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For Sale SOLD!Kustom Blak Kiev 4A! SOLD!

Trader history for Huss (3)

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Huss

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Well just take a look at this beauty! A Kiev 4A with actually a very very good Helios 53mm 1.8 lens. The lens really is the star of the show here.
The black paint is nice to look at, but given the price point I wouldn't call it the best job ever. As in to do this right (Leica, Nikon) the paint is applied onto the brass body. Not painted on top of the chrome finish like with this originally chrome kamera. But what do you expect - a $1000 paint job on a $100 camera? Perhaps, just level setting here...


"But Larry, any problems with this camera?"
First off, my name is not Larry. And 2nd off, well, this is from the Soviet Union so there will be a quirk or two.
In this case, just one quirk. On about every 4th pic there is a small triangular light leak that will appear on the bottom left corner of the image. The other three shots will be perfectly composed/captured/exposed images of the indecisive moment.
But the fourth? Think of it as a love letter from the Kremlin..
How I handle that in actual use is:
1/ Ignore it
b/ Crop it out (hey look, a square image!)
iii/ Clone it out (what? using komputers an stuff? this is real photography!)

Focus is accurate with a bright patch. Shutter speeds are good.

Want attention in that booooooring Leica crowd? Pull this sucker out and watch them look at you in awe..

$100 + $15.50 USPS priority shipping. Paypal on me.
Tracking # provided etc.

Peace!
Huss
Kiev 4 custom black paint by desmolicious, on Flickr

p.s. comes with the original leather (?) case.
 
Nice looking camera. Looks like fun to use. Something I would buy if I had enough to drink. What's another $115 right?
 
markjwyatt said:
Looks like a Kiev 4M not a 4a
Click to expand...

I googled and that's what came up. I matched it to what fedka.com is selling on his site ($135 and not black, ahem...)

I know one had a meter, the other(s) don't. The meter makes it uh-ger-ly and we all know that photography is about lookin' good..
 
lol, no idea... but as we are drinking buddies now, I'll throw in a bunch of those Kodak Fling 110 cameras!
 

Not sure what your answer is (ambiguous as written), but the 4a does not have the spiral on the film unwind knob.


4=selenium meter
4a= no meter

4 and 4a part of the original Contax series. 4M series is first big departure ("modernization"),

4M = next generation, but with meter, so I see your point.
4AM = next generation without meter: Yours is probably this (or a Kiev 4a with some 4M or 4AM parts).

Self timer does not look correct either (for the 4a). Looks like the 4M/4AM with the lower portion of leatherette broken off.

Still betting on 4AM. Serial number should tell you.
 
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Huss said:
lol, no idea... but as we are drinking buddies now, I'll throw in a bunch of those Kodak Fling 110 cameras!
Click to expand...

This months budget is going to another rangefinder my heart is after. An Olympus XA.

I got my eye on those Flings though...
 
It has direction arrows (two of them) on the rewind knob. I'm not that hung up on the provenance of a $100 camera. It is a Kiev 4 of some type. Painted black that works great!
I mean, if this was someone trying to pass off an original black paint Leica M3, I can see wanting to know more details.


FYI the serial # on the hot shoe is 8115631. The hotshoe of course can just be replaced from a diff camera, but still. Funny thing, Just noticed it has a hot shoe! Hmm, wonder if that works. I expected a cold shoe. Not even the M3 has a hot shoe.
 
8115631 would put it to 1981. These were manufactured up until 1985 and later models (starting from late seventies) did have a hot shoe. And it worked. Used to own one like this. Good luck with sale. It's a gem for anyone who wants a Contax-like camera for much less than what originals fetch.
 
If you still have this after I get my month's bills paid, I might grab it. I have a pair of Kiev 4, one with a very slow shutter and the other with very bad frame spacing, but I never use the meter on them (it's a pain to use and how can I trust a 50 year old selenium meter with speed setting in Gost?). Don't hold it for me, though -- if someone else pops up with digital C-note, grab it!
 
Privyet, tovarich, cyka blyat! I actually have one of these black body Kiev cameras and that 53 1.8 is tack sharp even for Soviet glass. I think mine might be backfocusing I can't tell if its the lens or not, but if it is, it's probably one of those love letters from the Kremlin.
 

Ya the lens is surprising on this one. I actually tried to get an adapter to use it on my Ms, until I saw that an Amedeo adapter is like $400... Tne basic adapters are useless as they do not RF couple.
 
  • Huss
  • Deleted
african_jon said:
Why am I tempted by this camera?
Click to expand...

Because nothing is good enough for you! And using a Kiev is almost like using nothing.

Wait, I'm trying to convince you.. ok, because it is cool, quirky and honestly has a great lens.
 
okay, time to man-up and get that dang black kustom kiev...it will be fine company for my new-to-me r8 from h3ll

tovarich, can do paypal...harasho?

minya zavut kenneth
 
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