Ko.Fe.
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You must stay away from every Mazda you will see from now. At least ten meters. They are made in Hiroshima.
True, but I don't that any item from exclusion zone would be radioactive unless it's covered with radioactive soil or dust, but I'm not really into buying extremely dirty cameras.
For people who like Japanese cameras, Japan has has much exposure to radiation, including 2 cities hit with atom bombs, and nuclear reactor meltdown in fukushima, which was more recent, so Japanese items should be worried about if this was an issue as well.
I think the Kiev 4 had more minor modifications for manufacturability, while the 4M was fairly major redesign. I really enjoyed my Kiev 4, and it led pretty quickly to a Contax iia.
the title of this thread is an oxymoron -- i suppose if you get luck you can find a kiev/contax that's reliable, but i wouldn't bet on it. My experience with soviet cameras, except for the early leica II copies, is uniformly bad.
if it's a cheap shooter you want, find urself a good solid nikkormat, pretty much any model. They're built like bricks, can be had for less than $50 for the body, and the lenses are all dirt cheap and amazing quality.
You must stay away from every Mazda you will see from now. At least ten meters. They are made in Hiroshima.
I actually have both. For whatever reason, I like the feel of the LTL3 a little better, but it has a small light leak, and I do not think the meter works (plus it requires mercury batteries). The MTL5 works well, the meter works and uses silver oxide batteries, and is one of my main "light meter functioning" M42 cameras now (the other is a Fujica 605n). I only need the light meter for adapted lenses (with uncertain aperture settings- mainly DKL mount Schneider Kreuznachs: I also have a Retina Reflex IV, but if it stops working...), so for standard M42 lenses I also have Spotmatics and a couple of other cameras available. The MTL5 is my favorite overall at this point given all the considerations.
Exactly! I wasted heck a lot of time on fixing FSU junk. Now with Nikkormat, F2 and EM I’m just enjoying film photography and quality of gear.
There is only one of the FSU Kiev rf lenses that I am aware of that will not work on the postwar Contax IIa/IIIa- it is the Jupiter 12 the 35mm with the large, deep set rear lens element. I am pretty sure of that as I have had both the Kiev and Contax IIa. I used the 50mm, 85mm and 135mm FSU lenses on my IIa with no issues. The postwar 35mm Zeiss was a painful purchase!
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I've read that the Leica iic does not work with soviet lenses at all, and the soviet lenses need to be calibrated in order to focus with a iic. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Many people have recommended just using native glass with leica bodies, to avoid this problem, which would make the leicas out of reach for ordinary people. Maybe the contax is different.
You might think twice about eating sushi or seaweed in Japan (Fukishima).
I think the Kiev 4 had more minor modifications for manufacturability, while the 4M was fairly major redesign. I really enjoyed my Kiev 4, and it led pretty quickly to a Contax iia.
The LTL3 is already on it's way..
The way I read what I've seen, the Kiev 4A and 4M had the same relationship as the Kiev 2 and 3, or Contax II and III -- the 4M had a meter, 4A none, and they were mechanically (and optically, in terms of RF) the same camera otherwise. I'm not a huge Kiev expert, but I've never seen a Kiev 4 offered on eBay or referenced in any web literature that wasn't actually either what I've learned as 4A or 4M. If there was a Kiev 4 that wasn't a 4A or 4M, how would I distinguish it from (presumably) a 4A?
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I've read that the Leica iic does not work with soviet lenses at all, and the soviet lenses need to be calibrated in order to focus with a iic. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Many people have recommended just using native glass with leica bodies, to avoid this problem, which would make the leicas out of reach for ordinary people. Maybe the contax is different.
As mentioned above the FSU focusing standard is not identical to Leica, though Nikon and Canon work perfectly fine on Leica bodies. The Contax is different- because the Soviets picked up the Contax factory and moved it to Ukraine. Thus the mounts and rangefinder calibrations are identical.Y
I've read that the Leica iic does not work with soviet lenses at all, and the soviet lenses need to be calibrated in order to focus with a iic. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Many people have recommended just using native glass with leica bodies, to avoid this problem, which would make the leicas out of reach for ordinary people. Maybe the contax is different.
I really wanted to make this work but after 4Russian rangefinders (2 Zorki's.a FED and a Kiev) I've given up. All were sold as working but not one of them arrived without issues. Maybe you;ll have better luck than me but I think it's a bit of a crap shoot.
I have Russian/FSU cameras and lenses that work (a FED rf, a fisheye for SLRs), BUT I don't recommend them as a first step for someone making a step into manual film cameras from a mostly auto camera.
In say the 1990s, Russian/FSU cameras potentially made sense as an economic alternative in certain categories for people on a budget who were willing to deal with the idiosyncracies. Categories like interchangeable lens RFs, or 6x6 SLRs, where the professional options were very expensive. Now that film camera prices have been deflated, there are many other good options for someone who is beginning the manual camera adventure.
Can you suggest something good for an interchangeable lens RF? There seems to be a resounding "go for the Leica iic" message but I just can't justify $200. I've already got my LTL 3 on the way but I might want to pick up something smaller in the future, to keep an eye out for.
I've had zero issues with my Fed 3 and Zorki 4 bought from alex-ukr-alex on ebay, and my Mockba bought from Fedka.com
My Kiev4AM has a light leak in one corner on every 4th shot. It was bought from a different vendor.
In other news, my 1000 times more expensive Leica M5 has recently developed a very similar light leak.
The main difference is that you can easily get your M5 repaired but finding a reliable repairman for Kiev RF is a challenge by itself.
Fixed lens Voigtlanders are fun and affordable, I have a Vito CLR that is very capable and fairly compact.
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