soft release for Kiev?

[Roger Vadim]

Hello everybody!

I am looking for a way in softening the release of my Kiev 4. Are there any soft release buttons (?) out there which work on Kievs? I read about them and saw some pics (on leicas et.al.) but never had one in my hands. how do they work? The problem is that i do expereince shutter shake from the (at least to my fingers) shutter release on the kiev. Might be a way in fixing it...
are they available in europe (germany)?

Thanks and cheers,
Michael

 

[Spyderman]

Here's a link: http://cameraquest.com/voigtMSR.htm

It will fit, and will work. It's a great little accessory everyone should have. I made my own from a button and PC case screws...

 

[payasam]

Ondrej, if a PC case screw is the same thread, that's a simple solution.

 

[Roger Vadim]

Great, Thanks; I'll check it out! And the DIY sounds great
Ondrej: Does it actually help? I wonder how/if they work.
And how did you attach the screw to the button? Glue?
**Michael

 

[ruben]

Great, Thanks; I'll check it out! And the DIY sounds great
Ondrej: Does it actually help? I wonder how/if they work.
And how did you attach the screw to the button? Glue?
**Michael

I disagree. True, you can use a "softie" for more pleasant shutter button feeling, but then you will be picking up a penny from the floor and not aware about the suitcase with the thousands left besides.

Actually the shutter button of the Kiev should be smooth even in the ugliest condition camera. So your complain is a bit unclear, pointing to some specific problem there. But I will put this aside.

But even if it was soft, still the softie has a special feature besides being soft release. It allows you to press the shutter button with the joint of your index finger, instead of its end.

When you press any shutter button with the end of your index, you are actually pushing down half side of your camera. By pressing by the joint this is either minimized or eliminated. Hence you may gain either another stop, or more sharpness at low speeds.

For fullfiling both tasks, softness and smooth release, the softie is to be dome shaped, not soup plate shaped, and the top relatively big. Such softies are sold either by Tom Abrahamson(www.rapidwinder), and Luigi from Leicatime, both sponsor advertizers of RFF.

All this info comes from Tom Abrahamson and later comfirmed by my own experience.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[Roger Vadim]

Excellent info Ruben, to understand the concept of the softie - well, you might be right, the shutter release on my (nice) kiev is rather, well, stiff... it needs some pressure and is rather tough to press down (compared to the feds and zorki) I did a rough CLA and put some grease on the vertical gear but it still feels tough to press.

I still like ondrejs button trick, like it very much, but wonder how he attached the screw on the button, any ideas or maybe a pic?

I just recently bought a nice j-12 with external finder to complement the truly lovely j-8, and it is a nice set!! You have to love these kiev/contaxes
Michael

 

[ruben]

....... the shutter release on my (nice) kiev is rather, well, stiff... it needs some pressure and is rather tough to press down (compared to the feds and zorki) ..........
Michael

Hi Michael:
This is very rare to me, softie or not softie, I propose you to open a thread asking what can be the source of this issue.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[Xmas]

Ruben

Rare is not word I'd have chosen, badly neglected Kievs (or ContaxII) can be really stiff. The release has a I'm not going to move position and you have to push really hard but nothing happens then bang it goes down, vibrations like after shocks from San Antiono fault slip.

So when you get the shutter module out lots of Zippo on all aspects of the release mechanism, from under the wind knob, from soft camel hair brush dipped in Zippo. then lots of liquid PTFE. Trial release and start again with Zippo. Never bothered to find out what goes wrong, can take a while to become normal.

Noel

 

[Spyderman]

I'll try to post some pics of my DIY softie. But a word of warning: not all PC case screws fit. It took me quite some time tofind a couple that really do. And still they don't fit as nicely as the original mini soft release from Tom A.

PS: the pics won't be before saturday, so pls be patient. A hint: I heated the screw, and pressed it into the plastic button. The button was about 1.5cm in diameter.

 

[Spider67]

Hi,

I am still willing to sacrifice an old cable release for my soft release "project"
let's compare them then...

 

[Roger Vadim]

Great ! I'll wait until saturday and maybe soak the whole old lady in lighter fluid until then 😉 great tips, thanks!

Sometimes I wonder how long it takes to get these russian divas to work properly: although my ex. is a real beauty... for every roll of film I have to discsus badly. but she is looking so good with the 35mm and external finder... I post some pics tomorow... (to please her narcisistic character😉)

Thanks again, Michael

 

[40oz]

Ondrej, if a PC case screw is the same thread, that's a simple solution.

as spyderman already stated, PC screws are not the same thread, but some will work. A shutter release thread is conical - the hole is not a cylinder. But I used a large head, short fat thread screw from a PC for a while after reading a post by Spyderman, and it worked nice enough. Nice enough for me to buy a real soft-realease for my two Kiev's and my CL. The advantage for me is rasing the shutter button above the protective surround. This defeats the surround, but the pay-off is no camera shake from trying to depress the shutter into a hole. IMHO, the soft-release paid for itself many times over just in the elimination of user-induced blur in low light. The improvement in ergonomics is cake or gold, depending on my mood 🙂

My Canonet has a raised shutter button, which makes it easier to depress the shutter without altering the horizontal angle of the camera. My Minolta SRT-101 also has a raised shutter button, as do most (more likely all) of the newer cameras I've ever owned. Which leads me to believe that the idea of a soft-release is not wishful thinking or a placebo. I'm sure the original reason for a recessed shutter was to prevent the shutter from firing in the bag, but a lost blank frame is little cost compared to a lost picture, IMHO.