Kiev-4A camera was familiar to every Soviet amateur photographer because it was a constant part of every photographic store. However, few people knew in those years that such camera was once the cherished dream of every photojournalist around the world. The device was even used to capture the Normandy landings: famous Robert Capa made a unique photo reportage, known in the West as the Magnificent Eleven; thousands of publications were sold out in just one moment. The camera which was the top choice almost for the whole century was once called the Contax III and was the main competitor of the iconic Leica.

Generally, there were two main cameras: Contax II and Contax III. The first, like all cameras of the mid-1930s, was produced without any exposure meter, and the second was equipped with a photoelectric miracle based on a selenium photographic element. Further fate of Contaxes was related to post-war reparations due to which the production of these famous cameras was transferred from Dresden to the Kiev plant ‘Arsenal’. The third model of ‘Contax’ equipped with an exposure meter was first manufactured under the label ‘Kiev III’, which then gradually transformed into ‘Kiev-4a’.