The Kiev 4A

     The dealer in Russia who sold me this Kiev 4A kindly sent along an instruction manual. Too bad the manual is written in Russian (Cyrillic?), but it does make a nice addition to my collection.
      One of the nice things about Soviet cameras is that their serial numbers always begin with the first two numbers of the year during which they were produced. Both the body and the Jupiter 2/53mm lens on the unit shown here were manufactured in 1978.
       Another nice feature is that the viewfinder window and the rangefinder window on the Kiev 4A are set farther apart than they are on most other 35mm cameras. This makes for more accurate rangefinder readings.

       To focus the camera, you depress a small lever  at the top of the camera (yellow dot, below). This unlocks the focusing mechanism and allows you to turn a small wheel (blue dot) to focus the lens.
       Reviewers have discussed this procedure ad infinitum while pointing out that you must not let your finger block the rangefinder window (black dot) that sits below and to the right of the wheel. If you do, you'll disable the rangefinder.
    I found, however, that you can solve this problem simply by ignoring the small wheel and using the lens barrel (violet dot) to focus the lens just as you would on other cameras.
     Not visible in the photo, the shutter speed indicator scale (gray dot) is located just below the film advance knob. To adjust the shutter speed, you lift and turn the film advance knob (light blue) until a small black dot matches the speed you've selected. Shutter speeds are 2-1000+B. In my opinion, this system doesn't operate as smoothly as it should.   

        Many reviewers and critics have faulted the Russians (Soviets) for having produced shoddy and/or sub standard cameras. I suppose those criticisms are valid to a great extent, especially as far the units produced during the early years after World War II are concerned. But I don't think that's true for the more recently produced Russian cameras, especially those manufactured after the 1960s.  After all, the Soviets were the first to launch Sputnik I, an artificial earth satellite, as early as 1957.

       Although it can't match its German and Japanese counterparts in terms of elegance and craftsmanship, this camera is nevertheless a practical, serviceable, dependable, and less costly alternative to the well known Contax, which it mimics. Although it would never make my list of favorite cameras, the Kiev 4A does have a devoted following among users and collectors of Russian cameras.

COMING SOON: Vebur Classic 35