the real "problem", if you can call it that, is that P6 mount cameras like
Kiev-60 are soooo cheap (circa $150 with the 80mm arsat lens and TTL
metering prism plus case and filters etc.) that you can't get an adapter
machined from a hassy extension tube for that price, and the kiev 60
retains the autodiaphragm operation of these lenses etc. ;-) Even buying a
mamiya 645 or other focal plane body and using it with a cheap adapter
with P6 etc. lenses seems problematic - you are limited to 6x4.5 and not
6x6cm potential of lenses, and the adapter is manual and not
autodiaphragm. Again, the Kiev 60 seems impossible to beat, esp. if you
want a built-in lightmeter and prism ;-)

very few even serious amateur users really use the interchangeable back
feature, as reflected in anemic back sales (less than one extra per SLR
body, including polaroid types). The same is true of interchangeable
lenses (only 2.3 or so lenses per body, including the normal lenses which
are often 50% or more of lenses sold in some lines). As some pentax 67
users have noted, it is cheaper to buy another camera (kiev 60 esp.) than
another back in many MF SLR systems (hassy, rollei..). When you consider
how little is involved in most SLR backs vs. body and lenses, the high
costs (e.g., $900 for hassy..) are hard to justify IMHO against the more
complex bodies.

The other real problem is that the low cost of P6 lenses, esp. carl zeiss
jena optics, makes it hard not to buy into the Kiev line if you need lots
of lenses, esp. the shift lenses, fisheye, and long telephotos which are
available in P6.

just my $.02 ;-)

bobm
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* Robert Monaghan POB 752182 Southern Methodist Univ. Dallas Tx 75275 *
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