Boris,
there's no actual reason to be afraid of soviet Zorki and Kiev cameras -
they're actually pretty good and inexpensive (at least here in Estonia).
I have a whole collection of fully working russoleicas and commucontaxes
(ca. 40 different models + a long row of lenses) and I'd say - if the
camera haven't been seriously abused, there's usually no problem. Very
often simple CLA works wonders.
My personal favourite for photographing have been one of my Zorki-4K's.
Before I got it, the camera was not used for about 15 years. Despite I
haven't even cleaned or lubricated anything, I've had zero problems.
Other late Zorkis (like Zorki-6) and Kievs are also fine for taking
pictures. Just one warning - Kiev RF lightmeters very commonly do
indicate the price of firewood on Tambov market. Mechanically they're
usually ok. OTOH, I would avoid FEDs. Those were designed to be as cheap
as possible from the beginning and quite often do act accordingly,
especially the ones from 70s to 80s.
BR, Margus
On 09/16/2010 2:09 PM, Boris Liberman wrote:
Hi!
I am thinking I should repeat my experience with the rangefinder
(film) camera. Is there anyone willing to enable or even lend me(*) a
camera with most basic lens, say 50/2.8 or 35/2.8, so that I could try
this thing. Ideally, I'd like to avoid Russian Leica clones because I
know from the first hand experience that they are very variable in
their reliability.
Any hints, pointers, suggestions will be most welcome.
Thanks in advance.
Boris
(*) Of course I will pay you, if you lend me your rangefinder camera.
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