Quick question about FED 2's

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cny3123

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So I was cruising ebay and saw how cheap FED 2s are, so after doing some research I was reading that some models are able to have the shutter speeds adjusted before the film is advanced?

Does anyone know which of the FED 2 A,B,C,Ds have this capability? I would like to try to get one with that option so I don't have to worry about damaging the camera.

The reason I want one is dual reasoning, they are cheap, and also the fact that they need work done on them attracts me as a fun little summer project. There would be no pressure to make it work as I have plenty of other cameras to shoot with. I also think it is a very attractive looking little camera. 🙂

Thanks!
 
Get the one with the mushroom shaped advance knob, they have the new time knob.

I don't see advancing the film before changing shutter times as a problem. If you are consistent and carefull. Some people have the fear to do so, and it happens now and then, thats true. But many other FSU camera's (like the Fed 3,4,5, Zorki 1,3,4,) have a shutter that can only be set after the shutter is wound.

If you like the Fed 2, you may get a Zorki 6 if you want a second. You don't see many of these around, and they need CLA (like any FSU camera that you buy second hand unserviced). But they hold and feel super in my opinion :angel: It shares all features of the Fed 2, has a hinged back, better rangefinder and an advance lever.

Good luck!
 
cny3123 said:
Can later versions like the 2 C or D be worry free as well? From what I was reading the answer sounds like yes, but I would just like to confirm that if possible. Thanks
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Yes.

In short, the ones where you can change it are those with a shutter speed dial that consists of two parts. They started with the 2B, and all subsequent versions have it. You set the speed while changing the outer vis-a-vis the inner, and when you shoot the whole thing rotates so that the speed setting doesn't change.

Valkir's suggestion is spot on, all "mushroom-shaped" FED-2s also have it, and it may be easier to see in an online picture than the two-part shutter speed dial.

The suggestion of a Zorki-6 is good. Which of the two has the better viewfinder is a matter of taste, they're pretty similar, except that the contrast and colour are slightly different. After looking through a Drug viewfinder, both of them are bad - and after looking through a Zorki-1 finder, suddenly both of them seem excellent again 🙂
 
My understanding -- based on the advice of a friend who sells Soviet era camera equipment -- is that the FED-2 is less likely to give trouble than the Zorki-6.
 
While I'm sure the Zorki 6 is a fine camera, I personally am not too enamored by the looks of the camera 🙂 I think the FED 2 is much better looking. Obviously this doesn't matter much in use, but when its something that I will toy around with and also display proudly when it is not in use, it matters to me 😛

Thanks all for the help btw. I am looking around and trying to figure out if I should get the FED 2 or simply save the money up for a Bessa soon and completely skip the FED.
 
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payasam said:
My understanding -- based on the advice of a friend who sells Soviet era camera equipment -- is that the FED-2 is less likely to give trouble than the Zorki-6.
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For what it's worth, I heard the same said by sellers, referring to the only real difference between the two - the additional gears for the advance lever which give an additional point of failure. It still isn't particularly likely to fail; the Zorki-6 is nowhere near as capricious as the really capricious Soviet cameras (Kiev 88 comes to mind).
 
cny3123 said:
Does anyone know which of the FED 2 A,B,C,Ds have this capability? I would like to try to get one with that option so I don't have to worry about damaging the camera.

The reason I want one is dual reasoning, they are cheap, and also the fact that they need work done on them attracts me as a fun little summer project. There would be no pressure to make it work as I have plenty of other cameras to shoot with.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Then - I wonder why the concern with the shutter speed issue? 🙂
 
Heh, well I'd prefer to not have to worry about it, simply because I won't mind opening up the camera doesn't mean I would ant to constantly be opening it because something went wrong that I can avoid in the first place.
 
cny3123 said:
The reason I want one is dual reasoning, they are cheap, and also the fact that they need work done on them attracts me as a fun little summer project. There would be no pressure to make it work as I have plenty of other cameras to shoot with. I also think it is a very attractive looking little camera. 🙂
Thanks!
Click to expand...

cny3123 said:
I am looking around and trying to figure out if I should get the FED 2 or simply save the money up for a Bessa soon and completely skip the FED.
Click to expand...

This can become a more contentious discussion but I think you should get the FED 2 and save for a Bessa.
Sorting out a camera can be its own fun and is likely to let you appreciate the FED a bit more.
Rob
 
I think the concern is unfounded, particularly with cameras that don't have a slow speed mechanism. To quote Rick Oleson:

... I think the fear of this damage may be a little bit overplayed: I have tried to commit this error with both my FED 3 and my Zorki 4, and I found it couldn’t be done: it was possible to turn the dial to a position beyond its range, but it wouldn’t drop into place anywhere beyond the correct position for a 1 second speed. I won’t say there are no Russian rangefinders that could be damaged in this way, because the rumors are too plentiful to be unfounded, and it certainly is theoretically possible; but in my particular cameras, the design of the shutter system does not appear to permit the shutter to be damaged by setting the speed before cocking. The most it will do, like the Leica, is deliver a different speed from the one I thought I was setting.
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Which I can confirm for the Zorki 4. Mine arrived with an incorrectly positioned speed selector and by the time I had realized and sorted that out, I had committed the "cardinal sin." No harm. I think you need to be gorilla-fisted to really break something. Mess up the selection for the next shot, or lock it up temporarily, yes. Break it, no.
 
cny3123 said:
So I was cruising ebay and saw how cheap FED 2s are, so after doing some research I was reading that some models are able to have the shutter speeds adjusted before the film is advanced?

Does anyone know which of the FED 2 A,B,C,Ds have this capability? I would like to try to get one with that option so I don't have to worry about damaging the camera.

The reason I want one is dual reasoning, they are cheap, and also the fact that they need work done on them attracts me as a fun little summer project. There would be no pressure to make it work as I have plenty of other cameras to shoot with. I also think it is a very attractive looking little camera. 🙂

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Any of the FSUs with 2-piece shutter dials (where there's an outer ring and a middle shaft with a dot or line against which the set speed lines up) can be set before or after cocking. That means almost all FED 2s, along with the Zorki 2, 2C, 5 and 6. Most of the Zenit SLRs are, likewise, fitted with 2-piece dials. One possible exception to this "rule" may be some early FED 3a models which had 2-piece dials.
 
batterytypehah! said:
I think the concern is unfounded, particularly with cameras that don't have a slow speed mechanism. To quote Rick Oleson:



Which I can confirm for the Zorki 4. Mine arrived with an incorrectly positioned speed selector and by the time I had realized and sorted that out, I had committed the "cardinal sin." No harm. I think you need to be gorilla-fisted to really break something. Mess up the selection for the next shot, or lock it up temporarily, yes. Break it, no.
Click to expand...
You do need to force things to break it, I agree. It can be done, however, so it's best not to get into the bad habit. On the models with slow speeds and lever-wind it's not too difficult to get the slow-speed mchanism in a tangle (at best) or break the pin that engages it.
 
rbiemer said:
This can become a more contentious discussion but I think you should get the FED 2 and save for a Bessa.
Sorting out a camera can be its own fun and is likely to let you appreciate the FED a bit more.
Rob
Click to expand...

I don't think I typed it out right, but what I meant to say was I am debating on getting a FED 2 or not, because if I don't I will just save for a Bessa, but if I get the FED the I will still go for a Bessa, just not quite as soon.
 
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