which FSU rangefinder is easiest to repair and most reliable?

[removed account4]

SIP SNIP

John, those are really expensive. Never mind "per click" cost, I can make less photos with those. The gear to start is 10-20x the price of a rangefinder. I even thought of building 4x5 myself some years ago, and now I'm starting to think again. It can't be that hard to make a point and click camera if I have lens, shutter and film holder made for me

hi again q_x -

sorry to hear old school press camera bodies are so expensive where you are.
i have seen old speed graphic bodies sell for between 50-100$USD and film holders
for a few dollars each. and photo paper, expired stuff which works BEST for paper negatives ..
well it is usually give-away or a few pennies a sheet.
i had said "speed graphic" type camera because they usually have a roller blind shutter as part of
the camera, so you can use anything that allows light through it as a lens ( junk harvested off box cameras + folders,
2$ enlarger lenses .. even magnifying glasses or binocular cells ) .
another inexpensive bigger than 35mm choice might be a kodak ( or similar ) 3a FOLDING CAMERA. sometimes they have
beautiful lenses ... they took 122 film so you can just tape sheets of photo paper end to end and roll them on a spool
i've been doing this with a 3a graflex slr for about 2 years and couldn't be happier. a folder is small enough to fit in your pocket
and the negative is 3.75x5.5" "post card format" ...

i know this thread is about RANGE FINDER 35MM CAMERAS ... but just in case you hadn't thought of other viable options that might yield
a great paper negative which is easy to make into a print ...

have fun!
john

 

[q_x]

As far as rangefinders go, I think the Moskva is in workable condition, so looks Minolta Hi-Matic. I have to go through a roll of film each now to see how unprofessional the lenses are, and check for light leaks and other failures.

Offtopic or not, I think starting LF on a budget is a great topic on it's own. Moderators may split it if it's desirable.

Shooting on paper is a great idea, there's a bag of expired paper in the darkroom where I "work", these papers are waiting for an event somewhere around June. I'm pretty much sure I may use some leftovers after the event. I've done some pinhole photos on photo paper few years ago, I know how to work with it. Paper is ortochromatic, which is another great feature.

Large format camera, used, cheap and in working condition (at least what's needed should work) is hard to find here. Medium format is getting cheaper though, which is a good sign. The market is really small, and importing anything was hard before 1989, so we have very few oldies waiting in our penthouses or attics to be found. Cheapest Graflex I can buy today, with dysfunctional curtain shutter and front part of bellows taped with electrical tape to the plate, is over 200$. Things are getting better month after month, so I'll keep this conversation in mind

Thanks!

 

[q_x]

I think I could pick up a front assembly from an old magnifier. Just let me think a bit more what to do with it

 

[q_x]

Just for the record, as you guys are asking:
Sure, today's Poland was not a part of FSU formally. Major parts of pre-WWII Poland were incorporated directly into Soviet Union, the fact is sometimes forgotten, same as with Poland landing on a piece formerly belonging to German people. We here were "only" occupied by Soviets for 40-something years after Allies and Stalin have settled in Yalta. Puppet government, not much reparations paid, some loans still left to be paid, disaster after disaster. I wanted to explain my situation as easily, as possible, not going into politics and history. Warsaw Pact, or "behind the Iron Curtain" are the correct expressions here. If there's a moderator lurking, please change the phrase "it's FSU territory" into something like "it's almost like a part of FSU", so that there's no doubt.

So I've got my hands on Zorki C (or rather S) "Festival" edition, with collapsible Industar-22. Working, in good condition, no light leaks, has no major issues, it doesn't even scratch the film as badly, as I'd expect . The lens, well, it's not brilliant, but it collapses. Looks like it was used properly and heavily, but it's holding really well.

I've been able to make a single test roll out of the three rangefinders: Kiev 4AM with Helios 103, Zorki C with Industar 22 and Minolta Hi-Matic CS with it's fixed lens (38mm Rokkor, possibly Tessar-ish). Looks like every one is a different beast. I still have to make some prints out of those, for now I've only scanned it poorly, so there's little I can say about image quality, apart from the fact, that Minolta looks a bit underexposed (or maybe it's just me to like to have some extra detail in shadows), but it saved at least one shot.
Minolta is small and adorably pocketable, but I have serious doubts with it's robustness and I still don't like to depend on this kind of light metering.
Kiev has some excellence factor to it, but otherwise it's clunky and has some loose moments. Maybe it's creme de la creme of FSU rangefinders... Zorki is really what I expect a camera should be for what I do - that's pretty much "sketching", for serious work I have Pentax system with decent SLR and cheap DSLR.

Just for the record, Moskva 5 also worked without much trouble. Just as expected - slow times need to be taken care of. And I still have to make some prints out of that too (the negatives look great, but it doesn't mean much).
If I'm looking for a good viewfinder in FSU rangefinder, I guess "auxiliary" is the right answer.

Cheers!