The Kiev Viewfinder and the Art of Seeing

[kievman]

Hi to all my fellow kiev admirers, I am relatively new to this forum, but have be reading posts without posting myself for the last three months.

One thing about the kiev cameras which I think has been overlooked is the Kievs viewfinder. In my estimation THe viewfinder of the Kiev is it's strongest point. No other Rangfinder that I know of shows near 100% of the Frame as the Kievs does. THis is of course when using a 50mm lens, which the Kiev was orginally designed for. Most other Rangefinder cameras, and I include Lecias canons etc show you around 80-85 % maybe, but the Kiev shows you close to 100% and I consider this a huge advantage!!! When I shoot with my Kiev 4a, WHAT I SEE IN THE FRAME IS WHAT I GET ON THE FILM, and to a pro photog like myself this is a huge advantage!! Only my Nikon F 3-4-5s come close. and they're not much good for street shooting. I know some folks complain about the kiev's finder being dark and not having very good eye relief, but I have no problem focus the camera in availible murk. and due to size of the kiev's rangefinder patch, much larger than the Lecias I have used, its much easier to focus. Now if only some one would come up with a decent mask for the 85mm Jupiter 9, I would be in heaven! Viva le Kiev! - Kievman

P.S. If someone knows of other interchangable lens rangefinders that show 100% view with a 50mm Lens I would like to hear about it - Kievman

 

[RML]

P.S. If someone knows of other interchangable lens rangefinders that show 100% view with a 50mm Lens I would like to hear about it - Kievman

The digital Epson R-D1 does, IIRC.
And the latest Zeiss Ikon rangefinder.

 

[RML]

I never got the hang of shooting the Kiev. Nice camera but awkward film advance, and more awkward camera holding. It looks good on the mantle piece, though. 🙂

 

[januaryman]

I like the Kiev a lot and the Helios is the photographer's lens bargain of both this and the last century. But the viewfinder, compared to my Canon P or Bessa R, is squinty and dim. I deal with it for the sake of the lens. Viva la Kiev, fer shure. (la is feminine, yes? This camera is surely female)

 

[ray*j*gun]

There is a camera out there that, (although discontinued) is still available from Gandy....the Bessa R2s Anniversary. It takes all my Nikon S lenses and that includes the S3 2000 1.4. Plus the viewfinder is wonderful and it comes with the Heliar 3.5, tack sharp standard lens. And it has a meter for those who like that sort of thing...lol

The pic is from Gandy's website.

Ray

 

[rolleistef]

the Z4's VF actually is more 120% than 100% when using a 50, lens I've read somewhere it had more of a 40mm coverage. Which is quite awkward for acute framing sometimes... But I definitely like the dipopter adjustement and the VF's brightness.

 

[Dogman]

I have four Kievs, so it's apparent that I like them. But I have to totally disagree on the viewfinder. It's usable even though it's small and squinty and I can't see the edges without removing my eyeglasses. It's easy to focus in low light. But it doesn't have brightlines to designate the approximate image area. It also lacks one of the advantages of rangefinder cameras that have brightlines--the ability to see what is just outside the image area especially with 50mm lenses.

I've been using Leitz 50mm auxillary finders with my Kievs. They allow a good approximation of the image area within the brightlines, a view of what is outside the image area and a magnification factor of about 100%. The downside of the finders is that they cost more than the cameras.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I have to way in with viewfinders- The Konica S2 has automatic parallax adjustment and also corrects for the field-of-view as you focus. The framelines change position and relative size as you focus.

The Kiev finder is very accurate with its long baselength, and the RF spot is bright and has fine edges.

 

[Rey]

I have a kiev, and I agree, it is easy to focus in low light, thanks to the wonderful rangefinder mechanism, but it's damn difficult to compose in low light, thanks to the dim, squinty, viewfinder. I think that it's a shame that there is no way to modify this viewfinder to allow more light through. The frontpiece is indeed large, but the eyepiece is about a micron wide!

 

[nzeeman]

I have a kiev, and I agree, it is easy to focus in low light, thanks to the wonderful rangefinder mechanism, but it's damn difficult to compose in low light, thanks to the dim, squinty, viewfinder. I think that it's a shame that there is no way to modify this viewfinder to allow more light through. The frontpiece is indeed large, but the eyepiece is about a micron wide!

it is bigger on kiev 4am...

 

[Pherdinand]

well, practically any RF that has framelines for 50mm should show MORE than 100%...right?

Howzit with the accuracy of the framelines by the way?

 

[ZorkiKat]

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P.S. If someone knows of other interchangable lens rangefinders that show 100% view with a 50mm Lens I would like to hear about it - Kievman

They are many of them. Some go by the name "Zorki", others, "FED". Look through the VFs of the Zorki-6 or Zorki-5 and you'll see.

Non-SLR viewfinders which show 100% of the 50mm field are impossible to make, unless some special cumbersome trick is applied. The field of view of any lens varies with the focused distance. The angle of view is greater when a lens is focused far than when it is near. That is why the view seen through the finder is often compromised- typically the FOV at 3-4 metres is chosen as the representative, average view.

Most camera makers also opt to show less than more in their viewfinders.
They base this on the premise that it's better to have slightly more in the actual picture than less, to cover for discrepancies and errors. It's easier to crop out extra details than recreate missing ones.

Jay