For $50 how could I resist? The Kiev-60 is simply put, an SLR on steroids. It is massive, in size and weight. The Kiev-60 was produced in the mid-80's to mid-90's, in the Ukrainian Arsenal factory. That means about half of its production run was completed under the Soviet Union's control. The fact that the Soviet factories were notorious for a lack of quality control, does not put much faith into the functionality of this camera. In fact, the Kiev-60 was a modification of the original Kiev-6C. In turn, the Kiev-6C was a cheaply made Russian knock-off of the quality Pentacon-6. I've never had so many doubts about the functionality of any camera than this one. I did some research about possible issues with the Kiev-60. There have been numerous complaints about faulty winding mechanisms.
However, I jumped on the opportunity to own a MFC and a piece of history. When I received my camera, I was completely shocked. This Kiev-60 is in pristine condition, almost as if it had never been used. There was a minimal amount of dust, even on the lens. No scratches or scuffs were evident on the body. The Kiev-60 came with a large metered prism, which sits dominantly on top of the body, as well as a smaller top-down viewer. I checked out the meter and it appears to function well, my only complaint being the somewhat hard to read interface. Everything is in Russian, including the marks on the film counter. The instruction booklet (yes that's right, it came with the original instruction booklet, in Russian) emphasizes a precise technique to wind the film. No excessive force must be used, but the cocking lever must be wound slowly and steadily, and the return must be just as precise. Another quirk I discovered is that the camera must be cocked and set up 3 times after loading the film, before you can start shooting anything.
Looking through the massive viewfinder, all appears crystal clear. Activating the meter exposes two small bright red dots in the upper section of the viewfinder. Twisting the dials on top of the meter allow me to find the correct shutter speed and the optimal aperture. It alerts me when all is well by illuminating both red dots. The left dot is lit when the image is underexposed, and the right one is lit if the image is overexposed. This can get a little tricky because you can maneuver the meter dial half-way between shutter speeds and the exposure would be correct, however the shutter physically cannot fire at speeds between 1/250 and 1/500. Another minor flaw I noted was how one of the red dots appeared to be slightly higher than the other, appearing offset slightly. Maybe its just another quality I can attribute to the fact that it was build in the USSR.
I set out with the cheapest roll of Black and White 120 film I could find, and was determined to test out this camera in all sorts of situations. I shot some outdoor photographs of things just in my back yard, as well as a couple portraits. I could not be more pleased with its performance, all the shutter speeds worked flawlessly, the mirror snaps up as it should, and the aperture blades look sharp and clean. I'm very excited to get the film developed and see the results. I'm super excited to have this camera and I'm sure there will be lots of great experiences to be had.
As always, thanks for reading and be sure to check out my Flickr page for more cool photos!
