Kiev 16U & 16UE camera dismantle and re-assembly website

[Gareth Blackstock]

So I was lucky enough to get hold of a few of these interesting 16mm cameras.  Built between the late 60's and mid 80's (?) they seemed quite interesting to read about.  Of the cameras I bought only one was working, very loudly and with fluctuating speeds.  Taking them apart I considered the build quality to be pretty good, easy to get to everything, seemingly basic design but well executed I think.  I immersed the clockwork gears in a sonic cleaner, which did an amazing job.  Then a light lubricate and reassembly, and I was quite surprised to hear it literally "purr"

I added the photos and process to my website, hopefully if future film enthusiasts find such a camera they can easily find some information on it.

https://canon-s8-repair.yolasite.com/Kiev-16U.php

https://canon-s8-repair.yolasite.com/kiev-16ue.php

Cheers, Gareth

 

[Gareth Blackstock]

And a pic of the clockwork assembly...

[Frank Wylie]

I've always wanted to tinker with one of these after briefly owning a Konvas.

Nice job!

[David Sekanina]

I bought one in excellent condition a few weeks ago. The viewfinder is surprisingly nice. I'll have to 3D print a bottom sleeve to round the corners a bit, as they dig into my hand, when i try to cradle the rather heavy camera, and focus the lens.

 

 

Edited May 4, 2023 by David Sekanina

[Gareth Blackstock]

Thanks for the feedback Frank,  I have enjoyed working on the Kiev.  Also, David, there are pistol grips available occasionally on ebay... I bought one recently as you are right, the Kiev is very hard to hold for hand held shooting.

Gareth

[Gareth Blackstock]

Hello,

I recently took apart another Kiev 16U, this one was very noisy.  I recorded the racket it made before, and recorded it again after, the difference is quite stark.  Almost 10Db quieter.  One should also remember that by strapping the smart phone to the tripod leg would add a few Db as well from vibration... but I simply wanted to see the difference before service and after.  With lenses inserted and testing from 5 feet away, I reckon the 16U would be acceptably quiet for most shooting needs.

 

 

[Frank Wylie]

It sounds a lot happier after servicing!

[David Sekanina]

Congratulations Gareth, nicely done.

[Sebastian Bock]

Hi Gareth!

I just serviced a Kiev 16U with your brilliant tutorial. Now the speed stays constant again at it is MUCH quiter than before.

Thank you so much for your efforts writing and picturing your service instructions. They helped me a lot.

 

I have just one addition for people who also want to service their Kiev 16:
I struggled with the screw inside the film chamber that holds the front with the turret from inside, probably because I didn't have the right tools (a very short scredriver) and it was corroded. But it is possible to skip that step. It is possible to slide out the interior assembly without loosening this screw. This screw, the turret and the front can be disassembled later, when the screw (is a little bit) better accessible.

Have a nice weekend,

Sebastian 

 

[Aapo Lettinen]

I have some spare Kiev16UE 's if someone needs them for restoration or spare parts. to save shipping costs I would preferably sell the whole box including couple of camera bodies, a spring motor and couple of electric motors, i think there was two camera bags too

[Gareth Blackstock]

Hello, Sebastian 

Thanks for the awesome feeback on my efforts with the Kiev 16U.  I also created a sister site with updated info on the Kiev, plus an English manual I translated... here is the site: https://aussiecine.wordpress.com/using-16mm-film/

I hope you have lots of good shooting with the Kiev.  When researching the Kiev I visited LOTS of websites and old chat groups, there was an interesting opinion I found: some cameras that suffer soft focus regardless of lens use or adjustment, may actually have incorrect flange distance. This is a hard measurement to make, let alone adjust. A camera tech is best for this one.  These cameras reportedly offer excellent results consistently. 

It is always good to hear my efforts on the repair sites have helped another camera get back into service,

Cheers, Gareth

[Gareth Blackstock]

Hello, Aaron

A bunch of kievs? Very tempting.... I already suffer from collectilitus... and already have 5 Kiev 16u's... I was tempted recently to acquire some electric motors, but converting them to modern AA's I think would be time consuming...

Gareth

[Aapo Lettinen]

2 hours ago, Gareth Blackstock said:

A bunch of kievs? Very tempting.... I already suffer from collectilitus... and already have 5 Kiev 16u's... I was tempted recently to acquire some electric motors, but converting them to modern AA's I think would be time consuming...

it never hurts to have even more spare parts ? 

for the original motors it could be useful to just convert them to "wild" motors with a simple Chinese pwm speed adjustment board, would be easy conversion one could do by oneself.

my 2-speed universal crystal motor (couple of them available in late February/early March, price around 700usd) could probably be used with the Kiev though the user would need to make the mounting parts by oneself to attach the motor to the camera and to connect the axle to it some way. the existing motor contacts on the camera could be used to control the start/stop of the motor. real crystal sync may be a bit overkill with the Kievs but at least it would be possible to arrange ?

[Aapo Lettinen]

if you have lots of extra cameras it might be an option to overhaul them and sell to local film students, would help keeping film shooting alive in the area and might attract lab infrastructure later on if enough people would be shooting film.

If you are interested in buying only the electric motor parts, I can look for what I have in storage, I think there were parts for a total of three motors. I rarely shoot with the Kiev anyway and only use the spring motor at the moment so could sell the electric motors though they are not fully working as-is and will need some repairs or alternatively could be easier to just convert to "wild" motors with chinese pwm control board one could get from ebay or aliexpress for couple of bucks

Edited January 30, 2024 by Aapo Lettinen

[Gareth Blackstock]

Hello, Aapo

I can appreciate where you are coming from... but I have too many cameras for the very small amount of film I shoot... I am trying hard not to become a home for 'lost cameras' that no-one else wants... And diverting time from my other projects to mount motors onto Kievs..... I have to prioritise... And I really do not think in Australia at the moment that I could even get $150 for a nice working Kiev... and I dont think film students down here use cine cameras as part of their studies... I might be wrong though..

and although I have 5 cameras, I only have two sets of lenses.  The Kiev 16U lenses have been widely bought up in the last 15 years by stills photographers.... they are pursuing the fabled 'bokeh' characteristic of old soviet lenses.  Some would think chasing lenses with imperfections a strange pursuit, but many of those lenses have nice qualities.... 

The annoying part is it seems almost every old Kiev lens get very very stiff due to the ageing grease, so either the seller gets them over-hauled, which adds more to the cost, or they sell them in 'as is' condition, after which the buyer gets stuck with the stiffest lenses imaginable...

Gareth

[Sebastian Bock]

When I read your last post, I remembered, that I once documented the servicing of the Kiev16 lenses. I put it together in a post here:

 

[Gareth Blackstock]

Thanks for posting this really handy guide! I wonder how many people who bought such lenses have given it go to clean them up.  I have a couple of Kiev lenses that I might attempt to clean up.

Thanks for posting this, Sebastian

[Fredrik Blomberg]

Thanks for very good guide!

I'm half the way.

Is it possible to remove the gate?

 

I plan to extend it to ultra 16 but want to avoid removing the groundglass.

Is it complicated to change the mirrors?

I have almost perfect ones on another broken kiev but dint know if it is hard to get sync correct.

 

Regards

Fredrik 

[Gareth Blackstock]

Hello,

Sorry for the late reply, I did not get a notification of the posting.  I do not remember dismantling much past what I published on the net, I am pretty sure I left the gate in place.

I would be keen on seeing the results of how you go though....

Ultra 16? I am guessing you will have to re-engineer a few things...

 

Gareth

[Fredrik Blomberg]

Hello!

No problem!

The camera is running and I have some updates that I can post later on the electronics.

Problems I need to slove now is scratching film. Probably the loops. Will se if I can get them to move more freely. Plan B would be to remove them.

Light leaks. I have lightleaks probably from the bottom where the pistol grip is. Can be on more places.

Do you need to cover 2/3 lenses when you film?

I also need to fix the bleak to the bottom reel. Sometimes it get stuck so might need some oil.

50mm and the 20mm have sharp images.

13mm is not sharp on infinity so I guess the infinity screw is wrong mounted.

Ground glass seam to be very close to correct. Focus is a litle bit closer to camera then I se in viewfinder but I can be mistaken.

Ultra 16 only need to widen the gare 0.7mm on each side but i din't want scrap in the mechanics. I have seen outhers do this successfuly. I will wait with this untill other issues are solved.

If interest I can post test footage but it don't look good.

[Aapo Lettinen]

I have some original Kiev UE electrical parts somewhere in the basement. And one or two spare parts / possibly restorable camera bodies too if needed with original bags etc. Can dig them out sometime if you have use for them, should not be expensive as I am clearing out storage and want to get rid of the backup parts not needed anymore 🙂

[Fredrik Blomberg]

Thanks! 

I think the lightleaks comes from the front between lens and filmgate.

Is silicon best to make it tight?

Looks like there been some glue ore something from the beggining.

There is also some broken fome in the chassis but that is easier to replace.

 

[Fredrik Blomberg]

Here is first report.

I will try to tape the front plat to see if that is the problem with lightleaks.

Okay except that. The film is expired so rather grainy.

 

[Aapo Lettinen]

I have some spare Kiev16UE bodies and accessories from previous projects. if someone needs these for spare parts or restoration can make some package deal of the whole lot 😄 

[Aapo Lettinen]

On 3/27/2025 at 1:24 PM, Aapo Lettinen said:

I have some spare Kiev16UE bodies and accessories from previous projects. if someone needs these for spare parts or restoration can make some package deal of the whole lot 😄 

I still have those spare Kiev cameras and would want to get rid of them because needing the storage space for other projects. May have to scavenge them for rollers and sprockets and optical parts and throw the rest of the bodies away if no one needs these as full cameras, I dug them up from storage unit for a deal which was cancelled and I hate the box laying in the middle of the workroom