Another try at getting working cameras!

S

stevebrot

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I am starting to figure out that purchasing and getting a good FSU camera is an iterative process. I bought both a Zorki 4K and a Kiev 4AM from Fedka several weeks ago. Both cameras looked great, but the Zorki had a sticky shutter and the Kiev's rangefinder was out of wack. Both cameras when back to Yuri.

Today the fully CLA'd Zorki arrived :) along with a Kiev 4A made in 1961. Yuri threw in an extra J-8 for the Kiev as a bonus along with a very nice leather case. What a difference between this older Kiev and the one I originally purchased. This one is smooth and solid and nice looking despite the "Contax Bumps". Unfortunately one of the shutter ribbons broke after about 25 cycles. Back goes the Kiev for repairs :(

Yuri has been great with the customer service and I am so glad that these exchanges are only across the country instead of to the other side of the world!

As for the Zorki...It is freshly loaded with film for a little bit of shooting during the lunch hour tomorrow!

Steve
 
I've never figured out the fixation on these cameras. I had a hankering to try one and decided to try a Fed. A guy ocally was selling them so I hit him up and everyone I opened had a problem. He, agreed to fix them but, I declined as they felt so course and crude on the wind, fit and finsh, I could not imagine ever wanting to use one for more than the short term. Admittedly, at the time they were very inexpensive and there was nothing near their pricing new except some of the Chinese Seagull TLRs which while also crude seemed to at least be reliable and worked out of the box. I finally got the thought out of my system when I picked up a pre-WWII bakelite box camera with 2 speeds: Instant and Bulb. Crude like the Fed but it worked every time.
 
Brian Levy said:
I've never figured out the fixation on these cameras.
Click to expand...

Speaking for myself, I like FSU cameras a lot for their metal/industrial look, history, and decent picture quality.

Now I start to wonder if I'm talking about a different set of cameras because except for one Zorki 4 that has a worn out take-up spool, all of my FSU cameras (RF *and* SLR) work every time I run a roll through them. :)

Come to think of it, I don't remember having to go through a couple to get a decent copy either.
 
I only have used two. The first, a FED 2 worked flawlessly. The Kiev 4a has slow speed issues but I think that my be my fault for using it in damp Seattle weather.

The winding feels tight but I don't have anything to compare it against yet [waiting desperately on a Contax/Kiev repair manual]. In terms of cosmetics and finish, the camera feels really solid. Wonderful, accurate rangefinder, smooth focusing, etc.
 
Brian Levy said:
I've never figured out the fixation on these cameras. I had a hankering to try one and decided to try a Fed. A guy ocally was selling them so I hit him up and everyone I opened had a problem. He, agreed to fix them but, I declined as they felt so course and crude on the wind, fit and finsh, I could not imagine ever wanting to use one for more than the short term. Admittedly, at the time they were very inexpensive and there was nothing near their pricing new except some of the Chinese Seagull TLRs which while also crude seemed to at least be reliable and worked out of the box. I finally got the thought out of my system when I picked up a pre-WWII bakelite box camera with 2 speeds: Instant and Bulb. Crude like the Fed but it worked every time.
Click to expand...

One bad experience with one bad sample should not be a basis for a blanket statement.

FED, Zorki, Kiev, and Seagull are all precision cameras. The word "crude" brings to mind sticks and bones and stones bound together with straw- obviously these cameras are not. Seagull are no more reliable, they are as frail as any FED if a bad sample is on hand, and are good as any FSU camera with a good sample is regarded.

Chinese cameras tend to be inferior to FSU counterparts. Zenit-12 are better made than the Seagull DF-1. Seagull folders are more prone to defects than the Moskwa. And a Shanghai-58 will make a FED-1 or Zorki-1 look like mechanical gems because of its inferior assembly and materials.

I've gone through the insides of several Chinese cameras- they are no better, and often second to, FSU machines in terms of build and material qualities.
 
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Brian Levy said:
I've never figured out the fixation on these cameras. I had a hankering to try one and decided to try a Fed. A guy ocally was selling them so I hit him up and everyone I opened had a problem. He, agreed to fix them but, I declined as they felt so course and crude on the wind, fit and finsh, I could not imagine ever wanting to use one for more than the short term. Admittedly, at the time they were very inexpensive and there was nothing near their pricing new except some of the Chinese Seagull TLRs which while also crude seemed to at least be reliable and worked out of the box. I finally got the thought out of my system when I picked up a pre-WWII bakelite box camera with 2 speeds: Instant and Bulb. Crude like the Fed but it worked every time.
Click to expand...


To comment further, my take on the situation is that I have had a bit worse luck than most in getting three bodies in a row that had issues. Fortunately, I was dealing with a reputable used camera dealer rather than an eBay seller on the other side of the globe.

In defense of both of my purchases, there is nothing particularly cheap feeling about the Zorki. Ditto for the replacement Kiev. The Zorki had a shutter issue that is quite excusable for a 35 year-old camera. My original Kiev was from one of the later production runs and was typical for the type (rough/rude). The replacement Kiev, however, was really nice, but succumbed to the most common issue for both that camera and Zeiss Contax. The shutter ribbons don't last forever and it is may have been a decade or two or three since these were changed.

I probably should have been a little more complete in my comment by suggesting that neither camera was unusual for its condition when compared to other moderately priced rangefinder cameras of similar vintage. Just take a stroll through the Yashica RF forum section and see the various posts about the Electro-X POD issue. My pristine Yashica Lynx 1000 (about the same age as the Kiev) is currently in the shop with a frozen Copal shutter.

This kind of stuff happens. I was just feeling sorry for myself, I guess :eek:


Steve
 
I also have a Zorki 4, purchased from a member here. It has been totally reliable, and except for not having a meter is pretty much the same as using a modern camera. And I have a Fed 2, purchased from Fedka. That has also been reliable, except at 1/500 where the shutter sometimes caps (and I get half a picture). Both cameras smell bad. The optics are really good. I wouldn't want to depend on these things, but they are fun at some level.
 
I would like to buy a guaranteed-to-work Zorki 4k in pristine condition, newly CLAd. Who would I go to? Oleg is out of K's btw, I checked ;)
 
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