Sturm, Kastanien and a Kiev 4

Tags: #fp4 #id-11 #kiev 4

This is the test roll I shot with the Soviet made Kiev 4, a Soviet copy of the Contax III and was made in Kiev, Ukraine from 1957 until 1980. Supposedly over a million of these cameras were produced and they are certainly not hard to come by here in Graz, Austria.

We went for a hike in West Stiermark, in Schilcherland, near Stainz. It's sturm and kastanien season. Sturm is a kind of semi fermented wine that's only available this time of the year and it's usually drunken with roasted chestnuts.

It's not the easiest camera to use. The rangefinder is small and dim and I found out at the end of the day, that it was off at infinity, which could explain why many of the images taken at f2 were out of focus.

I really like the bookeh though, and the sharpness of the Jupiter 8m lens when stopped down a little. And the camera feel solid in the hand and just smells great.

Film is Ilford FP4 developed in ID-11