed to one of my other flashes and it quit doing that.