KIIV with box

Yes! I have it :-))

Today this very nice Kiev with Ukrainian Logo arrived here. It's fully working, even the meter works fine, looks not often used and has a really really nice box with it:











As I know there have only seen 2 of such boxes. It's nice, big, good made and has silk inside. Amazing.

Ulrich

Amazing indid !!! Thank you for posting it!
Would be nice to have this in wiki

Very fine Ulrich! Thanks for showing us!

Regards, Bill

I think now we have one mystery solved!! Ukranian Kievs were made for 40th Anniversary of Soviet Ukraine! Bill, as you kept telling me - boxes are everything!!!

Ulrich, thank you for putting one mystery to rest!

Vlad.

The box is beautiful.

But Vlad, all "Ukrainian" Kievs we know (Aidas has a list of them) were made in 1958, and even in 1959. This box clearly calls for 1957.

And I see that that the lens is 58xx, so the body is probably 1958 too.

Perhaps the started shipping this 1957 box in 1958? maybe it took Ukrainian Communist Party a year to clear such commemoration with Moscow?:-)

Possible, but it makes perfect sense though, the box explains everything if you think about it!

This is a good theory, but only a theory. I do not have such high confidence. This box is clearly a commemorative item, with a 1957 date on it. The Kiev-IIIa is a 1958 camera with a Kyiv engraving. can be a co-incidence, why not?

Engraving Kyiv in Ukrainian is a very subtle and elegant commemoration, and the Soviets were never subtle when it came to politics and propaganda. Think of all other commemorative engravings - all clearly written with Soviet symbols, quite in-your-face.

You know, I am always on a skeptical side:-)

True, only a theory, but box is not so subtle .. Remember, there are a few other cameras where commemoration only occurs on the box and not on the camera itself.. in this case it's a slight change on camera, very possible in my opinion... 1957 on the box does not really mean it was made in 1957, it may have been 1958, who knows, maybe they released commemorative models in 1958 and just put the 1957 date on the box match the holiday...

Vlad

Dear friends

An article about this "Kiiv" from the seller of this item and author of the book "Zenit", Dr. Alexander Schulz, you can find here:

http://www.g-st.ch/privat/kameras/jubilaeumskiiv.html

As allways on my homepage this article is written in german (please use your prefered online translater). This article was first published in "Photographica Cabinett" in 2005.

Best wishes - Guido

This is a great article, and auto translations work pretty well too.

If Kyiv engraving was indeed a commemoration, it is a very neat one.

Maybe someone already solved the mystery of A and B serial numbers on the Kiev III?

Yuri

I have changed my first post and have made some better pics today in the morning.

Guido, very nice work, as all your articles :-)

Ulrich

http://fotos.cconin.de

Ulrich,

Great find - my best congratulations! Although I have some suspicious, that Commemorative box (1957) + Kiev with Ukrainian engravings (1958) = 40th Anniversary of Ukrainian SSR (1957), your complete set looks really great!

Best Regards,
Aidas

... and one more interesting fact about Ukrainian Kiev. I suppose almost all have ever seen I.Maizenberg book "Camera Structure and Repair", issued in 1961, 1962 and 1964 in KIEV.

At first 2 issues I have found a picture of KIEV II camera with Ukrainian engravings indeed! At the last issue of 1964 (my special thanks to Jim for this great book!), Kiev II Ukrainian is already replaced with ordinary one ... Few versions about this: either Kiev II Ukrainian camera have never existed, so was replaced with real one, or Ukrainian engravings were prohibited by Soviet Authorities ...

Hi Ulrich,
Many congratulations for this marvel.
Best regards,
Michel.

Aidas,
I think the Maizenberg book pictures are not related to this discussion. I pulled my books and checked them - in 1961 they show a Kiev that probably never existed - a Kiev II with a Kyiv in Ukraininan only (p. 281), in block letters. I am not aware of such markings, and this looks like a typo or even a joke, which was discovered by a sharp censor and corrected by the 3dr edition.

Or, perhaps such logo did exist?

Yuri


http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent/kyiv2_maizenberg.jpg

quote:

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Originally posted by AidasCams

... and one more interesting fact about Ukrainian Kiev. I suppose almost all have ever seen I.Maizenberg book "Camera Structure and Repair", issued in 1961, 1962 and 1964 in KIEV.

At first 2 issues I have found a picture of KIEV II camera with Ukrainian engravings indeed! At the last issue of 1964 (my special thanks to Jim for this great book!), Kiev II Ukrainian is already replaced with ordinary one ... Few versions about this: either Kiev II Ukrainian camera have never existed, so was replaced with real one, or Ukrainian engravings were prohibited by Soviet Authorities ...

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Well, Maizenberg lived in Kiev, and the book was published in Kiev, so maybe the editor decided to have some fun. Probably eventually this cost him his job and maybe freedom:-(