[Leica] Fedka

[nickbroberts at yahoo.co.uk (Nick Roberts)]

I've got a slightly older Kiev 4 (and a Contax IIIa),
but the principles are similar. 

You'll have to forget a lot of what you know from
using an M - the handling is very different. If you've
only got the one lens, at least you won't have to get
too used to the horrible (internal) bayonet for lens
changing. The biggest problem is the focusing wheel,
used just for the standard lens; it can be stiff, and
your fingers tend to obstruct the rangefinder window.
Refitting the back after loading can sometimes be a
pain - ALWAYS check it has locked into place properly
before using the camera.

That aside, if you get a well-made one, they're great.
I find the handling a lot slower than an M, but that
lovely long-baseline rangefinder gives good focus
accuracy, and if you get a good example of any of the
lenses, they're really good. The 135mm f4 is an
excellent lens for use with a Kiev, as an aside.

Have fun!

Nick

--- "R. Clayton McKee" <leica@rcmckee.com> wrote:

> Not quite on topic but this is the best place I can
> think of...
> 
> I've used M's for a few years and have a fairly
> decent idea of how 
> the camera works, and am become quite good at
> getting indifferent to 
> poor photos out of it....  (Not the camera's
> fault...)
> 
> But sometime in the next week or so the postlady is
> going to hand 
> over to me a box from Yuri; in that box will be a
> Kiev 4AM with a 
> Helios-103 on the front.... and this is a horse of a
> different 
> feather to me. I'm also presuming that IF it comes
> with a manual 
> it'll be in a language other than English.
> 
> Is there anything particular about this camera that
> I need to know 
> BEFORE it starts teaching me how it works?  Things
> that wouldn't be 
> reasonably obvious or intuitive to someone who's
> pretty familiar with 
> handling manual/mechanical cameras in general --
> known weaknesses, 
> strange sequences or linkages,  things that one
> needs to be careful 
> NOT to do, that sort of thing?  I think there was
> SOMETHING Russian 
> that it was supposedly bad for the camera to change
> the shutter speed 
> once you'd cocked the shutter, but that was years
> ago and I don't 
> recall anything more... and I'm not sure I've ever
> actually laid eyes 
> on a 35mm Kiev.
> 
> I've read what I can find on the Web but, like car
> manuals, there are 
> always things that "everyone knows" so nobody
> bothers to mention 
> them...
> 
> Thanks in advance....
> 
>


        
        
                
___________________________________________________________ 
Yahoo! Messenger - NEW crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with 
voicemail http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com