Kiev 19M

At first glance this camera does not seem to be that bad. It is pretty hefty and feels rugged. I bought this as an inexpensive backup for my Nikon system but unfortunately there are some problems.

First, lets have a look at the camera's good points:

Nikon mount (maybe, more on this below)
Depth of field preview
Fully mechanical so if metering battery dies the camera is still functional.
Accurate manual exposure using lighted + and - indicators visible in viewfinder and activated by slightly depressing the shutter release.
Vertical traveling metal shutter that seems very accurate and repeatable.
Shutter speed selector is on left front of camera and this makes it easy to adjust when looking through viewfinder with finger on shutter.
Supplied grip (shown in picture) for right front of camera makes it easier to hold. If you don't like it you can leave it off.
Hot shoe and X-sync outlet
Takes Nikon screw in eyepiece diopeters and accessories
Film memo holder on back
Inexpensive, camera and lens only $89.00 plus shipping.

And now for its not so good points:

Would like higher than 1/500 sec shutter speeds
Noticeable light fall-off at edges of slightly dim viewfinder
Plastic composition of the baseplate is too soft. Whenever you slide it across something it leaves a black mark.
No provision for locking the shutter release
This camera has inconsistent frame spacing that is usually excessively wide and then suddenly two frames will touch and then back to several more widely spaced frames.
Supplied lens full of "sparkling specks" and close inspection seems to indicate that they may be coating defects but I am not really sure what they are. They do not seem to have any noticeable effect on images. This lens is reputed to be a good performer and my negs seem to bear this out. I will have to shoot some real tests and see how it really performs.
Questionable quality control

Now its most unforgiveable defects:

The Kiev Nikon mount does not always allow you to mount Nikon or third party Nikon mount lenses. They just do not always want click into place.
When you get them mounted the apertures do not fully open. They stop about one stop from fully open. This is not good for metering since the camera needs fully open lenses for metering accuracy. They will not close down to the proper aperture either. If you keep the lens release depressed and turn the lens past the mount pin you can get the lens aperture to fully open. But some of the lenses do not want to fully mount let alone be turned past the locking point. Aggravating.
I have tried this with every lens I have and the same problem occurs with the aperture but some lenses are easier to mount than others (probably due to slight differences in the thickness/tolerances of the bayonet lugs).

In all fairness, the supplied Arsat lens works perfectly but this is little consolation to anyone who hopes to use it as a backup or to use it with higher quality Nikon or third party Nikon mount lenses.

Oh well, close but no cigar. The lens mount problem may just be exhibited by my sample due to poor quality control. No use in buying another one to try since by the time you buy two you will spend about $180.00 - 200.00 and you can spend a little more and get a brand new Nikon FM10 with a lens. (I tried to buy an FM10 body only but was told you cannot buy an FM10 without the supplied lens but if you could I would assume the body alone would be in the $150.00 range. This is one reason I decided to give the Kiev a try.)

So far I'm "O for 3" with Russian cameras. I still want to try their medium format equipment but this last experience is giving me cold feet.

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