The other camera we used was my KINOR 16CX-2M. This was the standard 16mm camera for television reports in the former Soviet Union. I was also pleasantly surprised with the performance of my new toy. In terms of picture quality, the Kinor was identical to that of the SR2. The 10mm wide angle prime lens was even visibly sharper than any of the Zeiss Istagon lenses. Because the kinor employs a pin registration system, the picture stability was absolutely sturdy. The camera is also light enough to be mounted onto light steadicam systems.

The problems we did have were due to the magazines. Half of a 30m roll of film was chewed up, either due to a misload or an unoiled magazine and we ended up having to process this roll by hand as the perforation holes were completely torn though. We managed to salvage some shots, but a few elegant steadicam shots were unfortunately lost. Although the kinor is very quiet when compared to other 16mm cameras in it's price range, it must be said that it is nowhere near as quiet as the SR2, especially when it isn't loaded exactly as it wants to be loaded.

However, given that a Kinor can be found for between 400 and 1200 euros on ebay, and given that an SR2 kit will easily sell for 10,000 euros or more, I am very happy I own this camera and will be shooting a lot more with it in the future!