Kiev 4a

[Gerald Koch]

I had Oleg at www.okvintagecamera.com repair my 4a and was very happy with the work and price. Even with postage from US to Russia and back the total price was less than what I would have paid a company in the US to do the work.

[eumenius]

Hm, maybe the friction unit is not too loose, but it's way too strong thanks to some hardening of lubricant? Please, check the "left" sides of your film perforations (film base up) - don't they look bent a bit up, or maybe in some places between the holes you can notice some scratches or marks? These overlaps might happen due to some over-winding of the film (the amount of winding is always the same, but the film roll grows with each frame, so the role of this friction unit inside the fork is to bypass some winding, and not to make the film jump over the double moving gear's teeth). The fork should not be too firm - in other words, its strength should be enough to HELP winding the film by gears (only to keep it tightened), but it should not allow the film to jump over the teeth of driving gear, never.

[medform-norm]

Overlap is regular and about 0.5mm to 1mm. Only 3 out of 36 frames did not have any overlap. Seems to get worse in time.
The shutter is firing every time when I cock the shutter.
The taking spool driving fork is very firm when I hold it with my fingers and moving very synchrously with the knob to cock the shutter.The spool itself is loose in the fork but I suppose that is normal to allow friction.

Okay, next question (- in case the perforations of your film are not scratched and Zhenya's suggestion don't help).
After you have made an exposure (i.e. fired the shutter) you normally wind up the film to the next position. Do you then hear a little click at the beginning of the knob winding movement? If not, the top of the camera must be removed to access the winding mechanism. It might be a cogwheel that needs adjustment. If you are unable to fix this yourself, sending it away is inevitable, but it doesn't necessarily have to be costly.
HTH, norm

[BBonte]

I don't understand what Eumenius is telling.
Norm: I do hear a little click when I turn the knob at about half way the complete turn. Well maybe I will send the camera to OKVintagecameras in Russia. But is there no repairman in Europe ? I thought there was somebody in the UK. Or can I trust my local repairman who is checking my Om Olympus camera now and then and is doing a good job?

[eumenius]

I was telling about the perforation skipping - would you please check if your film has the transport perforation holes damaged or scratched, especially between the holes? If there are any marks, it can be a sign of too much friction in a taking spool fork.

[blackmelas]

I thought there was somebody in the UK.

http://www.sdash.plus.com/
I haven't used the services here. I only found it when I was looking for resources to repair my Kiev.
Good luck,
James

[medform-norm]

I don't understand what Eumenius is telling.
Norm: I do hear a little click when I turn the knob at about half way the complete turn. Well maybe I will send the camera to OKVintagecameras in Russia. But is there no repairman in Europe ? I thought there was somebody in the UK. Or can I trust my local repairman who is checking my Om Olympus camera now and then and is doing a good job?

Hmm, maybe you could ask mr. Roskam in Leiden from Roskam Optics? He repairs the medium format Kiev models, but maybe he works on the smaller ones as well. His website is: http://www.roskamoptics.nl/ - give him a ring. If he doesn't work on smaller Kievs, he might know someone in Holland who does.

BTW: you should hear the soft click right at the beginning of the knob turning, not half way through...

[BBonte]

I hear the click only halfway the turn. I checked the perforation holes on the last 2 films and the pieces inbetween. They look intact to me.
I know Roskam optics but he is more specialised in medium format. Not sure he knows anything about rangefinders. I thought there was someone in the UK working on Kiev rangefinders.

[JasonC]

The click is half way of the turn. What kind of take up spool are you using? Wobbly take up spool could also cause frame spacing problem.

Jason.

[mabman]

For posterity, if you do have frame spacing issues with the Kiev 4 *and* your removable take-up spool has a lot of movement (and you've tried the suggestions above), you can try what I tried: put a small amount of poster putty (a.k.a "fun-tak") on the inside of the take-up spool where it contacts the fork. It can only be a small amount, otherwise you can't properly attach the camera back. Push the spool onto the fork (in the same position as it normally goes).

The take-up spool should move less, and also won't fall out of the camera on it's own when the back is opened, which is an added bonus.

In my case, after trying this the frame spacing is still irregular (wider spaces at the beginning of the roll until about frame 15, then narrow spaces), but so far they haven't actually overlapped, which was my objective. Also, I got a full 36 frames out of a roll, so all in all I'll call it a success for now