[Konvas] Kiev factory and Olympus

[Speedbirdmgh at aol.com]

Hi Mustafa,
 
Yes, I saw your recent note that the Kiev factory has closed down. I  
thought they closed down in the mid 1990's. What have they been making all this  
time?  Their last camera's had 93 stamped on them so I assumed they were  
1993 models.
 
I still have a "mint" Kiev 60 and a Kiev 88 which has shutter issues.  It's 
the corrugated metal curtain shutter which is noisy and does'nt always work 
 at the right speed. I have a spare 88 body which has the same problems.  
Araxphoto claim that their new material shutter will solve the problems  but 
when you add up all the costs, you may aswell buy a Hasselblad 500.  
Upgrading the Kiev 88 is not cost effective as although it exceeds the Kiev 60  in 
terms of engineering quality and the use of better all round precision  
gearing, it has a much more complicated mechanism probably matching  the 
Hasselblad's 500 series. However, the Kiev 60 shines through  because it's 
operation is quite simple compared to the 88 series. It has a  cloth curtain which 
has been tried and test since the 1930's. It rolls up  onto its spool every 
time and fires cleanly whereas the Kiev 88's metal curtain  does not roll up 
as tight and sometimes buckles, you can actually hear it  bending under the 
strain and it is clearly not happy. The Kiev 60's  Arsat lens is a real 
"gem' and delivers outstanding images even in bad  lighting conditions, not only 
is the glass exceptional but the coatings really  bring out the colours. I 
cannot say the same for the "VOLNA-3   although they could share the same 
glass they do not share the same  coatings. So its the coating you are paying 
for. I would like to get a  Pentacon 6 as it's much better made than the 
Kiev 60 although the bodies are  similar, the Pentacon mechanism is more 
precise. I do love the 88 especially the  brighter viewfinder but when you press 
that shutter button, you know there could  be problems. There is too much 
going on inside the camera to get that metal  curtain moving. You could be 
right when you said that a good Leica could be the  answer being half the size 
and weight but still delivers crisp images. But the  cost is outragous.
 
Changing the subject for a minute with all the ranting and raving with  the 
Canon D7 has anybody thought of the Olympus Pen with interchangable lenses  
and 13 MB imaging. It also boasts of outstanding movie images so could be  
adapted to mopic use and is half the size and weight of the Canon. Also is 
half  the cost of a Canon. Any thoughts?  
 
Rita