Misc. Kiev Questions

[ed_lau]

Hi there,

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Has anyone ever purchased any Kiev Equipment from the Russian

Camera Exchange in California? I was wondering are they any good. Does anyone know if there Kiev merchandise is straight out of the box from Russia or is it re-built like Kiev/USA merchandise.

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Has anyone ever purchased any KIEV/USA camera body with the modified cloth shutter curtain? Outside of the quiter sound,

is it more accruate or dependable down the road?

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<i>also</i>

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Has anyone ever purchased a lens adapter that mounts on a Kiev 88 camera body and connects a Pentacon mount type lens?

There is a company in Germany that sells Kiev 88 cameras and lens, The company is called Photo Arsenal. Their web address

is http://www.arsenal-photo.com/index.htm The adapter sells for about $75.00. I was wondering if such an adapter would

enable the factory specification minium and infinity focus range of the attached lens. And would the adapter change the

actual focal length of the attached lens ( example: a 45mm lens would become a 50mm ). I've E-mailed the Photo Arsenal

company several times and have never received a reply to my questions. I found in the past that many small photo companies

in Europe that deal with Kiev type cameras have the worst customer service response.

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Ed Lau

[torrey_self]

I invested in a Keiv88, 2backs, 80mm,120mm,250mm lenses, Polaroid and TTL prism. My answer is DO NOT buy one. Mine is noise and I never could get the film to stop overlapping, the film back has a bad light leak and nobody could fix it. I even sent it back to have the parts upgrade done and that didn't help. The people at Keiv/USA were nice folks but just can't help with a dying camera. I would say to save up a little more money and purchase a Bronica or Mamiya.

[jvrg_ritthammer]

My advice: Don4t buy a Kiev88. I4ve had one some years ago and I know what I4m talking about. At first it is "Hasselblad-fascinating". But it is no Hassi, no Bronica and nothing like that. Time by time I had a lot of problems and I was forced to do my own services. Finally I made up my mind to quit that Kiev and my wife was happy, too.

If you want to buy at all (it4s its price!) go to B.I.G. Brenner. They import, ship and have Ukraine-kiev-service. So they say. May be that they can offer a better service today. And they are fine folks. I buy there too. But no Kiev. Meanwhile I own a Bronica.

Their E-Mail: Info@brenner-foto.de

Internet http://www.brenner-foto.de/

 

Jvrg Ritthammer

[andre_la_pierre]

Hi all,

 

Very sorry to hear all those negative feedbacks on Kiev cameras. Fact is, I bought several bodies (two 60's, three 88-c's), practically the entire range of Zeiss jena lenses and a couple of Kiev lenses, plus nearly all the bells and whistles. Maybe I am extremely lucky, but I never had *any* problem - no overlap on any back (I own 6 backs incl. 6x4.5 and Polaroid), no shutter jams of light leaks, nothing of the sort. All cameras have been heavily used now, several hundreds of rolls have been cranked through in 2 years. One body (3 years) has more than 3000 rolls without any problem. I consider myself not a rough user.

 

I bought the B.I.G. version via a local dealer in Holland. The bodies are rebuilt and upgraded to modern production standards.

 

I also own a Bronica (beautiful Nikkor optics) and two Hassies (Zeiss optics). Still - I really love my Kievs and Zeiss jena lenses. The Kiev lenses I own perform also very well at normal working apertures. Maybe I was lucky, but I think the quality of the dealer (not a box-pusher) and post-production control is very important. A friend of mine also uses a Kiev 88C with a couple of lenses, and also had no problems. She doesn't use it as much as I do, but nevertheless.

 

Have that Kiev properly repaired and adjusted! I once had a problem with my Hassy (shutter jammed) during a shooting, and quickly pulled out the Kiev. It was very critical portrait work for a gallery - so I used my biometar 120mm. Nobody could tell the difference from the blowups. Not even the Hassy rep that came by to have a look afterwards.

 

Regards, Andre

[andre_la_pierre]

Ahh.... Ed, in my enthousiasm I forgot to answer your questions, really. Yes, the cloth shutter is nice and accurate. It's very silent too. I own this cloth-shutter body for 2 years now with no problems. Important, however, to keep it clean and not let it get sticky. It's somewhat more sensitive to dust and grease than the metal variant, or so I'm told.

 

On this forum I have read somewhere a post from somebody who has bought a camera and lenses from Russian Camera Exchange. He was very pleased.

 

A friend of mine uses that adapter with no problems. Don't know, however, if the automatic coupling remains intact.

 

Photo Arsenal site is hosted by Russians, or so I'm told. Maybe they never check their email... I emailed them too, same result. Nice shop, however, if you like to travel to Germany.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Andre

[david_mcsparron]

I checked out the Brenner Foto (Germany) site which was mentioned above and there is no mention of Kiev cameras anywhere on it.

[andre_la_pierre]

David:

 

Ask Brenner Foto for their printed catalog (by email). Their website doesn't reflect their gigantic assortment. The catalog is loaded with Kiev equipment, lenses, accessoires, the lot, even new Carl Zeiss Jena lenses for the Kiev. Email address is mentioned above.

 

Hope this helps. Regards, Andre