Kiev 60 to Pentacon Six Finder Adapter

[bonsignore_ezio]

The German company (Beier) whuch manufactured a very convenient adapter to use the range of Kiev 60 finders on a Pentacon Six has unfortunately ceased operations. Is anyone aware of any other current source? Many thanks in advance

[bonsignore_ezio]

Also: I understand that in order to properly use the Kiev 60's TTL prism on a Pentacon Six, in addition to the adapter one has to change the original screen with a brigther plastic one. Any indications of sources? And, is this something one could do on his own, or a repairman's job?

[orsetto]

Its a shame Beier went out of business without passing their adapter design rights on to another vendor willing to continue selling then. Most probably, there just weren't enough sales to make production of more adapters viable for any vendors. I would really like to get my hands on the adapter Beier sold for attaching Hasselblad viewfinders to Mamiya C220/330 6x6 TLRs. The common, plentiful, affordable Hass NC2 45 degree prism made by Novoflex is smaller, lighter, brighter, and more ergonomic than nearly any other medium format prism finder.

Re using Kiev 60 meter prism on a Pentacon Six: it may be similar to using Kiev meter prisms on Hasselblad bodies. Instead of changing to a brighter screen, you can compensate the meter by re=calibrating its ASA film speed dial to match the dimmer Pentacon screen. The Kiev meter prisms are notorious for needing calibration even on Kiev bodies, so the ASA dial on the prism is fairly easy to fine tune. Typically you set your film speed on the Kiev prism, then loosen a screw or two allowing the ASA dial to spin freely without changing the ASA number. Rotate the free-spinning dial until the Kiev meter reading matches your reference meter (or another camera meter) set to the same ASA/ISO. Tighten the screws on the Kiev dial, and it is now reset to measure your Pentacon screen accurately.

Modern Pentacon Six sized brighter plastic screens with integrated fresnel and split image focus aid are available from Kiev specialty dealers like AraxFoto (or "grizzly33bear" on eBay). It is not difficult to remove the original Pentacon screen, but installing the modern replacement can be tricky (the new screens are much thinner, requiring a different size of retaining clips and different wire frame). It is possible to modify the original parts to fit newer screens, but thats a funky solution and you'd lose backwards compatibility with the older screen. Full line Kiev vendors like AraxFoto might be able supply a set of new style screen retaining parts at extra cost if you purchase a screen thru them, but independent screen-only vendors usually cannot supply any frames or clips.

Having a professional repair tech do the installation with their own custom retainer bits is another alternative: perhaps more precise, and you can ask that they return the original parts in case you ever want to revert to the original ground glass screen

Edited September 20, 2023 by orsetto

[bonsignore_ezio]

Thank you a lot

[bonsignore_ezio]

@orsetto

 

A further question if I may: Is it possible to remove the screen, wire frame and retaining clips from a Kiev 60 body and transplant the whole on a Pentacon Six? Inoperative Kiev 60s are dirty cheap, arguably cheaper than a new screen alone.

[orsetto]

AFAIK, the bare screen itself can be swapped from Kiev 60 to Pentacon Six (the ARAX/Arsenal screen marketed as upgrade for Pentacon Six is really just the Kiev 60 upgrade screen). So if you can find a broken Kiev 60 with intact screen for less cost than a new screen alone, you should be able to reuse the screen in your Pentacon Six.

Unfortunately, you will still have an issue with tricky installation in your Pentacon due to incompatible retainer parts. While the screens are the same size, the screen mounting method and associated hardware (frames, screws, clips) is completely different. You cannot recycle the screen mounting parts from Kiev 60 to Pentacon Six: they simply won't fit or work. The only solution is custom work from a camera repair technician, or DIY modify the original Pentacon Six mounting parts to hold the Kiev screen securely.

This incompatibility is due to the "generation gap" between the time Pentacon debuted and the Soviets decided to copy it. When Pentacon Six (actually its forerunner Praktisix) was introduced, many 6x6 cameras were still using the old-style ground glass screen with thick glass condenser. By the time USSR created the Kiev 6, flat plastic focus screens with integrated fresnel were the standard: USSR did not copy Pentacon's screen mount since Kiev would not be using the thick glass condenser part. Instead of a wire frame and various sized vertical clips, the Kiev uses a removable combination screen well/retainer frame, plus a couple horizontal screw-in clips.

Pentacon did eventually make flat brighter plastic fresnel screens available as an option, but these were supplied with a special replacement set of modified wire frame and screw clips that securely hold the thin screen in the original thicker mounting space where the condenser was removed. It is very hard to find these special updated mounting parts today, unless you happen to stumble across a new old stock Pentacon Six replacement "fresnel screen" kit. You or your repair tech will most likely need make your own parts or modify the original Pentacon parts.

Some vague notes on how to do this modification can be found here, instructions on how to remove the original Pentacon screen are here. Some scattered posts on how to adapt Kiev prisms to Pentacon bodies can be found on various websites, most of these were written about the defunct Beier adapter but I've seen several mentions of a recent 3D printed plastic copy of the Beier adapter, and a couple photographers mention modifying the bottom of a Pentacon waist level finder to make a mount for Kiev finders.

[bonsignore_ezio]

Many, many, many thanks again