First shots from the Kiev88

[Daniel W.]

Well, here they are, stuff from the first rolls of Reala 100 that ran through the Kiev. One roll only had 7 exposures, I must've botched something since the other 5 were either exposed to light (unlikely, they're in the middle of the roll), or too underexposed (likely, the meter battery was dying). As far as the weirdy darkness, I'm not bothered by it. Part of it may be my error, or camera error (it gets iffy under 1/30). Part of owning a $150 camera. The lens is tack sharp, love the color and DOF.

I've got more 120 film coming soon that I'll need to shoot, thank goodness it's BW. DYI all the way! Sorry for the uglymark, the images are Flickr, and I don't trust no one no more (sic)!

[venchka]

Big negatives rock!

I hope you get things sorted out between the meter and the shutter. When you get the exposure dialed in, the negatives should be awesome.

Good luck!

[Daniel W.]

It should be just a LR44 battery. Most of the time I have a DSLR with me and use that to judge exposure though.

[venchka]

You might want to run a series of equivalent exposures using all of the shutter speeds.

[Daniel W.]

Will do, looks like the shots disappeared off of Flickr... hmm. I didn't delete them. Grr.

[wclavey]

Do you know which way the shutter travels in the Kiev 88? I had a shadow on one side of the image on a 35mm with a focal plane shutter once, like you have above, below a certain speed, and it turned out to be the leading edge of the closing shutter hanging up instead of traveling smoothly. CLA cured it. I'm not sure you want to spend on a CLA on your camera (probably about $125...) but that may be what's causing it. ...Or does the Kiev 88 not have a FPS?

[venchka]

The lightbulb just went on. Reala 100 at a football game. Holy Cow Batman!

I need to go to a football game with the Big Dogs and some Portra 400 & 800.

[Daniel W.]

@Wes: It's a horizontally traveling shutter, and what you are speaking of sounds much like what's happening sometimes. At 1/30 occasionally, the 2nd curtain doesn't close, but hangs. This is probably one of few irks, as this is the sync speed.

@Wayne (I feel like with you knowledge, it's Mr. Wayne), Yep. But this is one of the better fields, if not the best (Dickinson's home turf). Consistent color, getting about 1/60-1/125 on the field depending on the spot, 1/15 in the bad areas on the sidelines or bleachers, 1/30 or 1/60 in most everywhere else. All at 2.8.

It's a shame the season is over for us, the Arista 400 is days from arrival...

[venchka]

Put me down for a game or 3 at Dickinson's stadium next year. Come to think of it, I have friends in Dickinson who may have a student there.

No way. I'm just Wayne.

[Daniel W.]

Well come football season next year, I'll be in Ohio, Rochester, or Austin.

Acceptance letter says Ohio, pending an interview and portfolio. Shucks, I'm going to miss high school football.

[venchka]

Good luck! I liked visiting Ohio when my daughter lived in Columbus. Mid Ohio race track next door to several Amish communities. Most interesting.

[crackhead]

Reala's great for that vintage look. I have never had great luck with it (I like to convert Reala to B+W in post) but I picked up a roll of it in 120 last week for another try.

[janikphoto]

I have a lubitel 66 and a Pentacon Six and loved shooting with both. I always thought about getting a kiev88, but never did. They are fun looking cameras...

[Daniel W.]

I almost went with a Lubitel on price but the fact that its considered a toy camera turned me off. The Pentacon 6 was on my list, but I got the Kiev based on aesthetics. Silly, I know. It has its foibles, but we're learning to love eachother.

I just got 10 rolls of Arista 400, 5 HP5 5 of the new Ektar. Time to go shoot something!

[venchka]

I really like HP5 and Ektar in 120. I haven't tried the Arista 400, but I like the 200 in 4x5.

Enjoy!