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Dragunov
Tinkerer
Username: Dragunov
Post Number: 70
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 09:29 pm: | 
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I was thinking... would a Kiev or Contax be a cheap way to get a interchangeable lens RF? is there a better system in that price range? (yeah, what is the price range?)
are the lenses very expensive for the contax/kiev? Russian lenses are cheaper, no doubt, but the Zeiss ones?
if I can learn to fix a Kiev, can I fix a Contax?
is the Kiev/Contax a hard camera to fix? this guy ( http://www.zeisscamera.com/first.shtml ) makes it look so, but other pages on curtain replacement and stuff make it look simple. is it reccomended to get a semi-busted one?
cheers,
Dragunov |
Frankl
Tinkerer
Username: Frankl
Post Number: 65
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 05:00 am: |
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"Cheap" is in the eye of the beholder.... The Kiev's are MUCH less expensive than the Contax. You can usually find a good Kiev in the $45-$70 price range (two, three or four times that for a Contax). I have worked on several Kiev'x and they have a lot of parts but, I find them pretty easy to work on. I have gotten to the point of expecting to have to work on anything I get off ebay, my point being; you won't have much trouble finding a "semi-busted" one  . The Kiev and Contax are very similar and you would probably find that if you can work on one, the other would be no problem. I am attaching a couple of links, which should give you some more information. Good luck and have fun with the Kiev (my recommendation, for what it's worth).
http://www3.telus.net/public/rpnchbck/index.html
http://members.tripod.com/rick_oleson/index-29.html
http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-62.html
Regards,
Frank |
Dgillette4
Tinkerer
Username: Dgillette4
Post Number: 222
Registered: 04-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - 03:39 pm: |
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I saw a Contax as is, on Fedka.com , very reasonable. There were also Kiev's. And lenses...You might want to check it out..Don |
Dragunov
Tinkerer
Username: Dragunov
Post Number: 71
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 08:36 pm: |
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yeah, I suppose so, but I was wondering if there was a "better" option. guess not, and the Contax looks pretty too. ($20 lenses will do it for me)
how much is does a fixable prewar Contax go for? under $50 is my range...
seen those links before... not surprising, eh?
good link, Don.
thanks! |
Dragunov
Tinkerer
Username: Dragunov
Post Number: 72
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 08:40 pm: |
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oh yeah, is prewar better than postwar, generally?
which is easier to fix? |
Dgillette4
Tinkerer
Username: Dgillette4
Post Number: 225
Registered: 04-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 13, 2008 - 08:40 am: |
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I think the postwar would be easier to find parts for, you might get a non working camera for parts. Don |
Top506
Tinkerer
Username: Top506
Post Number: 5
Registered: 03-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - 07:29 am: |
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You'll be limited for lenses: 35/f2.8, 50/f2,1.5, 85/f2, 135/f4. There are others, but they get pricey, fast.
I use both Contax and Kievs, and given a good example of the Soviet camera there isn't a dimes worth of difference between the results. I even prefer some of the KMZ lenses to the CZJ.
Top |
Dragunov
Tinkerer
Username: Dragunov
Post Number: 74
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - 07:35 pm: |
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but those are the ones i'd probably use the most... and this will be my biking camera, my small camera bag can only hold my FTb +50mm 1.7+ 24mm+ filter case (I only use the split ND... but there isn't enough room for the 100 f/4 macro... lame).
on the other hand, the 35mm looks pricy at $100. or so do all the other lenses. better look away from Fedka.
Good (or bad) news, lads! found one for $11... will snap it up tomorrow. hope no one buys it before then... it happens, but this time, I hope it doesn't.
Thanks, Top! I like encouragement. and for (presumably?) $11, how wrong can I go? (well, it can be a total wreck... it is described as a junker...)
i'll shut up for now |
Nick_merritt
Tinkerer
Username: Nick_merritt
Post Number: 4
Registered: 06-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 12:24 pm: |
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So, did you get that Kiev? Hopefully you did, and that it wasn't a junker (i.e. the shutter speeds and rangefinder work, and it doesn't have light leaks).
If you plan on getting multiple lenses, get yourself one of the Kiev turret finders, since the viewfinder of the camera only covers the 50mm frame. It's an excellent piece of equipment and quite reasonably priced indeed, like the lenses.
Just a bit of clarification: The Kiev is essentially a copy of the pre-WWII Contax II (no meter) and III (metered). All the Carl Zeiss lenses for the Contax, whether pre- or post-war, will fit the Kievs, should you happen to score one of the Zeiss lenses. The Soviet lenses for the Kievs will fit the prewar Contaxes. But the prewar Zeiss lenses and the Soviet lenses will not all fit the post war Contax models, the IIa and IIIa, most notably the 35/2.8 (Zeiss or Soviet). So you'll need to be a little careful there.
Best thing to do is stick with the Soviet lenses and save money -- bear in mind that they aren't as well made mechanically as their Zeiss counterparts, using aluminum rather than chromed brass, for instance. And they often need to be taken apart and relubricated. The optics should be just as good if not better than the Zeiss lenses, having the benefit of being newer and thus with lens coatings. But the alignment of the optics might not be as precise as the Zeiss equivalents, so you may need to try more than one to get one you like. |
Dragunov
Tinkerer
Username: Dragunov
Post Number: 77
Registered: 10-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 30, 2008 - 09:38 pm: |
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actually, I'm in the process of twiddling my thumbs and listening to Finnish Tango waiting for it to arrive in the mail. if it ever comes, they said that they would email us since we are outside of the US, but they never did that. oh well, hopefully they can put 4 and 16328 together.
well, I did pay $11. it was "inoperable" and by that it could mean anything- from a complete junker to one that just needs new ribbons...
got light seals anyways, might as well use them. working on that shutter speed tester...
thanks for the pointers. and soviet lenses are for me, i'm cheap... but dumb enough to go for a camera needing a $70 external finder for other lenses...
grr...
hey! USPost! i'm over here!....
Happy Canada day, everyone! (30 minutes...) |
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