K-3 from ebay shop 'moscowStore'

James Hudson · July 4, 2008

I am based in England and am looking to buy a K-3. Ebay seems the only source for these cams, but I don't want to buy one, only to find it needs servicing back in Eastern Europe.

Are the lenses that come with either the m42 or bayonet mount similar in quality? Not too bothered about putting other lenses on it tbh.

Ian Cooper · July 4, 2008

I am based in England and am looking to buy a K-3. Ebay seems the only source for these cams, but I don't want to buy one, only to find it needs servicing back in Eastern Europe.

Depends what's wrong with it, but you could always try quotes from camera techs. in the UK. I know various people have had modifications made to their K3 by Les Bosher. No doubt there are others lurking in the UK which could take a look.

If you're not afraid of a screwdriver and some fine oil then there's quite a bit you can do yourself. There are disassembly and reassembly instructions on the www.k3camera.com website.

I took the loop formers out of mine, also needed to free up some of the film guides which had seized on their shafts. Nothing too difficult.

Are the lenses that come with either the m42 or bayonet mount similar in quality? Not too bothered about putting other lenses on it tbh.

So far as I am aware, the Meteor zoom lens is the same whether you get M42 or bayonet. Going for the M42 mount allows the use of various other M42 lenses, but the majority of these will be in quite long focal lengths. I chose the bayonet mount version and was able to get the Mir-11 12.5mm wide angle lens for £30 from Russia. The FFD of the bayonet version is the same as the Arri standard mount (52mm), so I'm currently investigating the possibility of machining a custom adapter to allow me to use Arri standard lenses on my K3 - I'll no doubt share more info if I get it working! ;)

Don't feel you have to leap at what ever is on EBay at the moment. K3's come and go, if you're patient you can often find sellers in the UK listing them as well as the Eastern European sellers, mine did actually come from eastern europe though. I've seen them go for as little as £30 to £40 at times!!

Tim Terner · July 4, 2008

Hi James, I have the K3 but not the M42 mounted one. Got the standard zoom with it but haven't got the camera here to tell you what it is. Have put one roll of film through it (Foma B&W reversal) and was very pleased with the results. Camera looks 'showroom' condition and comes with the usual filters etc. If you want it, can be 100 quid plus postage from CZ. Pm me if interested and i'll grab some pics of it tomorrow for you

Will Montgomery · July 10, 2008

I'd suggest that you run a roll of film through it and shoot test patterns from a tripod... maybe some B&W reversal to keep costs down. Then ask a telecine lab to transfer it and identify it as a "camera test" since some labs will do this for free or very cheap (of course tell them that you'll bring all your transfers to them in the future.) You may have to shoot a couple rolls just to make sure you have the loading down ok.

Then have a tech look at the camera & the footage. He should be able to identify any major issues and let you know what to do about them. A tech should give the camera a once over and basic clean and lube even though the camera is new; this way you know what you got from the seller.

With K3's the normal but optional things that get done to them are:

1) Widen the gate to Super 16 (also, now people are selling on eBay repositioned lens mounts so the lens will be in the center of the Super 16 area for $150... probably worth it.)

2) Remove auto loop formers which simply tend to scratch the film and are not really needed

3) Optimizing and collimating the lens which might be fine but is always worth checking

4) Buy an inexpensive tripod mount adapter from the larger one on the K3 to the more standard smaller size to use with inexpensive tripods