So just in time for new year resolutions, that no one ever keeps, I decided to go back in time.  A long way back in time.  I’m talking about 15 years at least.  This is how long I had this Russian relic, this wonder of Russian technology and optics, this marvel of weight and noise.  I’m talking about the Kiev 60.

Kiev 60

I have received this camera as a gift, and to my shame never really used it.  At that time I was using a normal 35mm Minolta SLR, and found I had little use for the big Kiev.  It’s completely manual. It has a TTL light meter, but I can’t find replacement batteries for it, so right now it’s just a view finder.   It is horribly heavy, at least twice as heavy as my Canon 5D.  The shutter makes this horrific, yet strangely satisfying “clunk”, that would wake the dead.  It has a 80mm f2.8 lens on it, and other little bits and pieces that came with it in a box.

Kiev 60

It’s been sitting on a shelf, sad and neglected.  So I gave it a bit of cleaning, hunted down some film for it, and actually shot a few frames with it already.  So one might say that the first pictures of the new year were done on an old Russian tank.  I do realize that coming from an instant gratification of digital camera, waiting for the film to be developed will be a form of masochism, but I think I can handle it for a few rolls of film I bought.  I just have to remember to write notes while taking pictures (exposure, shutter, aperture etc.)…. what did I get myself into???