Chicken Kiev or Contax ?

[dee]

As many are ,I was genuinely chicken about buying a Kiev until I bought a pair of the most denigrated late Kiev 4 1979 / Kiev 4m 1983 [ with fixed take up spool ] from OK Photocameras which had been serviced and lubricated with new meter cells . The Helios lens is outstanding .
For UK buyers , - TOE began importing Kievs in the late 60s [ ? ] and each camera was checked and relubricated as USSR quality control was non existent .TOEs sales and service centre was second to none .
Some turn up on e-bay - just check the source .

My £50 1976 TOE K 4a original box , manual , passport , mint , works exquisitely and another TOE 1979 which again is perfect was £30 . Considering the complexity and age of these 30s designed survivors , this is remarkable.
Occasionally , ' cupog ' on ebay has a K 4 for sale - all his cameras are properly sorted , though the meter on a K 4 or K 3 may not work . I bought two excellent Kiev 4a from him .

For a true Contax experience it has to be a pre 1960 Kiev II / IIa or Kiev III / IIIa - K III has a meter , and ' a ' signifies flash sync from 1955 .

These cameras are genuine copies to the same quality of a Contax II / III BUT ALL NEED A SERVICE !
Mike Haley in Ukraine can service a Kiev for around 70 euro including fixing a broken shutter if required .
The least expensive Kiev IIIa can cost about $70 with shipping from a decent ex-USSR seller .
Quality control in the first few years was fine , especially before 1956 or so .
Buying a Kiev , however , is not an inexpensive rangefinder option - a Kiev 4 from Oleg would be around $70 with shipping . You could buy a good fixed lens rangefinder for less , or many classic SLRs .

A smart Kiev II or IIa will , with CLA , work out at around £120 However , you will have a true vintage 1930s Classic from the dawn of 35mm photography - but a lot younger.
I managed to find a near mint 1952 KNeB II with later Jupiter 8 [ 1957 ] for £60 . It works fine , but could do with a service .

Don't discount a genuine Contax - buy a slightly tired , broken body for around £80 . If you just want a camera to use and are not too worried about originality - have it sent to Ukraine , where ex Arsenal techs who made the Kievs and have plenty of spares , will bring it back to life .
You can pick up a compatible Jupiter 8 for a few $s .
My ex Contax II [ 1937 - 1950s ] is in lovely condition , built from a box of bits with non matching back - now with Kiev II shutter and working exquisitely .
The Arsenal techs proudly fixed the meter of my Contax III which , with truly minor Kiev parts - spring / screws works perfectly - even the collapsible Sonnar is excellent . It has some scars from it's history , but it does date from 1938 !
Many Contax cameras have had busted shutters for decades - as it became not worth servicing them or replacing the shutter tapes , so they may have less use that you might exepect .

Of course , you won't need a dozen or so - that's just an Autistic Comfort Zone - but a Kiev can be a really fun Kompanion even the meter is accurate enough under normal conditions .

[nemesis101]

Hi,

I worked for Redbridge Photographic (in a VERY junior capacity!) way back in the 1960's as we did a lot of business with T.O.E. who were I recall, based in Praed Street in London. I even went there a few times.. they did indeed often have to completely overhaul units prior to sale to the rather more discriminating UK market! They imported the FED, the Zorki (4) and the Kiev as well as the Zenit 80, a monster with filters the size of side-plates..

Doug.

[ludoo]

Good advice dee. I picked up a Contax II from ebay about one month ago, declared "for repairs", at the princely sum of 50 euros. When it got here, I found the seller had also included a collapsible Tessar built in 1934 which was not in the original auction pics or description. Both are in pretty awful shape: the Tessar has cloudy lenses and a forest growing inside, and the Contax has seen some hard use and has a broken shutter.

One of the nice things about Contax/Kiev cameras is that there's a lot of literature on repairing them, including Tooke's excellent book on repairing the II and III models, which is still available.

I am waiting for the original Arsenal shutter ribbons from Oleg, and as soon as they arrive I'll try putting the II back into a reasonable condition. The only problem I'll have if I'm successful will be finding a Zeiss leather case, which will cost about the same as the camera+lens.

[scsambrook]

[Seele]

Dee,

For a moment I thought you were photographing with the Kiev wearing a chicken suit

Stephen,

Somehow I think Lipinski was quite Leica-biased, but so are many modern writers (whom I would not want to name!)

[PaulC]

More useful info. Thanks Dee.

[kansalliskala]

I think the basic feature of Kievs is that they are cheap and you can repair them yourself with ordinary household tools. Here is good guide:

http://www3.telus.net/public/rpnchbck/index.html

[scsambrook]

[dee]

Thanks for the feedback everyone - not that I would even think of repairing a Kiev - though Oleg has new meter cells for the K 4 , and replacement Contax III cells are available from the States .

I would never have embarked on having my sets of Contax created , were it not for Mike Haley and his ex-Aresenal contacts !

[dee]

ludoo - even a Kiev IIa case is getting expensive to buy - my Contax case is a little worn , but is acceptable - and I have a near new KNeB case as well .

[ludoo]