Post by dee on Aug 28, 2014 2:34:36 GMT -5
Herewith the Contax IV and KNeB IV specials.
The very rough Contax III body was spare as the Arsenal techs used two to sort a Contax III meter and controls.
Far more controversially, the Techs found a way to remove the broken self timer which is it appears. integral with the mechanism as I like the clean look.
A very dead Kiev IIIa [ with flash sync as on all Kiev 4 ] was the donor for the KNeB camera with a spare KNeB faceplate found by Mike Hayley in Ukraine.
Both use very early Kiev 4 top plates without the ridges on the meter cover. No attempt was made to disguise the considerable wear on the well used Contax the characteristic dint in one meter cover as the metal was too thin, requiring those pressed ridges which differed from the post war Contax which they copied in style, if not content.
It's interesting that, as cameras were so expensive to Soviet users, that, as confirmed by the Arsenal guys, back street techs would use black market [ smuggled out] parts to repair Kiev 3/3a meters etc with a Kiev 4 conversion, though the most common repair was simply to get new non working cameras fit for purpose!
ASD is not disturbed that my favourite Kiev 4 body is 'not same' as the original Contax style body, and the KNeB and Contax faceplates eliminate the dual script which my mind keeps trying to resolve as I can't just override or ignore.
I love that the Contax IV spans more that 20 years and two ideologies from 1936-1957.
Also that my mint 1979 Kiev4a is so similar to my 1936 Contax-ASD perfection!!
I guess I could have used a late 1970s Kiev 4 donor, but the quality of controls and finish had deteriorated substantially, and the 1957 to plates fit in perfectly to the concept of a pre war version of the post saar Conta.
The need for completion and sets is also helped by a set of 3x Contax and 3x KNeB.
That they were created/revived by some of the guys who made the Kievs at Arsenal is just mind blowing for me.
Of course. at the time, Kiev 4 and 3a were plentiful on ebay, but there are not so many advertised now.
Equally, post digital dead Contax bodies were plummeting in price probably reflecting the cost of restoring these complicated beasts
This is probably a combination of factors, cost or repair and fewer techs to work on them, and the advent of digital cameras.
Krazy? It's worse from inside, believe me!
dee
The very rough Contax III body was spare as the Arsenal techs used two to sort a Contax III meter and controls.
Far more controversially, the Techs found a way to remove the broken self timer which is it appears. integral with the mechanism as I like the clean look.
A very dead Kiev IIIa [ with flash sync as on all Kiev 4 ] was the donor for the KNeB camera with a spare KNeB faceplate found by Mike Hayley in Ukraine.
Both use very early Kiev 4 top plates without the ridges on the meter cover. No attempt was made to disguise the considerable wear on the well used Contax the characteristic dint in one meter cover as the metal was too thin, requiring those pressed ridges which differed from the post war Contax which they copied in style, if not content.
It's interesting that, as cameras were so expensive to Soviet users, that, as confirmed by the Arsenal guys, back street techs would use black market [ smuggled out] parts to repair Kiev 3/3a meters etc with a Kiev 4 conversion, though the most common repair was simply to get new non working cameras fit for purpose!
ASD is not disturbed that my favourite Kiev 4 body is 'not same' as the original Contax style body, and the KNeB and Contax faceplates eliminate the dual script which my mind keeps trying to resolve as I can't just override or ignore.
I love that the Contax IV spans more that 20 years and two ideologies from 1936-1957.
Also that my mint 1979 Kiev4a is so similar to my 1936 Contax-ASD perfection!!
I guess I could have used a late 1970s Kiev 4 donor, but the quality of controls and finish had deteriorated substantially, and the 1957 to plates fit in perfectly to the concept of a pre war version of the post saar Conta.
The need for completion and sets is also helped by a set of 3x Contax and 3x KNeB.
That they were created/revived by some of the guys who made the Kievs at Arsenal is just mind blowing for me.
Of course. at the time, Kiev 4 and 3a were plentiful on ebay, but there are not so many advertised now.
Equally, post digital dead Contax bodies were plummeting in price probably reflecting the cost of restoring these complicated beasts
This is probably a combination of factors, cost or repair and fewer techs to work on them, and the advent of digital cameras.
Krazy? It's worse from inside, believe me!
dee
