About Pinoy Kiev Rangefinder Users
Kiev Rangefinder Cameras...
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Kiev Rangefinder
from camerapedia.org
The Kiev rangefinder cameras were developed after WW II in the Arsenal factory in Kiev (Ukraine). Soviet forces had "relocated" equipment and personnel from the Zeiss Ikon factories in Germany. In Kiev Zeiss Ikon's Contax production line was set up again and quickly started production under the Kiev brand name. Early models are said to have been made from original Zeiss Ikon stock the Soviets had taken with them. There are reports of models with the original Contax nameplate behind the new Kiev shield.
One of the excellent things about this Kiev is its long rangefinder base: 9 cm. This allows for very accurate focusing. For example, when you are focusing for a tightly composed portrait, you see a clear difference when the nose or the eyes are in perfect focus. Combined with the clear depth-of-field scale on the lens, this allows isolation of the subject from the background. Furthermore, the viewfinder and rangefinder are combined in one large bright window so you do not have to look through two windows for focusing and framing. Leica did not combine the two until the Leica M3 in 1954.
Arsenal
from camerapedia.org
After World War II, much of the tooling at the Zeiss factory was appropriated by the Soviets and installed in the Ukraine, at a defense factory in Kiev known as Arsenal. Arsenal is best known for having cloned some notable cameras, including models by Hasselblad, Zeiss Ikon, Nikon and Pentacon. Most of them were not copied directly, but were instead simplified for production behind the Iron Curtain. Some, such as the Contax clones, were quite good. Arsenal also created one of the most original of all cameras: the Kiev 10. Of all Soviet camera manufacturers, Arsenal also has the largest cult following, given their product complement of cheap yet usable medium format equipment.
The Arsenal factory produced all Kiev (cyrillic: Киев) cameras. The most well-known camera produced at Arsenal is the Kiev 88 (derived from the original Salyut), which shares origins with the original Hasselblad 1000 and 1600F. Who borrowed whose design is the subject of endless debate, which you can read about in a number of places.
The Arsenal factory also made Mir and Arsat lenses, which were good Zeiss copies. Their ubiquitous quality-control problems notwithstanding, the Ukrainian lenses are quite good, and some of them are outstanding. The company still produces cameras and lenses.
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