Verdun & Argonne with Kiev-88

<p>I bought/borrowed a MIR-26B 45mm f/3.5 lens for the KIEV-88 in early March, from a fellow photographer at the bi-annual Dutch Photographica Fair. <br />I had to fix the stop-down-pin as this had somehow gotten disconnected from the aperture control. Possibly someone had dropped the lens. More on that later. <br />The fix was easy, thanks to a website with a step-by-step disassembly tutorial. <br /><br />Another problem I had with the camera recently was due to the anti-reflection kit I had installed. One of the patches was placed too far forward and the adhesive was sticking to the mirror causing the flip-up to be somewhat slowed. Also a simple fix.<br /><br />I took the camera and lens with me on a weekend trip to Northern France with a few (Living) History buffs. Visiting the various sites during the day, playing games in the evening. All the while making sure we were enjoying the local delicacies and a few alcoholic beverages.<br>

Camera: Kiev-88<br />Lens: MIR-26B 45mm f/3.8 (Sometimes covered with an Oranje-filter)<br />Film: Fomapan 100<br /><br />"Les Villages Détruits"<br /><br />1. Ruins of the town of Louvemont,<br /><img src="http://www.flibweb.nl/flibweb/cpg143/albums/userpics/10001/FR14102.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="800" /><br /><br />2. The remains of a field gun. Likely French.<br /><img src="http://www.flibweb.nl/flibweb/cpg143/albums/userpics/10001/FR14105.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="800" /><br /><br />3. The well of Beaumont-en-Verdunois<br /><img src="http://www.flibweb.nl/flibweb/cpg143/albums/userpics/10001/FR14106.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="800" /><br /><br />4. Not supposed to be here<br /><img src="http://www.flibweb.nl/flibweb/cpg143/albums/userpics/10001/FR14107.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="800" /><br /><br />5. Lieutenant Colonel Driant's head quarters at the opening of the battle of Verdun<br /><img src="http://www.flibweb.nl/flibweb/cpg143/albums/userpics/10001/FR14111.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="800" /><br /><br />6. The Gang's all here at Fort De Villy-la-Ferté (Maginot Line, WW2) <br /><img src="http://www.flibweb.nl/flibweb/cpg143/albums/userpics/10001/FR14112.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="800" /><br /><br />7. A small monument in Olizy-sur-Chiers for the people the town lost in both World Wars. <br /><img src="http://www.flibweb.nl/flibweb/cpg143/albums/userpics/10001/FR14114.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="800" /><br /><br />8. La maison de la dernière cartouche (Franco-Prussian War of 1870) .<br /><img src="http://www.flibweb.nl/flibweb/cpg143/albums/userpics/10001/FR14118.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="800" /><br /><br />9. Unfortunately the Ossuary of Bazeilles was closed <br /><img src="http://www.flibweb.nl/flibweb/cpg143/albums/userpics/10001/FR14119.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="800" /><br /><br />10. Les morts de la Grande Guerre<br /><img src="http://www.flibweb.nl/flibweb/cpg143/albums/userpics/10001/FR14123.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="800" /><br /><br /><br />The MIR is certainly sharp where it needs to be, but as I look at the images I see the lower left side seems to differ from the right side. This might indicate a film flatness issue, which I doubt with the KIEV cassettes, or a lens that's out of balance. Which brings us back to the theory that the lens might have been dropped at some point. The lens tube appears to have a little play inside the focus helical. <br />But I don't quite recall if this was already the case before I disassembled the lens to fix the stop-down pin. <br />Maybe I need to tighten some screws. <br /><br />That said, I'm not disappointed by the images produced by this lens with this film. The orange filter certainly helped with the contrast. <br /><br />Still, the wide angle required me to get closer than I thought I needed to be most of the time. And it appears the lens is not completely free of distortion in some images. <br /><br />But I guess I'm going to have to actually buy the lens now. ;)<br /><br /><br />All other images from the trip can be found: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.646003685447992.1073741879.100001150988617&type=1&l=fbd3d10067">Here</a></p>

Lovely shots from Hasselblad copy. My favorite has to

be the graveyard shot.

<p>I love them all, but am amazed by what you got from the lens. I had got one for my Pentacon 6TL, and while it was OK, it was nowhere near the kind of sharpness (in the best parts anyhow) of your shots.<br>

'Ruins' and 'Driant's' are my favorites, though.<br>

I've long been avoiding the temptation to get the Kiev 'Bladski' with the P6 mount...<br>

This doesn't help at all.</p>

<p>Heh, well, mine's a pre-CM version with screwmount. And if you're looking for a reliable shooter, you might want to look elsewhere ;)</p>

<p>Nice work with the Kiev,<strong> Rick</strong>. The quality of the Mir 26b seems to be variable, to say the least, and I've always resisted the temptation to spend precious dollars on one. However, I've seen tests that suggest that a good copy is very good indeed. I've had the Kiev 88 and currently have the Kiev 88CM, but I can't say I like the cameras very much; there's a sort of inherent mechanical coarseness to them, and some of the design features are plain silly. For example, the new film backs for the 88CM have a tiny locking lever with a vinyl tip which must be revolved to allow the button that unlocks the back to slide, and this component snapped off a brand-new back when loading the third film through the camera. Close inspection revealed a cheap casting in some non-precious metal, rather than the machined steel or brass that the component requires. So, now I carry a toothpick to unlock the back...</p>

<p>However, grumbling aside, you have some very fine photographs here; the images from the cemetery are both great, and I love the pic of the good ol' boys. Thanks for the post.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>if you're looking for a reliable shooter, you might want to look elsewhere ;)</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Thanks, I <em>really</em> needed that. Whew.</p>

<p>Interesting shots, Rick. The old field gun is a find (maybe a "75"?) although I guess it might be of later vintage. Always interesting to see shots of the French sector. Hard to believe how different it would have been 100 years ago. The shots seem more elegiac than the usual ones I see of the British sector, possibly due to the differing landscapes. Please show us more when you have the time.</p>

<p>Always enjoy your shots, Rick. As for Eastern Bloc cameras, QC, what's QC? I have a Pentacon 6 that sometimes works and I have a suite of lenses for it. I tested a Mir 45 against the Zeiss 45 and in my case, the Mir won. A good day at the factory, I guess, or maybe a miracle. I picked up a Kiev 88 for fun one time and got some of the shutter speeds to work. It had the Vega lens and it was a very good one. I purchased a brand new Kiev 66. Beautiful camera. On the third roll shot the spool retainer pulled out of the bottom of the camera. So, I happily use the lenses on a Mamiya 645.</p>

<p>Robin, there are more photos from our little weekend in the link posted at the end of the first post. <br />Thought they'll be in Facebook quality. :\<br /><br />We did take the odd guess about what the artillery piece could have been, but we didn't come up with anything conclusive. I'm pretty sure it's a victim of the battle of Verdun too. <br /><br />We found that with the upcoming centennial a lot of work has been done to clean up the area. Fort Douamont has been cleared of trees and brush, so you can actually see that it was a fort. A lot of the craters pockmarking the area survived too. <br /><br />I've had the Kiev 88 apart a few times. I've had trouble with the slow speed escapement, trouble with the curtains capping or hanging at slow speeds. No not a particularly reliable camera. <br />You can see the results with my VEGA-12V lens in the Fort Altena Topic further down the page ;) <br /><br /><br /></p>

 

<p>These have a really nice feel to them, and I love the really shallow DOF. I have often looked at the Kiev, but all that complexity with Soviet QC does give me the shudders!<br>

The name Verdun also gives me the shudders, even after all this time.</p>

<p>Thanks, Rick. Looks like you had perfect weather for a melancholy trip to that site of such horrors. Fascinating to see the turrets with the shell holes. As Tony says, it does give you chills thinking about it.</p>