Is this cheap 6x6 Medium Format SLR worth buying? // Kiev 6C Review 

“It’s extremely capable, I just wish it wouldn’t break that often” - u can say that about most consumer oriented technical things produced in USSR :) but when u live in a post-soviet country buying one of those is a fun gamble with no delivery problems.

Hey Kyle! I have a fair bit of experience with the system, and here are my tips! You don't need to buy a refurbed Kiev to resolve your frame spacing and "light leak" issues. First of all, proper film tension -- When first winding on the film, be sure to apply pressure on to the roll. The tensions needs to be high enough, as to where the spikes on the rollers bite in to the negative. Even moreso, you can check that you've got proper tension, if you see dots above and below your negative, you're good. Whilst winding in "one swift motion" is good (as it helps the rollers bite), you also want to avoid letting go of the crank. Instead, let the crank back slowly. These cameras NEED to be used to function properly. The lubricants in the camera will dry and pool, but using the camera will keep everything moving and lubricated (if the camera is CLA'd by someone not familiar with the P6/Kiev60 system, it will take time for the camera to actually start functioning properly). As per the age of these cameras, it is also possible for the rubber coating on the shutter curtain to have dried up! This can be fixed with spray-rubber (either by spraying a small amount on a swab and dabbing the problem areas, or by spraying the entire curtain). If the film door has been bent, it might disturb the frame counter (might useful when you drop the camera). There's a small pin/tab near the hinges, which sticks inward. That pin needs to each deep in to the camera. Yes, the prism finders rattle, but people have applied .3mm or .6mm felted tape to alleviate the issue. My favourite CZJ lenses are the MC 120mm f2.8 and 300mm f4 Favourite Soviet lenses are the Jupiter 36B, Mir 26B, and the Zodiac 8

5:40 what an incredible shot. Perfect timing with the shadows of the houses, and being able to see that ship directly in the center.

These images are just wonderful, much better than I expected

Kyle is the only channel I know where the videos he makes match the quality of the stunning photos he takes. Inspiration just flying off the screen every time I watch!

I wanted to revisit this video since I've now gone through the Arax process with a 6C + 80mm lens I picked up for cheap on eBay. It had the standard problems you documented here, but it was in physically beautiful shape. I liked that Arax let me skip a couple of the more expensive enhancements, like the rebranding, painting, re-leathering, etc. I just got the repairs. I spent $337 + outgoing shipping from the US to Ukraine. From when they received it, it took them 4-6 weeks to finish. They captured a short video of them using the refurbed body and showing it working properly, then they shipped it back to me. I admit to feeling some trepidation sending such a bulky, fragile object around the world but it came back to me like new. The shutter mechanism works great and everything about it feels solid. If someone comes across a good deal on one of these, I highly recommend getting the basic service done - it should last for many years to come.

I have another suggestion (if you're lucky enough to find one). It's the Norita 66, a Japanese 6 x 6 cm. SLR that resembles a scaled-up 35mm camera. In fact, it is so surprisingly similar to the 35mm Canon FTb, (right down to the breech-lock lens mount) that I suspect may have been designed the same person.Interchangeable finders (including one with a TTL meter), great lenses, a dependable focal plane shutter, and easily switchable from 120 to 220 film and back again. You don't see many of them on the used market, but when you do they're not outrageously expensive.

Man... this video and ALL the videos I have watched of yours just take my breath away and I always find myself smiling. Bravo.

Hey Kyle. So glad you bought and reviewed the Kiev. I have been using one for around 18 months and agree with everything you say. I have a few capping issues with shorter shutter speeds and I'm grateful for the advice in the comments. Great channel by the way. All the best!

Arax in Ukraine and Hartblei still sell these cameras refurbished, upgraded and on 1 year warranty for about 500$, the lenses are gorgeous and cheap (at least in Europe), and they will ship it as a gift so you don't have to pay additional taxes. The prices in USA may be more difficult to handle.

I used my 6C for the first time in NYC, and I was very impressed with the results! I’m a Mamiya user when it comes to medium format usually but it’s refreshing to use the 6C.

I also have a Kiev60 camera. From beginning i had no what so ever expectations... But when i developed my film and the results shocked me... Result was Really really sharp and nice.

Both images and b-roll on another level. 💥

Your videos are always educational and so well put together. Superb work!

I've been getting acquainted with my Kiev 6c for a few months now and I love the dang thing. So much.

Thank you for this video. I have used the Kiev 6C for street photography, i like how people react when they see the size of the camera.

Hello Kyle . Great review . I have the kiev 60 for a year . It's really a great And reliable camera . Also the volna3 is a beautiful lens and it's swirly bokeh is very nice and fantastic . I found two two issue with this camera and Soviet lens . The firs thing is that the aperture is prone to oil that is not a great issue. The second thing as you mentioned is the frame overlapping . But i found a tested solution for this . First on loading film set the mark 1.5 cm after than the red mark . Second and more important is that when rewind the film , hold the rewind lever . Lrt it to Back half the way and then push it again . You hear two to three clicks And then release it . it really works . Regards . Mohammad

I have owned a Kiev 60, the lens was sharp, had no issues with light leaks. I actually resealed and reflocked the inside of the camera with the kit. I sold it since I used my Bronica more. Some of my best photos were take with the Kiev 60.

the images in this video are soooo good. Love them

Nice review. I have a pair of Kiev 60 bodies from 1986 and 1989. The '89 is mint. I did a frame spacing adjustment on the '86 and it's perfect now. Instructions are online. I have the Zeiss 50mm 2.8, Vlona 80mm 2.8, zeiss 80mm 2.8, and the Sonnar 180mm 2.8. I have no complaints at all considering the prices. I will say I prefer the Volna 80mm over the Zeiss 80mm. Being slightly softer, it makes beautiful portraits and bokeh.

That image of the ship in between those two houses!!!! Just wow!

Hey, Kyle! Greetings from Russia! We have a lot of this kind of stuff like this Kiev in our markets. Many photographers here use soviet cameras becase of thier affordability. It's very nice to see your review on this camera (and Lubitel review as well). BTW great video as always!

Just a couple of cents from someone who's main film camera is Kiev-60. My main concern when choosing the MF film camera was its serviceability, and as I happen to live in Kiev, the choice was pretty obvious - it had to be Arsenal-made camera. Arax Photo was associated with Arsenal until the latter's camera department shutdown in 2009, there are still Arsenal employees and tons of Arsenal parts at Arax, so servicing shouldn't be an issue, and I shouldn't even pay for postage. Kiev-6C was the somewhat simplified, somewhat upgraded version of the Pentacon Six. It got rid of most of the P6 problems, but introduced its own ones. Kiev-60 was the thoroughly reworked 6C, and it's much more reliable than both P6 and 6C (not to mention the conventional right-handed shutter release, unlike the 6C). So for anyone choosing between 6C and 60, I'd strongly recommend the latter one. I got my Kiev-60 with Volna-3 lens locally for $50, pretty beaten and with waist level finder only. CLA'd the lens myself (I have some experience in that area) and dropped the camera body to Arax for the full CLA, frame spacing adjustment, exterior refurbishing, interior flocking, mirror bumper replacement and adding the mirror lock-up. Cost me another $155 total. Then bought non-metering prism finder for another $10 (it's like half of a pound lighter than the TTL one and considerably less ugly, and I tend to use my Sekonic anyways), and now I'm good to go. As for frame spacing, with both 6C and 60 it basically depends on how much film you have on the receiving spool at the moment (that's why it is minimal at the start of the roll and increases with every frame). The cameras were factory adjusted for the Svema film which has very thick backing paper, so with modern Western film stocks spacing problems do occur. Apart from everything that has been already said by Johann Villmann, you can try to wind the film just a little bit (~0.5-1 cm) past the intended position when loading it. And I'd also suggest to try the Volna-3 lens. It's about as cheap as the Vega-12, but it's a Planar (Vega is Biometar indeed) and it is multicoated, so it's nice to have one in your bag too. It's prone to the light leaks at the close focusing range (it has its own DOF preview lever, and the lever hole isn't light sealed well), but it's something you can easily fix with a piece of black electrical tape.

I bought a P6 with 2 lenses in Slovakia in the late 90s for around £60, used it a fair bit and then as most do, it went the way of the pear. It jammed solid. Real shame as the CZ lenses are really really nice. I also loved using that camera! Looked at at least 4 P6s in about 4 or 5 years ago, and they were all faulty. I've since been tempted by the Kiev as I have a soft spot for FSU cameras and lenses, but eventually went for an SQ-A. Another fantastic camera with really nice lenses. Also a completely different pain in the arse to use!

I can say from experience that having the door to the battery compartment doesn't always result in an improvement! I've used the Kiev 60 and Pentacon Six for the last few years and as long as you wind the right way, it's smooth sailing. They're great cameras. I go more for the P6 because the Kiev looks like a dog, but those CZJ lenses are butter.

Great,impressive quality images!

Hi Kyle. Thank you for your review. I'm proud owned of Kiev 6C as well and I love to shoot with it. For people who want to buy Kiev 6c or Kiev 60 or even Pentacon Six - I definitely would recommend to buy camera that is film tested and has no issue. I'm not recommending to buy a camera from people who have no clue is it working or not. Than it's a lottery and you never know what are you getting yourself into. On Kiev most often issue is the frame spacing. On Pentacon six the most often issue is frame spacing + shutter. So buying a tested camera where previous owner has put several rolls of film through isn't a suggestion but a must. So be careful before you buy of ebay or marketplace. If you buy a camera of hand and can check it manually than I would suggest to take a cheapest roll of 120 (expired or just messed up - works as well). Load it into the camera, set the camera to bulb, take the lens off, take a sharpie and push the shutter button. when curtains will be open - draw a line on the film at the top of the frame and at the bottom and write a frame number ( 1, 2, 3, ...) in the middle. That way just go through the roll. You will already see if your frame lines overlap and by the end you will see will you get 12 frames per roll or not. If in next frame you see previous frame line than it means that camera needs maintenance. If you don't have a good guy/service handy who can handle Kiev camera issues, than better don't buy that camera and look for tested one.

Really nice “review” of this quirky old camera. As an old film photographer who converted to digital, I really enjoy hearing stories of people finding and exploring film cameras. Medium format is very dear to me. Thanks for your excellent video portrait of this temperamental Russian camera.

I love my Kiev 60, I also experienced some loose feelings on the viewfinder but never affected my images. I do load my film in a way I don’t experience frame spacing but I do lose my last image cause of it. I’m okay with it tho. Best $100 I ever spent.

Thank you for the review, I just got one but haven’t tried it yet. I hope it’ll be fine 🤞

For anyone interested, there's a company that totally revamps both the Kiev 6c and the Kiev 88 (the Hasselblad 500 copy) They change the mounts to a true p6, change and adjust the shutters and add an anti reflection cloth to the inside of the body. They also sell lenses for the camera, also renovated. So a great coating, and some even tilt/shift. They are called ARAX, and the prices for a completely working camera with great capabilities and lenses is not bad at all.

You made some beautiful shots with this camera - nice eye.

I was fairly happy with my 6C for a good long while as it was my first entry into medium format. Mine ended out with a jammed shutter curtain causing me to lose several rolls of film completely. The form factor was good and build quality was anywhere from ok to good and the stock Vega 12B was an awesome lens. 6X6 to date is still my favourite format as there is no vertical or horizontal so you can use a waist level viewfinder, which is my personal favourite, without having to turn it awkwardly to get vertical shots. If you actually want to use this camera for serious work or to bring on trips as your main driver though, don't. It is one of the least reliable cameras on the market. Consider spending a bit more on a M645J or similar. That being said, Soviet optics are awesome. I had the Vega 12B as mentioned and the Mir 26B for the Kiev 88 screw mount that I adapted to the Pentacon 6 mount. Coming from cheap plastic DSLR lenses, having a full metal body that feels like it was pulled straight of a russian WWII era tank is incredible. The flaring and bokeh is so perfectly imperfect with every lens and you will basically never find perfect duplicates. All in all, the Kiev 6C/S and its younger brother the Kiev 60 are both great cameras to plunge into medium format with. They aren't very reliable and will only have a few years more out of them, but if you're willing to take the risk, its worth it. Kiev was never known for its great quality control but the company does have some awesome stories if you're willing to look.

Thanks for all these reviews. Would love if you could upload a dropbox link each video of the included image scans so we can see in full resolution. Thanks again Kyle

I love my Kiev-60! I got it back in 2017 when I was getting into medium format. It's a fantastic system, especially with the high quality, affordable lenses. One thing to note: some of the russian lenses (like the volna-3) are based off of zeiss designs, so they typically have very solid image quality. Also, I found that if I aligned the film about an inch further to the right than the camera says to when loading, the overlap problem all but goes away. Thanks for giving this camera some recognition, though!

the images look really great! amazing for that price point

Great video! For those vertical light leaks on the right I think it's because of a little gap between the shutter curtains, so when you advance film the light passes and you got that bad vertical line. That's why I simply cover the lens (with my hand or better with lens cap) everytime I advance the film.

I have the Kiev-88 rebuilt by ARAX... I paid the money and did not regret it for a bit to be honest. Love it :). I love the Kiev-6c as well... but the 88 for now hits the spot for me.

Thanks for this review :) I want to get one of these in a few months to compliment my Pentax 6x7

Every single time I watch your videos I get insane jealousy of the locations you visit; that shot of the beach huts with the ship between them. SO so good. Would love to see this sort of video but with the XT-4... interested to see the quality and haven't been able to find a video from someone who shoots my favourite style of photography

I have Kyiv-60. Great camera!

Really enjoyed this episode bro

Love your old camera ‘finds’. But then I remember I like an adjustable diopter. So that's my boundary with old cameras. I'm having fun researching my wish list. 📸 😎✌️

the vega 90mm 2.8 is an amazing lens, i use it with an adapter on my mamiya m645 and completely fell in love with it!

I picked up a little Ricoh Diacord TLR for $120 aud and honestly absolutely love the results I'm getting from it

Please do another Kiev video soon ! Great work

I have had solid results with the Kiev 6C as well as the 60!!! I think the lens is definitely excellent!!!

I have one of these, if you're after sharpness and "superior" build quality then look elsewhere, but you will get top-notch "character" across your images. If you can find battery adapters and a manual on how to use the light meter in the prism it is definitely worth trying!!!!!

I do like your video. I had one of these and it was a good camera for the price. I had it as a back up for my Pentacon Six. The Pentacon is a better built camera overall. One cool thing about the 6c if you can find it this camera will also shoot 220 film. Support for 220 was dropped with the Kiev 60. Any of these cameras will give you access to probably the largest ecosystem of lenses available for medium format. You have the soviet lenses, the Carl Zeiss Jena lenses and it is compatible with the Sneider lenses for the Exakta 66 which includes the Sneider 80mm 2.8 which at one time was the most expensive medium format lens in the world in the 80s.

I bought a Kiev 60 about a year and a half back. I had the same spacing issues and soon sent it to Arax Photo out in Ukraine. The owner bought out the bulk of the Arsenal factory after it closed, which gives them a monopoly on parts and expertise when it comes to repairing these beasts. They repaired it for about $140 US. A month or so after I shipped it out, I had the Kiev back, and it works like new. Worth every penny I spent on the repair!

i picked up the o.g. Mamiya-6 for less than 200 bucks a few months back... you can get them for less, but this one was in excellent condition, with case. needless to say, i was blown away by the image quality for a 1950's camera. definitely an underrated, 'cheap' medium format camera. also had a couple of light leaks on only a few shots, but i actually like the occasional light leak! oh, and it's also very compact, as it has the folding lens, so great for street photography. only downside really is the viewfinder is quite small, and it's a rangefinder. nice vid as usual ✌️

Great work.

I have a Pentacon Six with the Carl Zeiss Jena Biometar 80mm and love it especially the waist level finder and the lens!! Nice review I hope you give us an update.

That is one crisp lens!

Awesome! I just got a Pentacon Six TL, which I absolutely love! The Kiev 6C was the other option I almost took.

Just because its cheap but its not getting you for having fun, I just love the fact that soviet lenses have a unique result on the images. Really love the way it is...

Hi Kyle, another small nugget for ya mate... I don’t know if you have the waist level finder. As we are all familiar with the problem of framing and focusing with the WLF at anything above chest level, the Kiev wlf provides a brilliant solution. Inside the finder sitting under the magnifying lens is a mirror that you can flip up and a small viewing lens at the back of the finder. This offers a brilliant and very bright “upside down” view of the ground glass just as in a 4x5. I cant think of another system that provides this solution but I may just not be aware of it. Anyway, if you find a wlf on the bay then you might find it very useful for your style.

You have to try the Carl zeiss lenses on this. It’s absolutely stunning.

I got the same light leak stripe at the exact position on mine. But I enjoy shooting this camera. The vintage color tone from these lens is just amazing. That’s what I miss from my Mamiya 6MF.

I have a Pentacon Six with a couple of Russian 80mm lenses (one of which is permanently mounted on a Mamiya 645) and a Zeiss Jena 50mm/f4 which has an unreliable stop-down lever. The Russian glass is excellent, and luckily my Pentacon was an export model, so was supposedly subjected to a bit more quality control at the factory. Apart from that, the UK importer of them checked and QC'd them before shipping them out. The drawback of buying Kievs from Europe is that many of them found their way west after the Wall came down and were domestic production standard (ie, not great).

Great review of this remarkable good old Lady. I just got one myself and found out that, after advancing the film, the film advance lever can be moved for tiny bits in order to advance the film a little bit more. Having watched your video, I just decided to make it a habit of moving the film those about extra 1/8" per stroke until I found out about some rules when the overlap happens to happen. Regarding the shutter issue, I'd like to know whether you figured out, if there is a dependency from (which?) the selected shutter speeds. Beyond that, ARAX do different things with the original Kiev / Salut / Arsenal cameras. One is an ordinary CLA, which costs about the same price one gets a used Kiev 6C / 60 from ebay. Beyond that, they offer different repairs, replacements and upgradings like MLU from better screens up to an individual leather coating. But thats all they do for the Kiev Cameras. Beyond that they used to produce their own ARAX cameras by using the know how of former Arsenal employees under the premises of high quality standards. Those cameras are very fine and reliable derivates of the Kiev / Salut products. And they are still much cheaper than original Hasselblad or comparable cameras. "Hartblei" from Ukraine is a second company who also produce mechanically high end cameras with only optical similarity to the former Soviet Arsenal products. By the way: Even though the lenses for those cameras are quite sturdy, they seem to have some issues with the aperture mechanism. I lately got two lenses in a row with open irises that could not be moved. Therefore I advise to make and provide checklists to people whose camera I'd like to buy in order to ascertain that I do not end up with a bunch of crap for quite an amount of money.

I owned Arax 60 modification of Kiev 60 before. It's a nice reliable camera, frame spacing was correct every single time. Shoot around 20 rolls on it. It was my main and only medium format camera for 1.5 years and I've never had an issue related to the camera. But I found it on used market in Ukraine, not bought it from Arax directly.

You can get some really great Zeiss Jena glass for these, same mount as the Pentacon. I ended up switching to Pentacon after going through 3 or 4 of these Kiev cameras. They were great for camping and such when I didn't necessarily want to be carrying somethng very precious.

These vertical light leaks are created when you take off the lens when the shutter is cocked. you can try it yourself: shine a bright light from the front and then check the housing of the curtains on the left side form the back: there will be little light shining through. I found that if I keep my lens on the camera all the time, I have no light leaks.

You can still get these new from ARAX; and they also still do maintenance, repair, etc Arax is the original maker of these, they only changes names from Arsenal Factory (established in 1764; they make military lenses and hardware). You can also still get new lenses or have those repaired. I love mine, I use Zeiss lenses on it, the 80mm and 180mm f2.8. Super sharp, i also have to waist-level finder. The Kiev/Arax 60 and the Zeiss Super Iconta (coupled rangefinder) are my favorite "cheap" medium formats.

This was a very interesting story about the Kiev 6C camera. I will be looking forward to seeing your follow-up, if you invest in it, the renovation of the camera's innards and exteriors. last summer I purchased a Pentacon Six TL from Germany. It has been working really well. The only thing yet to disappoint was the 180mm lens. The aperture wouldn't close fully. So I took it apart. It kind of came apart too fast and is still not assembled back together yet :-)

Looks great!! Do you think that the light leaks are a problem of the camera that you bought or is it common in other cameras of the same model as with the overlap issues?

I recently bought one of these cameras and had to take both of the lenses that came with it apart To fix the apertures (although I found it a fun process!) haven’t gone out to shoot with it yet but very much looking forward to it :-)

I have this self same camera with the 90mm 2.8 Vega lens. If you wind the film when loading a bit past the red dot the frame spacing is fine. I love using it with the clever waist level finder which can be focused at eyelevel and then shoot. It's the same as the Rolleiflex tlr cameras. Russian cameras don't break if used properly. Pentax 67s break you and your bank balance.

The loose finder issue is an easy fix - run a few strips of self adhesive foam around the perimeter of the underside of the finder, I used light seal foam. A later model Kiev 60 might be a more reliable option and less likely to have frame spacing issues - with the bonus of mirror lock up.

I have the Kiev 60 (same thing) and i love ir!

For the lightleak issue: I have a Pentacon Six and the same issue. Sometimes there are a few dots on the right side of the frame. I did a check in the dark with a flashlight and found a tiny hole on the curtain. I suspect that light only leaks through when I hold the camera accidentally in the Sun or other strong light. So now I try to put the lenscap back every time when I'm done with the frame. Seems to be working.

Hi Kyle! I have a Kiev 60 and as it's not very reliable and I wasted a couple of 120 films I've decided to use it with 35mm film to get the film perforations also printed with a more panoramic format. (thank you for all the videos you are posting, there are very educational )

Beautiful thanks Kyle ! Are these photos B&W only because of the film you used ? Would love to see what how the coloured photos look like as well! Thanks for taking time to make this video for us 💯🔥👊🏼

Woah, the photos in these are just insane. I always find the Russian cameras always have just that one thing wrong with them stopping them from being perfect. I have a Russian Leica clone and it has spacing issues and random light leaks, I also have the Lubitel, which is just a bit too soft for my own work. This camera seems so close to being perfect!

I had this camera for a few years and has the exact same experience. I didn’t see ARAX at the time, if I had I would still have the camera :)

It’s really nice camera.🤙🏻

I loved my 1993 Kiev 60 and only sold it because I could not flash-sync with it at 1/60th (by design). My TTL never worked. I bought an RB67 but still miss this kind of wonderful camera.

I had the Kiev 60 with the zeiss jena a while ago. Also had a problem with a persistent linear lightleak. Ended up being that midday sun burned a small hole in the shutter curtain. Quite easily botchable with a toothpick and some dark painted glue. Definitely recommend using a lens cap with these though.

I have the pentacon 6 and the Kiev 60. I like the Zeis 50, the Kiev 65, the kiev 90, the best. the 50 is super sharp, but the Kiev lenses have much better bokeh, in my opinion. I use both my zeiss lenses and the soviet ones according to if i want good background blur or big depth of field and sharpness, then i prefer the ziess. got quite a lineup over the last 25 years. I have the 30 fisheye, the 45 mir, the 50 flekt, the mir 65, the 80s, the 90 kiev, the 120 zeiss, which is super sharp but bokeh is jittery, the 180 gorlitz, the 250 5.6 kiev. the last lense is very portable for such a long lens, super sharp wide open, and even works well with 35mm and digital cameras!

I've only shot it's german cousin the P6 (which is my main medium format camera) so I can't speak for the Kiev, but it's vital you tension the film when loading to avoid over-lapping frames. I adore the P6 and gave up my Mamiya 645 for it. If you know, you know...

the light leak looks cool actually

for your light leaks, i'm pretty sure it's a shutter issue certainly around 1/125s, and for the spacing issue you need to keep your film very tight on the spool when you load it...

I love my Kiev 60. Only Problem is the overlap. You could solve this Problem with a little Trick. Oad the Film advance 2 times, open a little bit the Backdoor and advance till you reach the Piont. Better Discription is on YT Videos.

Photos came out great and that lens is sharp! Up goes the price of those on eBay haha. Also, I just realised you (almost) say ‘stuff like that’ as much as I do 😂

Hi, Arax updated my Kiev 88. Just go for it. They are grate.

To add to Johann's tips. The battery cover from the meter can actually be made by someone that has a lathe as it is entirely from metal and there is no insulation or so on it.

Last year I had the strong desire to pick up either a Pentacon Six or Kiev 6c. Ultimately I ended up not getting either due to all the issues and not finding a good one here in Canada. Thankfully picking up my Hasselblad again for the first time in a while eased the GAS for a Kiev and Pentacon.

I’ve got a praktisix II (Pentacon six forerunner), with the Zeiss 120 and 50. I’ve replaced some light seals but otherwise it’s been reliable. I love how simple it is. The lenses certainly deliver.... but I still shoot 4x5 more. Because I’d rather shoot that anytime I need a tripod.

Great to see a film shooter in the UK. You’ll have to review the KMZ Iskra next. It’s a (soviet) Texas Leica!

I would be interested to see an update video if you do/did decide to invest in the Arax refurb. Great vid!

I got one of these from Russia because I love SLRs and it seemed like a super good deal. Sadly for me, my camera had a winding issue, and I ended up losing ~$100 in the process of reselling the camera. I'd really like to hear how common issues like that are, because if they're rare I might have to give it another shot.

Yeah I’ve seen these from time to time and always had a feeling it would be a gamble

I got a Pentacon Six TL from eBay for 269;-€ including the 80 mm f2, in perfect mint condition. I never ever had spacing issues. I have read that Pentacon fixed this issue at some point. I do not remember the year, but my camera was build in 1983 and I remember the fix was before that time. There is a lot of information on the net about the Pentacon Six TL and its history. I love this camera and the lenses.

Thanks for the warning!

Hi Kyle, great video on this beast of a camera! Did you go down the ARAX route to have your camera refurbished? I had the same thing and decided to take the plunge, I had it refurbished and MLU added. Since then it looks and feels like a new camera and I have no more issues with light leaks and frame spacing.

I fully get the love-hate relationship. It's like this with soviet gear

Funny to see that almost every Kiev camera has the same quirks like overlapping etc. I recommended this problem on my Kiev 4AM too. But i really like the camera and the images of it.

I love your channel

Good buy but don't think I could go back to using film as I am very partially sighted and well i just love using my Z5 and the EVF, mind you I have bought a 7 Artisans manual focus lens and it gives me great images. Think I might look and see if I still have my Zenith slr in a cupboard somewhere, it was my first ever slr and boy was it built like a tank