Kiev 4 rewind

rmolson · Sep 29, 2006

Kiev 4

I recently got a Kiev 4. This is the closest I will ever get to a Contax or Nikon S . It is pretty good camera.. Everything in working order However it uses the Contax cassette system and has no attached take up spool. A regular take up spool with the film tongue taped on works fine. The film advance is smooth. But and it is big but ,the rewind is horrible, I can not turn the small knurled knob the drag is so strong. I started out before crank rewinds and have never had a camera with this much drag. Dry shooting with a dummy load showed no torn sprocket holes or film chips. At present I unload in the darkroom. Any body have an ideas where to start looking,

DBP · Sep 29, 2006

Mine has always been a little stiff, but not impossible. Not to sound condescending, but you are releasing the rewind button, aren't you?

One option is to use a take up cassette and wind the film from one to the other.

rmolson · Sep 29, 2006

kiev 4

I do depress the rewind button and it disengages the sprocket wheel so far as I can tell. When I have finished exposing the present roll I will unload it in the darkroom And then measure the amount of throw on the release button. If the sprocket did not release there would have been some sign of torn sprocket holes. The only thing I can think of is the film cartridge is moving around in side the camera and when the rewind know is turned the cartridge itself turns and acts as a brake on the film as it is wound back in to the cartridge. Problem is howto see if that is actually happening.

srs5694 · Sep 30, 2006

Maybe you could try padding the cartridge with a small bit of foam to stop it from rotating, if that's the problem. I'd try it with a dummy roll first, of course.

T42 · Sep 30, 2006

rmolson said:
I do depress the rewind button and it disengages the sprocket wheel so far as I can tell. When I have finished exposing the present roll I will unload it in the darkroom And then measure the amount of throw on the release button. If the sprocket did not release there would have been some sign of torn sprocket holes. The only thing I can think of is the film cartridge is moving around in side the camera and when the rewind know is turned the cartridge itself turns and acts as a brake on the film as it is wound back in to the cartridge. Problem is howto see if that is actually happening.

I have used a Kiev 4a since October, 2001. The rewind is not stiff, but just inconvenient when compared to my other cameras with rewind cranks. Mine did not have a proper Kiev take-up spool, or any take-up spool when it arrived from Ukraine. I tried variations of an ordinary cassette's spool, but found them wobbly and difficult to load properly in the K4a.

I solved that problem. I made one for free, then several spares. Here is a link showing the construction of the ones I now use, and which have served very well since early 2002:
http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/kievspool.jpg

The film will fit squarely in the tracks and not wobble, just as if there were a take up cassette. And no tape is necessary either.

Good luck solving your rewind issue.

Henry

rmolson · Sep 30, 2006

kiev 4

Wow! thanks a lot I got to try that rmolson

ricksplace · Sep 30, 2006

I've never had a kiev, but I had a similar problem with my fed. The screw holding the take-up spool needed to be loosened a little. The rewind bitton only disengages the sprockets, not the take-up spool, so the take up spool needs to slip backwards to allow you to rewind the film. Once you get the tension adjusted so that there is just enough to wind the film snug from the sprockets to the take-up spool, rewinding should be OK. I can turn the take-up spool with my fingers (slipping) and everything works fine.

Rick.

zenrhino · Sep 30, 2006

If you're not totally anti-eBay, there's some take-up cassettes for sale there.

If you look around, you can occasionally find a Contax take-up spool, too.

But for more than a year, I just made some quick-loads up where I taped the end to an empty film spool. Worked just fine.

PhotoJim · Sep 30, 2006

Just to ensure it's not the obvious, you not only have to depress the rewind button, you have to hold it the entire time you are rewinding. (At least I have to do this on my 4a.)

Mine isn't super easy to wind but it isn't as bad as I expected it would be, given the reputation of Kievs.

Kiev 4 rewind

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