Kiev 18 (1985–1986)

Name: Kiev 18
Brand: Kiev

The Kiev 18 is a genuine oddity in the Soviet camera world. It was a fully automatic 35mm SLR that Arsenal produced for barely a year, 1985 to 1986, as the USSR's answer to the Japanese autofocus-and-autoexposure wave. It was the first Soviet camera to use the Pentax K lens mount, licensed from Pentax. It was built on the bones of the Pentax ME Super, so it is essentially a licensed clone, though with a heavier metal body of Arsenal's own making.

The record shows an aperture-priority autoexposure SLR with TTL center-weighted metering, an electronically controlled vertical metal-blade focal plane shutter, and interchangeable viewfinders. Film speed range is ISO 25 to 1600. It runs on two 1.35V mercury cells. Those batteries are long out of production and modern substitutes usually need an adapter, so every owner eventually has to deal with it. The autoexposure is reportedly accurate in normal light but can be fooled in low light. The camera is solidly built but noticeably heavy.

Collectors have taken notice because it's scarce. Production lasted only about a year, and surviving examples are relatively rare. Prices have been climbing, with cameras changing hands in the $100 - $300 range depending on condition. The bright viewfinder and accurate metering are the usual points of praise. The mercury battery problem is the usual caveat. Contemporary reviews noted the camera's solid performance and competitive pricing HiFI-Stereo (January 1973, p.121).

Some specs are undocumented. No one seems to have recorded the dimensions, weight, film advance mechanism, flash sync speed, or which lens was standard in the kit. The shutter speed range is also muddled in the sources - one says 1/2 to 1/1000, another says 2 to 1/1000 - and the page doesn't guess which is right. If you own one and can weigh it, measure it, or time the shutter, the archive would like to hear from you.