Do the cameras really have flare problems?
Earlier Kievs tend to have a lot of exposed shiny metal parts in the mirror chamber. This can lead to flare problems. The bronze colored metal shutters on factory stock Kiev 88’s are also often blamed for flare problems, although this remains a debated point. Flocking the mirror box or painting it with flat black paint can easily fix most flare problems related to the camera body. One other known problem of light fogging the film is when using the standard Volna or Arsat 80mm lens focused at distances closer than about .9 meters. Light can enter through the depth of field preview lever in the lens barrel. But this can be avoided by not focusing so close, or by covering the lever with black tape. And a lot of “Kiev” flare problems can be cured by properly shading the lens — which is good advice no matter what camera and lens you use. This can be done with a lens hood or your own body (be careful not to get yourself into the shot unintentionally). One point to concede is that some Ukrai
