Kiev 60 frame space adjustment -- or how to get 13 frames on one 120 roll

Kiev 60 is a marvelous medium-format camera. It is compatible with a set of magnificent Eastern European lenses ranging from Olympic Sonnar, initially created for the Berlin Olympics in 1936, all the way to the Zoadiak 8 30mm fisheye lens that makes everything beautiful.
But Kievs are notoriously unreliable. One of their major challenges is frame spacing. You get easily overlapping frames -- and sometimes the frames are so far apart that you can only fit 10 pictures on one film roll.
Luckily, Kievs are easy to fix, though. And if you mess up your preparation, you can cheaply buy another one!
BTW: here is an excellent resource for all Kiev related: kievaholic.com/
00:00 Introduction
01:31 Testing Kiev 60 on the lake
04:05 Expired Kodak TMAX 100
04:42 Fixing Kiev: Tools
05:10 Fixing Kiev: Removing film advance crank
07:57 Fixing Kiev: Removing the upper cover
10:07 Fixing Kiev: Adjusting the spacing
11:03 Fixing Kiev: Test the spacing
14:01 Fixing Kiev: Putting it all back together
19:45 Final words

[@WhoIsSerafin]

Wont ever get one of these, but i fix homes for a living so i can appreciate this andd enjoy a good repair

[@ShootOnFilm]

Ha ha!! Yeah, it is rewarding to fix -- anything, really!

[@gueorgui29]

I've bought Arax/Kiev after watching your video. Thank you for your inspiration!

[@ShootOnFilm]

Excellent. A lot of fun, right?

[@davidottman9501]

Yes it is so satisfying to fix old things and bring them back to life. Thanks for showing us how to keep an interesting camera "on the road."

[@ShootOnFilm]

Thanks for watching. It is surprisingly satisfying to get something fixed! :-)

[@jw48335]

PSA Hartblei is still shipping new Kiev 60s in 6x6 and 645 out of Ukraine, tweaked so frame spacing shouldn't be an issue, at least not for a couple decades😂 I opted to move to a new K60 in 645, since I like the simplicity vs my prior Bronica ETRSI. Great video - excellent instructions!

[@ShootOnFilm]

I didn't know that! ARAX stop selling, but you are right -- new KIEV 60s are still available!!!

[@ejorbe]

Even though I don’t have a Kiev 60, this is very interesting to see. I’m glad that you uploaded the video, I am sure this helped someone! Great video!

[@ShootOnFilm]

Thanks for watching :-)

[@stephenm103]

I've used a lot of these DIY repair videos over the years for lots of fixes and many of them overlook very small but significant details - like the order in which you stack spacers or orientation of various components. You do a really nice job of keeping a first-timer on point. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Also thought about the need to use a dab of thread lock on the locking screw (?) It can be a real improvement but - also - be careful about which blend you use. some are more aggressive and difficult - almost permanent - others are quite easy to remove.

[@ShootOnFilm]

That is a good point. Because I got a feeling that lock screw gets loose over time and messes up the spacing.

[@kmcsmart]

Loctite might be too aggressive. As a starting point you can always use a dab of shellac. It can be reversed with alcohol. If you have a woodworking friend they can give you some. If the viscosity is too low, just leave the top off the jar and it will thicken up. If it’s too thick add alcohol. I think it was commonly used in old cameras.

[@anthonys_expired_film]

Wonderful video, Ari!! Thank you so much for showing us this fix. I have a Kiev 60 that I’ll be using this spring and summer and it’s good to know how to adjust it! 🎉👍🏻

[@JanneRanta]

👍 Gotta love a camera you can fix yourself.

[@ShootOnFilm]

Indeed!!!!

[@tedphillips2951]

I already knew you were an artist but now I think you are a mechanical genius also.

[@ShootOnFilm]

Thanks -- but I would not go that far. :-)

[@JoeWP3223]

Love the video! Living in Asheville, where Moog had been produced for years, before they sold out this year.

[@JoeWP3223]

I was chatting with my girlfriends uncles a year or so ago about musical synthesis, and one of her uncles casually said “our dad was friends with Bob [Moog] we met him”

[@ShootOnFilm]

@@JoeWP3223 Wow. I'm a big fan. I own a Moog Little Phatty myself :-)

[@JoeWP3223]

@@ShootOnFilm I am too, unfortunately don’t own anything, and I guess I missed the boat

[@ChrisConner1]

That was a pleasure as always. I don’t even own a Kiev. Just a great way to start my Saturday. Cheers from Walnut Creek.

[@ShootOnFilm]

Thanks thanks. And thanks for watching!

[@petergoodrum1607]

I keep a couple of o.o.d. films for spacing purposes. I try not to wind it on totally so that rewinding back onto its spool the film and paper registration do not become out of sync due to the difference in circumferences when wound. If they do you have to pull the film forward by about 1.0/1.5cm just before it gets trapped under the paper backing as it engages with the film spool so hopefully the film sits in its original registration with the paper. If not the tape holding the film onto the paper becomes wrinkled and doesn't sit well due to the film creeping within the paper. Great vid maestro!

[@ShootOnFilm]

Yes. A used film roll is useful for all kinds of adjustments and tests!!! Thanks for watching!!

[@pgmisha]

"This channel is about content, not production values." 👍

[@ShootOnFilm]

:-)

[@cecilsharps]

around y2k the work around for opening up a k60 to fix frame spacing was to use fuji 120 spools and be consistent in loading.

[@ShootOnFilm]

:-) Yeah, you gotta be creative with these things ....

[@HeinzStockhammer]

Thanks for sharing your experiences and fixes always great to watch your videos

[@ShootOnFilm]

Thanks for watching!

[@mikebaginy8731]

That was an interesting tutorial, thanks! While I don't have a Kiev 60, my former Praktica 6x6 was plagued by the same problem. I didn't have it fixed and sold it. I've since heard that both cameras are very similar and I wonder if your tutorial could have also corrected my Praktica's defect. But that was in pre-internet days.

[@ShootOnFilm]

It is possible. I don't think these east-block cameras are typically that innovative. If they came up with "a solution", they just repeated it ....

[@pefawa]

Great video, I don't own a Kiev but this was interesting and informative. !

[@ShootOnFilm]

Thanks for watching!

[@ruedigermerz9525]

There are two things I've learned today. How to fix the spacing on a Kiev 60 and that you are a software engineer. I did not know that. Film photography and software engineering. Same here. Balancing digital with analog. Way to go.:) Great video, as always. Thanks for sharing.

[@ShootOnFilm]

Thanks for watching! Yeah, I can quickly lose a screw and break everything with C++, too, but it is hard to make anything too tight ... unlike with these fragile Soviet cameras!

[@ruedigermerz9525]

@@ShootOnFilm I develop software for a long time, +35 years, and sometimes in the real world I look for the undo button when I break something. I guess you know the feeling. lol

[@ShootOnFilm]

@@ruedigermerz9525 Ha haa! I do!

[@jmcgonnell]

AH! I was hoping you would upload this one! cool!

[@ShootOnFilm]

🙂

[@Ortopedija1989]

Nice Ari. I would like to see your work in darkroom on the enlarger and so on, which is the essence of analoge photography at least in mine opinion. What type of enlarger, paper and paper size you use?

[@ShootOnFilm]

I will hopefully post more darkroom stuff in the future. I have two enlargers -- but I mostly use my Fujimoto M450. I like fibre-based matt papers, and 30x30cm or 30x50 cm is what I can easily print. Bigger, and I start to run out of equipment :-)

[@timotheemohr2805]

Does anyone know if it's the same process to fix the spacing issue in the earlier Kiev 6c? Thanks

[@MichaelZieschang]

Awesome, will check mine as well. Actually I used to crank normally and then a little bit addionally between the frames but sometimes it fails. Do you have any tipps where to blackpaint the light tunnel within the Kiev to avoid reflections on the right part of the frame ?

[@ShootOnFilm]

Just everything that shines is bad :-) But 2 ideas: some lenses, like Volna3, have a preview lever that closes the aperture blades ... and in some cases that starts to leak light. Then, if you have a vertical line, chances are that it is not a light leak or reflection but an uneven shutter curtain movement.

[@MichaelZieschang]

@@ShootOnFilm ah, well, thanks, as it seems the shutter curtain itself (vertical line) could have a weak area. But despite that I recognised the same light leak in a 15min exposure.

[@hanapen7681]

I also bought a Kiev 60 2 weeks ago. But mine has too many problems. But thanks for the info, I think it's a nice camera. But I feel like I'm photographing with a big rock.

[@ShootOnFilm]

It is a heavy beast!

[@proctormacbelle4904]

off topic, but at 3:54 the centre of the wake from the engine is very brown -- i wonder what the heck is causing that? maybe just an oil leak.

[@ShootOnFilm]

:-). There is no engine oil as this is 2 stroke. I changed gear box oil when I took the boat out: no cream, solid and clean. So no oil leaks. To change the color you’d need much more oil than about 0.5 liter that is in the gear box.

[@proctormacbelle4904]

@@ShootOnFilm that's true, more like a leak from a cargo ship!

[@stevenred8692]

before u open ur light,i'm already thinking ur vid is b&w🤣

[@AndrejsZavadskis]

If you're not aware, many Russian cameras are replicas of established global brands. Economic constraints led them to mimic these models at a lower cost. Unfortunately, this replication often results in cameras that are troublesome for users, prone to frequent malfunctions. Even my Zenit 11, presumably an affordable alternative, suffered from improper assembly at the factory. I strongly advise steering clear of these cameras altogether.

[@ShootOnFilm]

I love these cameras. But true. Soviets not only copied but stole German factories and moved them over. Kiev, too. The whole Kiev camera factory was based on machinery stolen from Carl Zeiss factories ... here's a bit more: kzbin.info/www/bejne/boOtlIp7aNKbfqMsi=2-VgNtlbEZwkwEAH

[@danijel3227]

Well, I will say only one thing....If ex big Finnish company did make digital camera which looks like nice, good quality film camera and had cca 12 MPix and produced files that look EXACTLY like yours (we can called them film simulations), hmmm, maybe they will be really successful.... Nokia and Leica today...not bad thought. Instead ,they had strange ideas about using quasi Linux for operating system and not go with the flow.... 😵 He-he.

[@ShootOnFilm]

Ha ha! Not a bad idea!