Kiev 4AM (a)

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Kiev-4AM (a)

The Contax Grip....

Beautiful camera. As you know it is basically the same design as a classic Contax. I received mine in perfect shape from a Russian seller in St-Petersburg. This is the later model, with black rewind knob and Helios-103 as a standard lens. The focusing is extremely precise on these cameras, the rangefinder base is very wide. I was intimidated the first time I focused this camera. To use the rangefinder on the Kiev one must use the "Contax grip" in order not to block the rangefinder windows.

BE CAREFUL: On these cameras, you MUST rewind BEFORE changing shutter speed.
otherwise you will damage the shutter assembly







Kiev-4 AM(a) with Helios-103 lens
KIev-4 AM (a) winder release button 
There are many Kiev manuals online but they don't seem to make a distinction between different models, especially the newer Kiev-4 AM. Small changes were made to the camera along the years.
To rewind film, there is no button to unlock the spool for rewinding. On this model you simply use the camera back release knob. The knob marked with a red dot beside it. If turned to the red dot, it will release the take-up spool so the film can be rewound.

...Simple, but it got me thinking a few minutes... then I had to unwind...






ManufacturerKMZ
NameKiev-4
ModelAM
Year--
TypeInterchangeable-lens rangefinder
Film35mm
LensHelios-103 (standard for this model)
Shutter speedsB-1/2-1/5-1/10-1/251/50-1/125-1/250-1/500-1/1000
Aperturesf 1,8 - f 22 (Helios-103)
Light meternone

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