Kiev-88 CM review
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History | Camera body | Lenses | Film backs | Viewfinders | Accessories | Conclusion
The Kiev cameras have almost 50 years of history to look back to. In 1957, the Arsenal Factory in Kiev, the capital of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, started the production of the Salyut, a medium format camera similar to the Swedish Hasselblad 1600F. It uses a focal plane shutter.
Today, The Kiev-88CM (CM = sm = six mount) is the latest product of the Arsenal Factory. As its predecessors, it's a fully mechanical 6x6 medium format SLR camera. Its major difference to its many predecessors is the use of the Pentacon Six mount, which it shares not only with the name-giving East German Pentacon Six, but also with the Praktisix, the Kiev-60, the Exakta-66, and many third-party Kiev-88 modifications, like the Czech Hartblei or the German B.I.G.-six. In addition, it now has a black cloth shutter and flocked interior for quieter and more reliable shutter action and less reflections within the camera body. Third, it has newly designed film backs called "NT" (new type) which are much easier to load than the old ones. Fourth, it is sold with a newly designed TTL spot prism in most cases, rather than the regular TTL prism.
The Kiev-88CM is sold with a nice 2.8/80 standard lens, a waist-level finder, a TTL prism (either spot or regular, see above), and two NT film backs, each producing 12 images sized 6x6cm (2 1/4 x 2 1/4 inch) onto regular type 120 roll film. In addition, the set also includes an UV filter, a yellow-green filter, and a shoulder strap.
The camera body looks very much like a modern, re-designed Hasselblad. The combination of shining chrome parts and the classic leatherette contributes to a very nice appearance. The body provides shutter times of 1/1000 sec. to 1/2 sec. as well as "B". The fastest time (1/1000) should only be used if necessary, as these times are always more inconsistent in mechanical cameras. The winding dial now also includes a winding crank. The shutter release bears a thread for a cable release. A regular hot shoe is provided, as well as a synch plug.
The camera's connection to the film backs is not Hasselblad compatible, but its connection to the viewfinders is.
My Kiev-88CM worked very well, it didn't have the awful sounds when cocking the shutter, and everything moved freely. Only the breech-lock took a while until it could be moved without too much effort. The standard lens is excellent in terms of sharpness and colours, just care that at close-up pictures you take the stop-down lever on the lens, because this one is known to be a light leak at closer focusing distances.
With the Pentacon Six mount, you can use many different lenses. First, there are the Arsenal Factory's own lenses (just look that you get them with the right lens mount, not with the Kiev-88's "B" mount). Second, there are the East German Carl Zeiss Jena lenses. Third, there are the West German Schneider-Kreuznach lenses made for the Exakta-66. Prices in ascending order ;-)
Which lenses are now of special interest? First, the 3.5/30 Zodiak/Arsat fish eye (equals 16mm focal length in 35mm) made by Arsenal. This one is incredibly similar to the Carl Zeiss Distagon sold for Hasselblad and Rollei. With the only difference that the latter cost about 6000 dollars, while the Ukrainian one costs only 200 dollars. This one is probably the sharpest and best Ukrainian lens. It includes three screw-in filters.
Second, the Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 4/50 (equals 28mm focal length in 35mm). This one is an incredibly sharp wide-angle lens, but has some problems with flare, so a fitting lens shade should be looked for. It is of course available only used, around 300 dollars.
Third, the PCS Arsat 4.5/55 (equals 30mm focal length in 35mm) made in the Ukraine too. This one is a shift lens which you can use for perspective correction in architecture and landscape photography. It costs only 400 dollars, whereas its Western counterpart by Rollei costs about 6000 dollars. It is very sharp and well built, but can only be used with manual diaphragm. There is a thread provided for a double cable release.
Fourth, the Ukrainian 2.8/150 (equals 80mm focal length in 35mm) Kaleynar portrait tele. It is rather fast and good, but has a minimum focusing distance of 1.80m (6') and a filter thread of 82mm. It costs about 100 dollars used.
Fifth, the Ukrainian 3.5/250 (equals 135mm focal length in 35mm) Jupiter/Arsat tele. It is rather fast and good, but bulky (1.5kg) and has a 82mm filter thread too. It costs about 100 dollars used.
Other lenses include the Kiev Mir 3.5/45 (about 100 dollars used), the Hartblei 3.5/45 shift, the Hartblei 3.5/45 shift/tilt, the Schneider-Kreuznach Curtagon 3.5/60 (about 400 dollars new), the Kiev Mir 3.5/65 (about 100 dollars used), the Kiev Mir 3.5/65 shift, the Exakta Carl Zeiss Jena Biometar 2.8/80 (about 200 dollars new), the Schneider-Kreuznach 4/150 (about 500 dollars new), the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 2.8/180 (about 300 dollars used), the Arsenal Telear/Arsat 5.6/250 (about 100 dollars used), the Schneider-Kreuznach 5.6/250 (about 700 dollars new), and the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 4/300 (about 300 dollars used). From Schneider-Kreuznach, there are even two zoom lenses available, but they are incredibly expensive. Although still cheaper than their same-branded Hasselblad equivalents ;-)
If you are somewhat afraid of buying a Kiev camera but nevertheless want to take advantage of the excellent and cheap Kiev lenses, you can also buy a Mamiya 645 (used bodies in nice condition sell from 300-400 dollars!) and an adapter costing 40-50 dollars, so you can use all Kiev lenses for Pentacon Six mount on your Mamiya 645 body. The only two problems of this solution are the loss of diaphragm coupling and the limitation to 6x4.5 format.
Enough talked, back to the camera itself. Basically, there are five film backs available: The old 6x6 film back, the new 6x6 film back, the old 6x4.5 film back, the new 6x4.5 film back, and the Polaroid back. The latter needs more words: It takes Polaroid pack films with 10 shots each, each one sized 6x6cm, although the film is sized 9x11cm. So you have some wasted surface every time. Nevertheless, this is an incredibly useful tool to check for exposure and/or composition. Or just to have a safety shot or as a small gift for a friend or a stranger who posed. The old backs cost about 50 dollars each, the new ones about 80. The Polaroid back costs about 100 dollars - it is made in the Netherlands and apart from the connection to the camera, this is exactly the same as the Hasselblad Polaroid back which costs over 400 dollars. In addition, you could adapt the Hasselblad 70mm back to the Kiev, or have it adapted. With that one, you could use overlong rolls of roll film. It is not as expensive as all the other Hasselblad backs, but it may take some work to adapt it to Kiev - some people did it.
Basically, there are four viewfinders available: First, the waist-level finder. With this one, you can look into the finder at "waist level" - a great tool for composing pictures. It is my favourite Kiev viewfinder because you have equal concentration on the image centre and on the edges, although some people don't like it because the picture is mirrored. Second, the regular TTL prism. The only Kiev part where you need a battery. It has an integral metering and is not coupled to the camera. Third, the spot TTL prism. This is exactly the same as the one I mentioned before, but just a bit more expensive, and has a smaller metering area. Fourth, the non-metered prism. This also looks very much like its Hasselblad counterpart. It's known for its crisp picture. The prism finders cost about 100 dollars each, the waist-level finder is of course even much cheaper.
Normally, all Ukrainian lenses come with a UV filter and with a yellow-green filter (to increase contrast in b/w photography). This is useful as you don't have to buy expensive filters, especially at large lenses. These filters are of course coated, and I have found nothing why I shouldn't use them.
The earlier Arsenal cameras also came with a leather case which had space for the camera with two backs and standard lens and accessories. Today, this is not longer the case, but you could get an old one for some dollars and use it for your Kiev-88CM too. But of course every other camera case can be used as well.
Because of the two connection possibilities of the Kiev-88CM, almost every flashgun available can be used.
There are also some macro accessories for the Kiev: extension tubes (sometimes called macro rings) and a reversing ring. With the extension tubes (about 30 dollars), you can focus more closely, thus reaching a scale of 1:1 with your standard lens. With the reversing ring (about 20 dollars), you can mount your standard lens the other way round, thus also reaching 1:1. Of course you can also use the bellows made for the Pentacon Six.
The Kiev-88CM's system, considering the many different past and present manufacturers, is even larger than the Hasselblad system. Thus, it is probably the biggest medium format system in the world. The camera body itself is more reliable and nicer than any other Arsenal camera, in spite of maybe a well preserved Salyut ot Salyut-S. Just don't forget to get a good warranty in case the shutter breaks or something similar. A backup camera should be standard anyway in medium format. Possible light leaks can be easily cured by oneself. The Ukrainian lenses offer superb quality for incredible prices. The German "foto Magazin" has found that the Kiev TTL prism is of the same optical quality as the Hasselblad one. I would be very interested in a similar comparison of lenses, but I guess that the Western manufacturers want to avoid such comparison tests. So I can honestake some work to adapt the Kiev-88CM's lens mount to them. But as far as experience shows, these adaptations can be done.
I personally believe that a Kiev-88CM is simply the only reasonable way for amateur to get into a medium format system (there might be cheaper and maybe even better twin lens reflex cameras, but they don't offer you a system of interchangeable lenses and backs and so on), which allows for beautifully sized transparencies and negatives.