Shutterbug - The Kiev Kronicles, by Jay Abend
- The Kiev Kronicles (part 1) - Communism Falls, But The Ukrainian Cameras Keep On Coming
- The Kiev Kronicles (part 2) - The Kiev 60: Like A 35mm Camera On Steroids
- The Kiev Kronicles (part 3) - The Ups And The Downs
The Kiev Kronicles
Part 3
The Ups And The Downs
by Jay Abend
This month we close the book on our three part Kiev camera series. If youread Parts 1 and 2, you know that Kiev cameras are made in the Arsenal Factoryin Ukraine in the former Soviet Union. Rough-edged cameras reminiscent of oldHasselblad and Pentacon cameras, they nevertheless offer the least expensivemeans of getting involved in medium format photography.
You may think that it's a bit silly for a professional photographer likeYours Truly to even bother with notoriously cranky equipment like Kiev 88s and60s, but as we learned in the earlier installments of this piece, there are somevery interesting bodies and lenses being cranked out for incredibly reasonableprices.
 | Here Is my Kiev arsenal - Kiev Polaroid back; Kiev 6x6 automatic back; Hartblei 1006 Studio Master with 80mm Carl Zeiss Jena Biometar; Jupiter 250mm 1/3.5; Pentacon 6; and Kiev 60 bodies; 120 f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Jena Biometar; 180 f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar; 45mm f/3.5 Mir; 30mm f/3.5 Arsat Fisheye; 45mm f/3.5 PCS shift lens; 50mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon. |
| © Jay Abend, 1999 |
After receiving boxes full of Kiev gear from all over the world, I went outand bought a bunch of clean Carl Zeiss Jena lenses intended for the Pentacon 6,as well as a handful of Ukrainian lenses that I found used at a variety of photoshops. Now that I had the world's finest collection of questionable photo gearin the world, it was time to see what these cameras could do. The first step wasto give everything a thorough hands-on test. Just to see if everything wasworking I pulled an ancient brick of Kodak Plus-X from the freezer andsacrificed it for the good of science. I loaded a roll in each camera and firedoff frame after frame on "B" with no lens mounted, then marked eachframe with a Sharpie marker while the mirror was up and the shutter open. Oncedone I pulled the film and had an accurate blueprint of each camera's framespacing. The Kiev 88's came through with flying colors, offering perfect framespacing. The Kiev 60's were hit and miss. One camera was fine, while the otherhad the frames dangerously close but not overlapping. Both Exakta 66 andPentacon 6 bodies showed no frame spacing problems at all. To try out a littlebit of trickery that had been passed on to me by a Kiev fan, I placed a small1x2" piece of black gaffer tape on the paper leader of the next roll offilm and ran it through the Kiev 60 with the frame spacing problems - voila,nice big real estate between frames. Problem solved. This works because Kiev 60sare built on the assumption that Russian Smena film will be used, and this filmhas a thicker film base and backing paper than other 120 films. The gaffer'stape creates the necessary extra thickness.
Running outdated film through the cameras revealed the build quality of therespective outfits. The stock Kiev 88s were really difficult to handle. It's notbad enough that they make that famous walnut crunching sound as the film isadvanced, but the round film wind knob is nearly impossible to turn unless yourhands are warm, dry, and strong. These cameras may be inexpensive, but they're ahandful to shoot with. On the other side of the coin, the Kiev 60 operates quitesmoothly. Film advance is simple via the plastic tipped film wind-lever. Its220° advance throw is a lot, but not unmanageable. The same can be said forExakta and Pentacon cameras, but the heavy-duty rubber finish on the Exaktamakes it really easy to hold, and it looks quite excellent as well.
With their eye-level finders, easy film winding and Pentacon 6 compatiblelens mount, you would think that the Kiev 60 would be the best choice for theentry-level medium format shooter as well as the advanced amateur or pro. Ifound the Kiev 60 a pleasure to use, but the lack of interchangeable backs -especially Polaroid backs - makes it less than perfect. If a bargain camera thatoffers real pro features is your goal, then there are only a couple of sources.Saul Kaminsky at Kiev USA in Connecticut and Hartblei in the Ukraine offerhot-rodded Kiev 88s that fit the bill quite nicely. Both cameras offer thedesirable Pentacon 6 lens mount instead of the Kiev 88 mount, as well as smoothoperating cloth shutter curtains, mirror lockup options, and beefed up filmwinding gears. Kaminsky's 88CB had the silkiest, smoothest film wind of thebunch, and frankly was the only camera we tested that never jammed, hung up, orseemed sticky.
The Hartblei cameras remain an interesting story. We initially contactedKalimex in Prague, Czechoslovakia, at the time the only source for Hartbleicameras. They provided us a gorgeous array of snakeskin covered Hartblei camerasand a couple of sweet Hartblei PCS shift lenses. All was not well for long, asthe 45 f/3.5 PCS lens arrived with a defective diaphragm, and the Hartblei 1006Master camera exhibited any number of faults during my several weeks of testing.Since I had fallen in love with the excellent Arsat 30mm fisheye lens, I choseto use the Hartblei camera from Kalimex on a commercial assignment, the cover ofa mail-order catalog. While the lens performed flawlessly, the camera gotweirder and weirder. First the image in the viewfinder was sharp but Polaroidslooked totally out of focus. After a dozen Polaroids I gave the camera a goodthump with the palm of my hand. (Referred to in my studio as a "KievKorrection".) Problem solved. Apparently the mirror was not seating itselfproperly after each shot. Probably some small piece of junk had vibrated out ofthe camera and gotten in the way. Hardly confidence inspiring.
 | Just in from Kaplan in LA. anil Kiev USA, film backs for Kiev 88s that actually wind to frame one without peeking in the little window, and seem to space the frames just fine. In the Bronica SQ style the film insert comes out for easy loading from the rear of the back, not the side. A must-have. |
| © Jay Abend, 1999 |
Kalimex admitted that the camera I had was an early prototype of their top ofthe line model, and that production versions had eliminated the problems I wasexperiencing. If I had laid out $600 or $800 via a wire transfer to Prague Iwould have to send this camera back and wait for a replacement. Since these wereonly review cameras they sent out a replacement several weeks later. The camerathey sent me unfortunately had the Kiev 88 mount rather than the Pentacon mount,so I couldn't test my lenses on the camera. However, it functioned perfectly andaccepted my Hasselblad backs with no problem. For whatever reason Hartblei choseto finish this camera in smooth shiny black leather. Camera manufacturers usethe pebble texture leather to hide the minor bumps and lumps present on themetal shell of a camera body. By using thin smooth leather this Hartblei revealsevery imperfection under the surface. This makes this otherwise excellent cameralook even worse than a stock Kiev 88. (Kalimex says they have since changed overto standard pebble texture leather.) Since you can easily order the camera withthe stock vinyl covering, this shouldn't be a problem, and this camera reallyseems to have all the bugs worked out of it. Kalimex claims that by the timethis article hits the newsstands the fully debugged Hartbleis will be in stock,but I would contact them directly and ask what's up.
The Hartblei 45 PCS lens Kalimex supplied got me terribly excited. It's a45mm lens with a full 10mm of shift in any direction. While I don't shoot thatmuch architectural work, I do shoot very wide in cramped spaces like offices andcomputer rooms. With the shift lens I can level the camera to prevent wide angledistortion, then shift the lens up and down to center the frame. It'stack-sharp, finished beautifully, and perhaps the greatest lens bargain in thefree world with a price under $800.
While I was waiting for the new Hartblei to arrive from Prague, I heard thatHartblei cameras were now available from a U.S.A. source, our pal Gennady Kaplanin Los Angeles. Not only were they available, but he had the whole kit for asteal-$595 for the 1006 Studio Master camera body, two backs, the 80mm normallens, and the PV-45 prism with the slick hot shoe and battery check LED. Ofcourse I ordered mine immediately. A few days later I was pretty disappointed tosee the same old dirty blue and gold Kiev 88 box, this one with a little"Hartblei 1006SM" sticker on it. Inside was the standard Kiev 88 kit,but with a Hartblei body, lens, and prism. While this camera didn't have thefunky snakeskin or elegant black finish, it looked pretty good. Oddly enough,this camera accepted standard Kiev 88 film backs, not Hassy backs as with theother Hartblei. If you don't have a Hasselblad it's not a big deal, but it was aproblem for me. Anyway, the camera once loaded up with film seemed like a fairlywell debugged camera. While not as slick winding as the Kiev 88CB from Kiev USA,it wound film reliably, and the shutter release and nicely machined film windcrank worked perfectly. For whatever reason, this Hartblei has a re-machinedlens mount flange, and Pentacon mount lenses bolted on very smoothly, somethingthat can't be said for many of the other Pentacon mount Kiev 88 bodied cameras.
OK, enough about the bodies, what about the pictures? I had the opportunityto fire off lots of film with every lens, and I can give you the following briefcapsulation of each piece I shot with:
A 30mm f/3.5 Fisheye - Wow! This is a well made lens that has producedreally outstanding results. This is clearly the best Ukrainian lens out there,and it makes it worthwhile to buy a Kiev camera just to use this lens.
A 45mm f/3.5 Mir - This is the poorest lens in the Kiev catalog.Cosmetically it's a mess, with no multi-coating, fuzzy lettering, and blackparts that look orange. Sure it's inexpensive, but wide open it's just plainsoft, improving to tolerable at f/8. If you must use a wide angle and can't finda Zeiss lens, you can probably get some OK results with this lens.
A 50mm f/4 Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon - This is a truly outstandinglens, especially the later multi-coated versions. I tested a late model allblack multi-coated lens and was blown away - super sharp, excellent resistanceto flare, and even quite good wide open. A bargain at any price under $500.(Find the newest one you can, even if you have to pay more.)
A 65mm f/3.5 Mir - A weird focal length that I've grown to love. Thisis a hard lens to find, but it's actually one of the better Kiev lenses. Myexample was purchased used for $100 and is not multi-coated. Nevertheless it'sexcellent, sharp, and contrasty and focuses very smoothly. If you can find onegrab it.
An 80mm f/2.8 Arsat - This is the normal lens in every Kiev kit, andit's a mixed bag. Results at infinity are actually OK, about on par with anancient Hasselblad lens. Up close it falls apart, since light can leak inthrough the stop-down lever's cutout. This is a chronically poor design, andI've covered mine with black electrical tape.
An 80mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Jena Biometar - The normal lens on Pentacon 6cameras. I have three different versions of this lens, and they're all prettygood. The old-fashioned all silver lenses tend to flare out a bit on reallyhigh-key scenes. The silver and black lenses are single coated but do a decentjob, and the later black lenses have excellent multi-coating. A Kiev body with ablack Zeiss Biometar makes a nice beginner's outfit. Highly recommended.
A 120 f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Jena Biometar - This is a delicious littlelens. A nice length for portraits or tabletop product shots, the later all blackversions of this lens feature great multi-coating and silky smooth fo-cussing.My late 1980s example is very, very sharp and handles beautifully.
A 150 f/2.8 Kaleinar - This lens has been tough to find, but Kaplan inL.A. now has them in a single coated version and Kaminsky at Kiev USA has themulti-coated glass. It's a big, heavy lens with average finish quality, butterrific pictures. I've used mine for a bunch of handheld corporate headshotswith the Exakta 66, and the resulting images are just perfect. With care to keepdirect light off of the face of this lens you can produce superior results.
A 180mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar - A monster of a lens with itsown tripod mount. I found a late model lens in perfect condition at ColumbusCamera, and have used it on about a dozen commercial assignments bolted to anExakta 66. To have a long lens like this that is so fast is a tremendous luxury,and for environmental portraits it's a tough optic to beat. My results have beengreat, easily
on par with my pricier German and Swiss lenses.
A 250 f/5.6 Telear - A small relatively affordable tele with modestperformance.
A 250 f/3.5 Jupiter - Large heavy lens with built-in shade. Remarkablyfast for a long tele, but construction quality is only fair. Nevertheless,results on film are outstanding. Avoid heavy backlighting and this lens willperform decently.
In addition to these commonly available lenses there are also the fineSchneider optics for the Exakta 66 cameras, as well as many oddball older CarlZeiss Jena lenses, modified Hartblei lenses, and various P-6 mount lenses fromvarious eras. Remember that the Pentacon lenses will only fit the Kiev 60 andKiev 88s that have been specially modified, since the stock Kiev 88 mount is notcompatible. In general, you'll find optical and mechanical quality roughly onpar with most early to mid-70s SLR cameras - crude by today's standards butstill capable of taking decent pictures.
I was able to really give these lenses the acid test on assignment recently.I was hired to shoot some architectural interiors and people shots in Florida,so I packed up my complete lighting kit. In addition to my standard mediumformat gear I packed my Pentacon mount lenses, an Exakta 66 body, and a Hartblei1006 Studio Master as backup. As luck would have it, my main camera developed awinding problem and there was no way to rent anything in time for the shoot.Against my better judgment I was forced to use the Exakta and Hartblei fornearly 30 rolls of Fuji Provia over three days of shooting. The Hartblei backswere the only hitch. Since the Kaplan sourced Hartblei did not accept Hassybacks I could only use the rough Kiev backs. I noticed that the Kiev backs werewinding the paper backing unevenly, and the film was coming out of the camerawith the paper all bunched up at one end of the spool. I was sure that I wasfogging all of the film and used the Exakta where possible. To add insult toinjury I dropped one and it broke instantly rather than withstanding the impactthe way a real quality piece of metal would. Now I was down to one back.
When the 40 some odd rolls of film came back from the lab I held my breath. Iwas fairly sure that a large part of the job would be ruined, but I felt that Ihad shot enough film to cover the shots the client needed. Imagine my surprisewhen I was greeted with 40 near perfect rolls of film. Not just perfect mindyou, but some of the best sharpness and color fidelity of any job I've shot.It's not that the Exakta/Kiev/Hartblei/Pentacon gear was any better than the bigname stuff, but when used carefully it isn't all that much worse. Now thatKaplan is offering an upgrade to the excellent Kiev automatic film backs foronly $65 for the pair, you'd be nuts not to upgrade.
My thumbnail synopsis of the three-day shoot with this gear is that the goodlenses performed well, and the camera bodies didn't let me down. The Arsatfisheye performed spectacularly, and I got some excellent shots with the 50,120, and 180mm Carl Zeiss Jena lenses. Even the lowly Kiev lenses looked great.I shot a few with the 65mm lens and the film looked excellent. I used the 250Jupiter for some long executive portraits and they were tack-sharp. In general,I was quite pleasantly surprised. As a backup system this seems like arelatively inexpensive way to go.
To conclude our three-part series, I'm still left with as many questions asanswers. I know that a Mamiya RZ67 or a Hasselblad 202 FA is a solid investment.I know that Pentax and Bronica lenses will produce sharp results, and I knowthat Rollieflex and Fuji medium format gear is expertly engineered and has stateof the art electronics. What I don't know is whether my Kiev camera will workcorrectly on the next roll of film. While there are ways to ensure that a Kievwill function as well as it can, namely the services of Kiev USA and their staffof Kiev experts, you really do get what you pay for. I can enthusiasticallyrecommend the lenses, with few exceptions they're very good and inexpensive. Thebodies are another matter. For sheer reliability and a somewhat modernappearance there is only the Exakta 66 Mod III. For inexpensive thrills and arelatively robust body there's the tank-like Kiev 60. For ultimate versatilityand questionable reliability there is the Kiev 88 family, and for your mostusable feature set there are the Hartblei and Kiev USA modified cameras. If Iwere starting out in photography I would still stick with a used Hasselblad,Bronica ETRsi, or Mamiya RB67, or break the bank and go for the slick Exakta 66.For occasional weekend use and for the photo hobbyist, this is a veryinexpensive way to build a little medium format system.
I think that I have conclusively proved that these can deliver the goods.Some of the lenses are flat out great, while others are so-so. The bodies areall usable, but most seem to need some sort of adjustment or repair right out ofthe box. All of the resellers will offer some sort of warranty, so if you'rereally dedicated you can get one of these that actually works. Whether you canmake them perform for you is another question. Good luck!
