Kiev 30 – Soviet Relics On A 16mm Subminature “Spy Camera”

Earlier this year, I picked up an interesting, if somewhat diminutive, camera: a 1970s/80s Kiev 30. I carried this petite camera around with me, tucked comfortably in my pocket, on my recent trip to Latvia and Lithuania. I made a little collection of some of the locations and items that come from a time when these countries were part of the USSR. Both countries were illegally occupied/annexed in 1940 by the Red Army, becoming Soviet Socialist Republics. Both countries declared themselves sovereign states in 1989. They finally broke free of the USSR entirely, reasserting their independence in 1990.

You can check out my Latvia & Lithuania 2023 – The Back To The Baltics Tour road trip blog if you want to read about my adventures there.

Not interested in reading about cameras and film types? Skip straight to the photos (they are the best part, of course!).

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History and specifications of the Kiev 30 (Киев 30)

The Kiev 30 (Russian: Киев 30) 16m subminiature camera was manufactured in the Soviet Union in the 1970s to 1980s. Specifically, the Arsenal factory in Kyiv, Ukraine, produced these cameras.

This tiny camera measures 84 x 46 x 27 mm when closed, extending to 108 mm in length when opened. It uses 16mm unperforated film. This film cartridge is identical to that used in the Minolta 16 cameras. The frame size is 13x17mm, around half the size of that from 35mm cameras.

The Kiev 30 has a fixed Industar-M 23mm f/3.5 lens. This focal length is roughly equivalent to 46mm in 35mm photography. A wheel on top of the camera controls focusing. Both this and the shutter button are accessible only when the camera is slid open. The closest focus distance is 50cm. The camera has a built-in shutter with speeds from 1/125 to 1/30, f-stop is adjustable between f/3.5 and f/11.

Was the Kiev 30 really a Cold War “spy camera”?

The popular tales suggest that the Kiev 30 was popular with spies and other covert operatives, including the KGB. Surly it is a small, inconspicuous design that is easy to conceal. The minimum focus distance of 50cm would make this camera perfect for photographing secret documents.

In reality, the USSR’s everyday citizens were probably the ones who were using these cameras. A small and portable camera to slip in a vest pocket, a portable companion for those looking for an alternative to heavier 35mm and medium format offerings.

Capturing a photograph on this tiny subminiature camera

The Kiev 30 is a simple camera to operate, but wonderfully elegant in its compact design. To take a picture, you pull the camera open. Three things occur during opening: the lens aligns with the window, the shutter mechanism is primed to shoot, and the film counter dial advances by one. After the shutter cocked, a red dot displays in front of the lens, indicating that the camera is ready to shoot.

Now you can set your shutter speed and aperture, and compose your shot through the uncoupled eyepiece. The shutter makes a fairly quiet, and unique noise as it fires. Closing the camera advances the film to the next frame.

Some interesting “quirks” of the Kiev 30

• Film format that is no longer manufactured. I cut strips from 120 film, in the dark of course, giving three long lengths of 16mm unperforated film. I can then snip these in half to give me two strips, around 40cm in length. I then have the fun job of hand rolling these into the Kiev 30 cartridges (again, all in the dark) before sealing them in tiny boxes ready for use.
• The lower corners of photos are rounded. This is actually a feature of the camera, not a defect in my copy. I have to say, I am a big fan of this one! In my scans, I have chosen to embrace this quirk and retain it as part of the photos (along with a black border, which accentuates this nice shape).
• The viewfinder feels a little hit-and-miss. The viewfinder is simply a rectangular hole offset from the side of the lens. It isn’t easy to tell where the middle of the frame is, and I am not convinced the view matches the framing on the shot as I remember taking it!
• Focus is prone to slipping. As the camera is opened and closed, the focus dial moves a little, so it must be checked before each shot.
• Infinity focus might be off. Shots focused to infinity sometimes appear soft; maybe this is the focus dial moving or some issue with infinity focus on this camera. Perhaps it is just periodic hand shaking on my part!
• No bulb mode. Indoor shots are hard to expose correctly, even using ISO 400 film, a 1/30 shutter speed, and wider apertures.
• Film doesn’t always advance properly. The linkage between the outer shell and the mechanism that advances the film only works sometimes. Easily fixed by wedging a paperclip at a strategic point, voila, it works perfectly!

Why I chose Kodak Portra 400 for this project

Given the colourful nature of many of the Soviet mosaics, I decided to bring colour film with me on this trip. I would also need higher ISO film due to the camera’s lack of bulb mode and the mostly indoor nature of my planned photo shoots. However, the small frame size of this camera means that the size of the film grain will appear relatively larger compared to the same shot on 35mm. I felt ISO 400 would be a good fit. Kodak Portra 400 matched my requirements nicely!

The muted colours of Kodak Portra, along with the grain of the 400 ISO, give these photos a very vintage feel.

20 Photos of abandoned Soviet locations in the Baltics (Latvia & Lithuania)

Here they are, 20 photos Soviet-era relics and ruins (plus one lovely church, which is much older) from my adventures in the Baltics.