Kiev 4a

[nikonbob]

Like the man says there is good news and there is bad news. Ran a roll through the Kiev and I think the J-8M is a pretty good lens, Certainly better than most people would think that have not used it. I am pretty happy about that but to balance things out the Kiev has uneven frame spacing. Spacing being quite close to slightly overlapping. I guess you can't have everything. The saltie taking on grain was at f8 and the tree was at f4.

Bob

Just an update. Some people, me, should never be let near anything mechanical with a set of crude tools. Took some time last nite to remove the winding fork, spring and spacers to give it a clean up. Put it all back together but leaving one spacer out. With the lens off and the camera on bulb I then marked each frame on a sacrificial roll. I partially rewound the film and did it again with the frames slightly offset from the original markings. After rewinding the film and checking it out of camera the spacing was even for both checks. Was it the cleaning or removing one spacer? Who knows, but I am relieved and looking forward to actually exposing a test roll today.

Bob

[GeneW]

Bob, the J8 looks great here. Sorry to hear about the spacing though. With the Kiev's long rangefinder base, I think you could use the J8 pretty accurately indoors at f/2.

The shot of the freighter taking on grain is tack sharp, as well as being a great composition. I haven't heard the word 'saltie' before. Does it apply to all lake freighters?

Gene

[nikonbob]

Gene

I have always used "saltie" to describe ocean going vessels as opposed to a "laker" which operate only on the Great Lakes. I should say that a "laker" is designed to operate on the Great Lakes and has a look to it that is distinct, like the Edmund FitzGerald www.shipwreckmuseum.com/fitz.phtml . I am impressed enough to get some more FSU glass to use on my Contax II when it finally gets back from being serviced. I hear that the 35 and 85 Jupiter lenses are just as good.

Bob

[kiev4a]

I have a 4a that works great but spaces out the frames so I can only get about 20 photos on a 24 exp roll. You might check to see if the take-up spool is actuall a Kiev model. That wasn't the problem in my case but I have heard that can make a difference.

[nikonbob]

Wayne

When I checked the frame spacing, after tinkering with the winding fork, spring and spacers, I found that it looked like I could get 26/27 frames on a 24 exp. roll with the takeup spool that came with the camera. I have no idea of what a real Kiev take-up spool looks like. The one that came with the camera is plastic and has a narrow slot in the middle which forces me to cut the leader to use it.

Bob

[John Parry]

Bob,

The company I was with used to manage the Bowater ships. Personnel were famous for assuring people the ship they were joining was only doing a 'pick-up' voyage to Liverpool NS and back. Next thing they knew they were up the St Lawrence and stuck for the season. Still I'm told there were much worse places to be stuck!

Regards - John

[kiev4a]

A plastic take-up spool that requires you to trim the leader ain't standard for a Kiev. Sounds like it might be a modified spool from a cassette. That might be your problem. I think all Kiev take-up spools are metal.

My Kiev spool is metal. It has a knob on the bottom designed with grips for the fingers. There are two slots narrow slots fairly close together for inserting the end of the leader in the spool and on the other side, directly opposite the narrow slots, are two wider slots. The slots begin and the base of the spool and run about 2/3 of the length of the spool. Hope my description is understandable.

[nikonbob]

Wayne

Thanks for the description of a kiev take-up spool. I might find one sooner or later. I have another roll in the camera now so will we see if everything works out. Fingers crossed.

Bob

[physiognomy]

Hey Bob,

I have a 'homemade' plastic film spool from a film cassette in my Kiev 4 & it works fine in regards to film spacing... Now, if I could just work out where the light leaks are coming from I'd be right! Gotta love fsu cameras!

Peter

ps The 35mm J-12 & 85mm J-9 are great lenses! The good thing about the contax/kiev mount is that they are less likely to have focusing issues (talking about the J-9 here mostly) compared to ltm ones. I have both lenses and see no need to 'upgrade' to the zeiss originals. Here's 2 links to shots taken with my J-12:

www.cameracollector.proboards30.com/index.cgi?board=past&action=display&thread=1152243104

www.cameracollector.proboards30.com/index.cgi?board=past&action=display&thread=1152243707

[PeterW]

Bob,

You may not have seen this, but if you go to Rick Oleson's website and scroll down the list of subjects you'll find 'How to make a take-up spool for your Contax or Kiev'. It's in amongst the Contax stuff. I made one and it works fine. Rick's site, and well worth visiting for a look at other things too, is

members.tripod.com/rick_oleson/index-27.html

Rick's a very knowledgeable and friendly guy, always happy to help and swap info.

PeterW

[nikonbob]

Peter

Have you tried looking here www3.telus.net/public/rpnchbck/fixing%20light%20leaks.html for some hints on how to fix light leaks in a Kiev. A very useful site. Those two lenses and an FSU finder are on my list to pick up eventually.

PeterW

Thanks for the link, I might try that if what I have still doesn't work.

Bob

[physiognomy]

nikonbob said:

Peter, Have you tried looking here www3.telus.net/public/rpnchbck/fixing%20light%20leaks.html for some hints on how to fix light leaks in a Kiev. A very useful site. Those two lenses and an FSU finder are on my list to pick up eventually....Bob

Thanks for the link Bob... A few months ago I was really keen to fix it & got some good advice from others, but another camera (& another, etc...) took my attention away... Your post (& the prospects of picking up a Kiev 4a) has spurred my interest again. I have a kit of lenses spanning 35-135mm, so I really should be using them.

Peter

[wolves3012]

kiev4a said:

A plastic take-up spool that requires you to trim the leader ain't standard for a Kiev. Sounds like it might be a modified spool from a cassette. That might be your problem. I think all Kiev take-up spools are metal.

My Kiev spool is metal. It has a knob on the bottom designed with grips for the fingers. There are two slots narrow slots fairly close together for inserting the end of the leader in the spool and on the other side, directly opposite the narrow slots, are two wider slots. The slots begin and the base of the spool and run about 2/3 of the length of the spool. Hope my description is understandable.

I have a Kiev 4 from 1975 that was my father's and it has a plastic spool. I can't state for a fact that it's the original but I think it is, my father was very careful with such things.

[nikonbob]

wolves3012 said:

Kiev4a said:

A plastic take-up spool that requires you to trim the leader ain't standard for a Kiev. Sounds like it might be a modified spool from a cassette. That might be your problem. I think all Kiev take-up spools are metal.

My Kiev spool is metal. It has a knob on the bottom designed with grips for the fingers. There are two slots narrow slots fairly close together for inserting the end of the leader in the spool and on the other side, directly opposite the narrow slots, are two wider slots. The slots begin and the base of the spool and run about 2/3 of the length of the spool. Hope my description is understandable.

I have a Kiev 4 from 1975 that was my father's and it has a plastic spool. I can't state for a fact that it's the original but I think it is, my father was very careful with such things.

Can you post a photo of that spool? I am curious to see if it matches what is in my Kiev. Thanks.

Bob

[nikonbob]

OK, all is well that ends well. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Got my 2nd roll back today and all spacing is even with 24 exposures on the roll with the plastic takeup spool in place. I guess I got lucky with the tinkering I did or it cured itself. Iam betting on the latter.

Bob