current Kiev 60 has a more conventional right-handed shutter release, but does not take 220 film. Otherwise, it's mechanically the same camera as the Kiev 6S. Attractions and problems of Kiev medium format cameras The low price of the Kiev medium format cameras has attracted many amateur photographers wishing to enter the medium format camera market on a budget. Some have reported that the prices of a Kiev Hasselblad-type camera setup with other Russian or Ukrainian components, such as lenses, viewfinders and film magazines, can be just a fraction of the price of a similar Hasselblad setup. On the other hand, prices of Pentacon Six cameras are comparable to prices of its Ukrainian counterparts. One of the reasons for the lasting demand for these cameras is the price of the lenses that can be used on them. Despite the cheap price (compared to Pentacon Six mount lenses from other manufacturers) the Kiev lenses are optically excellent, with many of the lenses being based on Carl Zeiss Jena designs. Historically, the Arsenal plant is reported to have generally poor quality control and some buyers have reported receiving cameras with small cosmetic or functional defects. Many of the less favorable reviews come from people comparing the camera directly to the more expensive Hasselblad models. The quality control seems to have fluctuated throughout different years of production though, and thus varies from camera to camera. It's important to note that Hasselblad-like Kiev cameras are based on camera designs even Hasselblad gave up on. Having poor quality control only made things worse. For this reason, a number of third party distributors have appeared offering Kiev cameras in improved, quality controlled forms. However, some have taken advantage of the Arsenal plant's variable quality to add value through varying levels of third-party rebuilding, modification, and testing of the Arsenal-supplied cameras. The cameras, however, still have a number of quirks that no simple servicing will remove. The most notable quirk is that the shutter speed on some of the original Hasselblad-like Kiev cameras should only be changed after cocking the shutter (spring-loading the shutter mechanism and advancing the film). Changing the shutter speed on an un-cocked camera will damage the timing mechanism. This is not a problem with the Pentacon Six-based Kiev and Kiev 88CM variants. There are also mixed reports that the shutter speed dial should be turned only clockwise, never counter-clockwise. This is certainly known