Vintage Kiev

Old film camera Need help choosing?

I really want to buy a vintage film camera, something like the Kiev 6c or similar, I’d prefer to have one which takes 120 film, and also one that has manual focusing.

Take a look at this wiki article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiev-Arsenal

Get at the very least, an 80 or 90mm lens. This is the standard focal length which gives perspectives closest to what your eye sees. The Kiev 60 is a more modern version of the 6c and will probably have fewer quirks and defects.

120/220 film makes beautiful negatives and a contact sheet from a medium format camera is quite viewable without a magnifying glass. With a medium format enlarger which You Can sometimes pick up for nothing nowadays, you can make gorgeous 16 or 20 inch prints with very little grain.

If you can find a shift or tilt and shift lens, you can do Things That are usually reserved for a big viewfinder camera such as make a pciture looking up at a building and making the print look like you see the building head-on.

Beware of the quality control of the Kiev cameras. As stated in the article, they were sold more as “pre-assembled kit cameras” with the final finishing done by the end user.

A much safer medium format slr is the Pentax 6×7 or a Hasselblad 500c with a prism viewfinder or a Mamiya m645. These quality cameras are often seen more as collector items, but if you find a good working camera with some external wear, you may be able to get it very cheaply.

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