A Red Letter FED 2?

[pwnewport]

Hey! Look what arrived in the mail today from the FSU. My first Russian rangefinger camera! It took 14 days to get here, arriving just hours after my wife left on a business trip.

This seems to be a grey FED 2c. The finish seems to be in original condition, which is to say a little grimy. It is number 453301. I can't tell if it's been repainted, and I've been over the whole camera with a loupe. The only paint that's chipping is black 1/8th inch off the back cover. This camera has definately been painted, but painted to look like matt finish metal. I don't know what to make of the red lettering, other than to imagine that it's original, too. At any rate, this nice FED doesn't seem to have been tarted up to appeal to any contemporary market I know of. Well, then there's me, of course, but I'm not a market all by myself.

I don't think I got a great lens, though. The Industar 61 lens is a little stiff focusing, on the one hand, while the components of the barrel seem a little loose, and the leaves of the iris look oily. I anticipate trouble, so I'm shopping for another normal lens that seems to have it more together. But we'll see. Anybody out there got a lens they want to tempt me with?

I was eager to shoot a roll right away, but I was put off initially by the rangefinder, which seemed unable to makes sense of the world at all. A quick diopter adjustment settled it right down. However, when I removed the back, I found no take up spool. So exploration deferred. Anybody got a take up spool for a FED 2c they want to sell? And what about filters? I hate having naked glass just hanging out there. What about a lens shade? What about a bag to carry all this junk in?

I would love to but a camera that just worked, right out of the box, but when I think about it, what fun would that be? I'd never have to write to you guys at all, and I would never have taken a flyer on an obscure camera from the Former Soviet Union. I already love this camera. It fits right into my hand and my trigger finger sets right on the shutter release. Plus it's very cool! That's what my kids say.


The Zorki 6 will be arriving in days. Maybe before my wife gets home. Pics below.

 

[Laika]

I don't think I got a great lens, though. The Industar 61 lens is a little stiff focusing, on the one hand, while the components of the barrel seem a little loose, and the leaves of the iris look oily. I anticipate trouble, so I'm shopping for another normal lens that seems to have it more together. But we'll see. Anybody out there got a lens they want to tempt me with?

Your lens sounds like it just needs a little TLC. Stiff focusing is the norm with most of these Soviet lenses unless someone has worked on it recently and is a very easy fix (see link). The loose components are because the tiny grub screws holding the rings in place have backed out a little...again nothing surprising and would be taken care of in the reassembly after relubing. Oil on the aperture blades? Bad for a SLR because they open and close with every shutter release but in this type of camera (RF) it can actual be preferable as many of the lenses have no stops to hold the aperture place and are very easily bumped (but your lens may have click stops?)

Ind 26/61 Lens relubing how to...
http://homepage.mac.com/mattdenton/photo/cameras/industar_relubing/index.html

I was eager to shoot a roll right away, but I was put off initially by the rangefinder, which seemed unable to makes sense of the world at all. A quick diopter adjustment settled it right down. However, when I removed the back, I found no take up spool. So exploration deferred. Anybody got a take up spool for a FED 2c they want to sell? And what about filters? I hate having naked glass just hanging out there. What about a lens shade? What about a bag to carry all this junk in?

Doh! no spool... I'd hassle the seller to send you one. I had a couple of ebay wins that turned up without them and the sellers sent them in the mail after I pointed this out to them. It looks like a cool camera btw, get hold of a spool and start feeding it some film 😀

 

[cbass]

Hi - I bought the exact same camera last month and I must say that I've quickly fallen head-over-heels for my little Ukranian Lady (luckily she came with her spool). I think that there are websites out there which will show you how to make a spool of your own using a 35mm film cassette.

Of course, you could also purchase a FED-5 body and "tansplant" the fixed spool from that unit into your FED-2. Or even better, buy yourself a complete FED-5 and pick up a tasty I-61 L/D lens in the bargain.

You're going to like your FED-2. Happy snapping.

 

[sockeyed]

You've got the I-61 "Panda" lens on there, which is a good lens. It's a large step up from the I-26m in quality, and comparable, I feel, to the I-61L/D, which gets good reviews as a sharp little number. I actually sold my 2 L/D's and hung onto the Panda, partly because it looks cool. I would overhaul it, as discussed above, and try it out. I think that you'll like it. Later, you might want to move on to a Jupiter-8, which is a great lens. Not as sharp, but more character, I'd say.