Help identify!!! got 4 Kievs... I think...

Flyfishdk · Mar 19, 2012

Hi there

I'm a teacher on a school in photography and one of my students are from Latvia and in the start of the this year her father drove her here. I talked to him about old russian cameras and that I maybe could be interested to get some... today a parcel arrived with 4 cameras. I think all of them are Kiev's... first his daughter told me it was a gift.. but I say I would not accept them without paying what they have paid for them... I was told the price was $247 incl. shipping for the 4 of them.

I'm basicly not interested in the prices and so... but would like to know more about them. Thanks in advance :wink:

wiedzmin · Mar 19, 2012

Hi,

please check here http://www.sovietcams.com/index.php?358713866

it looks like you have Zorki C, Kiev II, Kiev-4 , Zorki but I'm not 100% sure

eldercaribou · Mar 19, 2012

Looks like you have a couple of Zorkis (Leica clones) and a couple of Kievs (Contax clones) - I don't know anything about the Zorkis specifically as I don't have any, but camera B looks like a Kiev 4a (no meter) with a Jupiter-8 50mm f/2 lens - I have one, and I have been very happy with it; it takes some nice pics for a camera that's as old as I am! The other Kiev has a Jupiter-12 35mm lens - the frame lines in the viewfinder only cover 50mm, you would need a turret finder to get the 35mm lines, or just use the edges of the viewfinder and guesstimate :smile:

With these former Soviet cameras there is always a question of quality control - sometimes you get a good one, sometimes you get a lemon... good sites for info are Nate's Communist Cameras (www.commiecameras.com - seems to be down at this time, temporarily) and The Kiev Survival Site (http://www3.telus.net/public/rpnchbck/). If you need take-up spools for the Kiev, I have a couple of spares I could post to you if needed. All in all, a nice box of kit - oh, don't forget that the #1 rule of these cameras is to never change the shutter speed without cocking the shutter by winding on first - especially when going from fast to slow speeds... it's a mechanical issue. Enjoy!

Here's a neg scan from my Kiev 4a - I guessed at the exposure :smile:

Fanshaw · Mar 19, 2012

The Zorki cameras are the Zorki, a copy of the Leica II and the Zorki-S, a Zorki with flash synch. Thr others are a Kiev-4a, without meter and an early Kiev-4,with meter and with the 35 mm Jupiter -12 instead of the standard lens the 50mm Jupiter-8M

Flyfishdk · Mar 20, 2012

Hi there

THX for the very helpfull replies... I will start to study them a little more :smile:

Soeren · Mar 21, 2012

Yes Camera 1 is a Zorki C from 1956 with an Industar 22 lens

http://www.sovietcams.com/index.php?531215525

Camera 4 is a Zorki 1 from 1955 also with an industar 22.

http://www.sovietcams.com/index.php?-737528618

On the Kievs you have a Jupiter 8 (50mm f/2.0, sonnar clone)

http://www.sovietcams.com/index.php?1673509730 (camera)
http://www.sovietcams.com/index.php?-1090910983 (lenses)

and a Jupiter 12 (35mm f/2,8).

http://www.sovietcams.com/index.php?1072558845

Seems your in for some fun now :smile:

Where do you teach?
Best regards

BTW NEVER change shutterspeeds without cocking the shutter first.

Igor Savchenko · Mar 30, 2012

changing shutterspeeds

Soeren said:
BTW NEVER change shutterspeeds without cocking the shutter first.

Among Zorkis this is the rule only for Zorki, Zorki-2, Zorki-3, Zorki-3M, Zorki-3C, Zorki-4 and Zorki-4K, otherwise the shutter will most likely get broken. With Zorki-C and Zorki-2C you can change the shutterspeeds either before or after cocking the shutter without any risk. With Kievs you can also change either before or after but for most proper functioning the shutter it is recommended to do it after cocking the one, especially for Kievs from 1972 to the younger ones.

luibargi · Jul 3, 2012

Confirm Camera B is a Kiev-4 like the one I have. Yours was manufactured in 1976 and considered an average good production while mine was made in early 1980, quite not the same.
In 1981 the quality was so bad that high-brasses came from Moscow and sent the whole production to the city garbage location.
Camera C is a Kiev-4a, made in 1972. I had one of those too but never worked.

hugopoon · Jul 5, 2012

Igor Savchenko said:
Among Zorkis this is the rule only for Zorki, Zorki-2, Zorki-3, Zorki-3M, Zorki-3C, Zorki-4 and Zorki-4K, otherwise the shutter will most likely get broken. With Zorki-C and Zorki-2C you can change the shutterspeeds either before or after cocking the shutter without any risk. With Kievs you can also change either before or after but for most proper functioning the shutter it is recommended to do it after cocking the one, especially for Kievs from 1972 to the younger ones.

How did you discover this?

Brac · Aug 1, 2012

The Zorki cameras and also the FED range have a screw mount for the lenses similar to the one used by Leica, though they may not couple with the rangefinder on a Leica. The Kiev range are based on the original Zeiss Ikon Contax rangefinder cameras of the 1930's and have inner and outer bayonet mounts similar to the Contax. I'm not sure whether the Kiev lenses will couple with the Contax rangefinder. However, as others have said, the manufacturing quality was often poor. I bought a new Kiev in the late 1970's which had to go back under guarantee because of over-lapping frames. The camera felt very old fashioned and "agricultural" so I rarely used it.

Help identify!!! got 4 Kievs... I think...

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