Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/10/10
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 10:14 09/10/96 -0400, you wrote: >Well, Mr Love, there has NEVER been a Russian Kiev camera -- they're >Ukrainian. Second, the cameras are not all that awful, they're merely quite >uneven in quality control and the bad ones are QUITE bad, though the good >ones are, equally, quite good. Third, the Kiev MF cameras have lenses which >are clones of either Zeiss Oberkochen or of Zeiss Jena glass -- superlative >lenses. Fourth, the entry price on these systems is rather low: you can >buy an '88, two backs, and a couple of lenses with the meter-prism for what >you pay for a fair middlin' old Rolleiflex. > >I shoot Hassie and Rollei and a Super Ikonta in MF: but I have had a bunch >of Kiev cameras and would be still, if I hadn't swapped my last one even for >a Hassie. I DID keep the meter prism: works to within a sixth-stop, by the >way. Nice stuff. > Several people I know use the Fed 5c with Leica, Canon screw mounts and have had no problems. Because of the cost these guys tend to be more abusive with the bodies, but they keep on ticking. And think of it, a rangefinder camera which accepts interchangable lenses for $40 (Can) which is what I saw it selling for at the Toronto Camera Show 2 weeks ago. Heck, you can't buy a hammer for that price. Brian Levy, J.D. Toronto, Ont. dlevy@worldy.com