Photography Culture

Want to Get into Medium Format for Cheap? Try the Kiev 88

Chris Gampat
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04/03/2015
1 Min read

Last Updated on 04/03/2015 by Chris Gampat

Screen Shot 2015-04-03 at 10.15.44 AM

For better or worse, after lots of camera testing we believe that the best option when it comes to trying to get into medium format photography is to stick with film. You’ll get a beautiful look, the film is quite versatile, and the quality will make your jaw drop every time. Don’t know where to start? One camera that is often talked about is the Kiev 88: a Russian Hasselblad 1000F copy that is kind of quirky and like other medium format cameras varies from copy to copy.

The folks over at the Art of Photography recently shot a video profiling one of the cameras and states that there are pros and cons–a lot of cons. Third party modifications are available if you want, This 645 format camera is like many other medium format offerings that have interchangeable film backs, viewfinders, and lenses. But the overall quality control is all over the place.

Photographer Oleg Osprico does incredible work with one; and the video featuring the Kiev 88 is after the jump.

cheap film back hasselblad kiev 88 lenses medium format
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.