Kiev 88 - experience with Kievcamera.com?

[monochrome11]

anyone personal experience dealing with Kievcamera.com? the Kiev 88

intrigues me... is it hit and miss with inventory purchased from

Kievcamera.com as with most Russian/Ukranian cameras/lenses?

 

first hand experience (either positive or negative) welcomed...

[stefan_dobrovolny]

My experience: <br>

- good experience with the email communication before actual buying<br>

- once ordered: Really loong delivery time (30+ days) with no answers for email, the phone call solved the situation (they were backordered but no notification about it)<br>

- The camera delivered without cable release, further urgencies with no effect.<br>

- The camera was defective => asked for replacement<br>

- The replacement was smooth and quick, the cable release was finally there as well.<br>

<br>

The camera I have now is excellent and despite of the troubles I am really satisfied. It wasn't as smooth as B&H, but it ended good.

[nagle]

I bought a new one about ten or so years ago. It was the kit with the prism head and spare back. I also bought a wide angle lens too. What a mistake that all was. It leaked light, would be out of focus at the film plane (whilst ok in the viewfinder)and the wide angle lenses DoF preview button dissappeared into the lens body just as I was setting up a shot I'd waited a year to take, in fact I was swinging it around my head to launch it into a local lake,(I later sold it to someone who new what he was buying for almost nothing) I cannot state how much I hated that camera - it promised all and gave nothing. I now use a second hand Mamiya TLR. Quintillion times better.......

[alex_z]

I don't understand why people would ever consider something that never proved itself reliability-wise when excellent MF stuff is readily available now used in good condition thanks to thanks all-digital "revolution". Why bother spending your hard earned cash for something in question, furthermore, for something that likely to bring you troubles and frustration whilst for roughly same amount (or probably slightly more) you buy a used but in good shape quality branded gear ?

That Kiev and similar are just a russian roulette, nothing more. For every 10 frustrated owners there is one who is satisfied so far but feeling dismay of something will brake/stack each time they press the button ? Even though this one is tuned/reworked russian/ukranian model, how much original junk can be improved ?

There is a famous saying for this case (mostly known to those who does image processing, including photographer):

"crap in - crap out" no matter how hard you will try to fix it. Something that originally wasn't intended to bring quality and reliability cannot be brought up without considerable investment which certainly cannot be justified considering the fact that at the next corner you can readily acquire a quality and trouble-free stuff.

[richard_p]

Blah! Blah! I'm just constantly hearing heresay regarding kiev MF's. Some people just like recycling rummur from others. Yes, the Kiev MF had some QC problem before. It deserves some criticism. The basic design is very old but a sound design and has been improved. A good upgraded Kiev will stand up for amateur usage. I have owned a kiev 88cm for about 3 years and have had no problem. In general, the cosmetic finish is not up to other pro brand. But It works. Mike stand behind what he sells. Make sure you get the extended warranty that covers the period of 6-12 months. The price may reflect a 3 month warranty. The advantage of owning kiev is its vast selection of lenses at affordable prices. Kiev has a lot of fast tele-lens to choose from if you consider a low lighting application (if you wake up one day, no more flash/strobe and want more natural look). However,

If you decide to buy a system with 3 lenses (50, 80, and 150mm) for the rest of your life, other systems should be considered (bronica SQAI). Again, there's some difference in terms of color tone between Russian/Carl Zeiss Jena and Japanese lenses on films at least.

 

Richard

[geoff_mcauliffe]

I have never understood why someone would buy a new camera that had to be rebuilt before it could be used.

[richard abrahamsson]

What you would get from kievcamera.com or araxphoto.com are upgraded Kievs not comparable to ones manifactured in late eighties and nineties which gave rise to their bad reputation. The upgraded ones are good and pretty safe especielly since you get a 12 month warranty. I got one from Kievcamera (Kiev 88CM MLU) in january and I've used it extensively, even for a wedding.

 

Lately however, the prices of used MF gear have made the economic incentive to go for kiev less obvious.

[jules_alexander]

Very good experience. I bought a Hartblei 45mm Super Rotator lens for my Mamiya 645AFD. First, the lens is outstanding, very sharp with very good contrast.

They were very friendly and shipped quickly. I will do business with these folks again.

 

LL

[leslie_wall]

I have an 88CM I bought last year from Kievcamera. Not one problem. I collect cameras and have many to chose from, including a Nikon F2. I always seem to reach for the 88. I'm not a professional but still do a lot of shooting. If you look through these forums very much, you will find just as many: "Why does this Hassy not work right?" or "This $%&? Mamiya froze up just when it counted the most." New or old, expensive or cheap, they all have problems sometimes. It is only because of forums that you hear more about them than you did before the Net. But then before the Net I never heard of Kiev 88CMs. If you don't buy one you will just set and wonder what would it have been like. Buy what you want and can afford.

[jsbc]

I bought a 88CM and lenses and the prisms and the Hass-compatible film backs from them before. The prices are cheap. The lenses are not as great as the Hass ones, but the tilt-sand swivels, fisheyes are really great deals. the 65mm that I have is incredibly flare proof, and testing shows that on 35mm it is SHARPER than my Canon 24-85.