by TRA
The History of the Pentacon Six
The Kiev 60
Dates c.1984 – 1992 ...
(information from Princelle, p.225)
(The first edition of Princelle’s book was published in 1995, the
2nd edition in 2004.)
The Kiev 60, beside a Pentacon Six TL. The greater bulk of the
Soviet camera is immediately obvious,
even though this is fitted with the standard 80mm f/2.8 Volna lens,
which is a lot smaller than the 90mm Vega that was fitted to the Kiev 6C.
[C149_21.jpg]
The Kiev 60 was available new long after 1992, and appears to have been made until at least the late 1990s. However, in typical command-economy style, vast quantities were made to meet production targets, regardless of consumer demand, so there may still be hundreds, or even thousands, of “new” Kiev 60’s available to purchase – often referred to as “old new stock”. It is usually possible to identify the year of manufacture of “Soviet” cameras and lenses, as the first two digits of the serial number are usually the year of manufacture.
Features
This was essentially a modified version of the Kiev 6C. The Kiev 60 moved the shutter release to the (normal!) right-hand side. It no longer offered the option of 220 film (24 exposures), taking 120 film (12 exposures) only. It also lost the strap lugs, having instead two small studs from which the strap clips could easily become disconnected!
In this picture the first version of the metering prism is shown.
It can be recognised by the on-off button on the top-right of the prism,
as viewed from the front.
The Arsenal prism is much brighter than the Pentacon prism, but it
is reknowned for high battery use.
The second version of the prism dispensed with the switch and had a
button that could be activated with the forefinger.
The meter than cut out automatically after about 15-20 seconds, to
prevent unnecessary use of the battery.
[C149_23.jpg]
It was usually supplied in a kit with an uncoupled TTL
metering prism, 80mm f/2.8 Volna lens, collapsible rubber lens hood, lens
cap, strap, waist level finder, flash bracket, two close-up tubes, cable
release, two filters (UV and light green), batteries for the meter and
a large fitted case.
| This publicity, which I picked up in Moscow in 1989,
describes the Kiev 60 and draws attention to its compatibility with the
lenses for the Kiev 6C and the Pentacon Six.
It also shows the lenses that were available at that time. |
[C149_29_s.jpg] Russian-language publicity for the Kiev 60 Click on the image to see a larger version of it. |
To go on to the next section, click below.
31 The Arax 60 and the Arax 645
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© TRA June 2010, August 2010