best seller of russian rangefinders

9

99.9livelya

Newbie
Local time
8:55 AM
Joined
Nov 24, 2005
Messages
3
View My Gallery
howdy.

This is my first posting, though I've been reading for awhile, collecting info. I'm ready to take the plunge into the russian rangefinder obsession and will embrace my new addiction with open arms. But where to begin? I've read several postings praising Oleg as a reliable source for repairs and cameras. Are there any other website dealers that have a good reputation? What about certain dealers on Ebay? Anyone I should avoid? I appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance.
 
Fedka is a link to keep handy.

I have never bought from Soviet Camera but they are another source.

EvilBay is a crap shoot, here is the local thread listing forum members experiences with various and sundry ebay sellers of FSU cameras.

I have gone the *bay route and I suggest you pay the few extra bucks and buy from Fedka or Oleg.
 
I bought a Zorki 4K from Ebay seller valdemar1961. I've got a Fed 2e coming from the same seller.
The most expensive part of getting FSU cameras on Ebay is the shipping. I think the cameras have cost me about $35US total and shipping was $25US each.
But the brown paper wrapped boxes tied up with string from Siberia are a great conversation piece at the postal station when I pick them up.

Peter
 
I'll second Fedka. He'll cost more than many of the others but his customer service is second to none. I've never had a bad camera when buying from him.

William
 
If you are looking for a shooter, I agree with everyone that the only place to go is either Oleg or Yuri at Fedka. Make sure you email them your requirements. OTOH if you want to start a collection of cool looking FSU cameras and have interest in learning how to fix/CLA [in my case, break a couple] then the auction place is fun like VeGAS!

Good luck and hope you enjoy these cameras!
 
I haven't bought FSU gear from first-party resellers outside of the 'bay yet, but as for the 'bay itself, 've had some recent success with "grandseller", including both LTM and M42-mount lenses. There's a seller called "SovietArmyStuff" or something similar, but I've found his (her?) shipping times are pretty long. That's par for the course, though. I have a FED-3 inbound from the latter; we'll see about quality soon, and I'll report back.

With FSU gear, my understanding (and my experience) is that it's equally, if not more, of a toss-up with regard to the build quality of individual samples than with individual sellers. But your mileage may vary.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm currently holding in my hot little hands both a beautiful 70's era Jupiter-3 in LTM and a good-condition Moskva-5 folding camera, so I may be seeing the FSU world through rose-colored glass right now. I will add, though, that these examples are via a trade with a fellow forum member, which is (for my money) the most reliable method to obtain these beauties.

Good luck, and enjoy the FSU world. There are some great bargains out there.


Cheers,
--joe.
 
Well, lets see.....I recently had a seller with the eBay ID of kassiapeya pull a bait and switch trick on me and it's been 2 months and I still can't get him to really settle it. I've done a few eBay deal with alex-photo and he seemed to be very good to work with.

Bill
 
Hi,
Apart from sellers like Oleg and or Yuri who check their cameras and service them, I wouldn't recommend anyone. If you get a camera from just about anyone on evilBay, the likeyhood is that they will need some work. It is interesting that Oleg charges $44 for a service (plus you have to pay for shipping both ways) but he sells Zorki 4/4Ks for around the $50 mark. It just shows how little these cameras are worth over there. You may be lucky in the lottery but the days of cheap camersa and cheap shipping have gone.

Did you have a specific camera in mind? If you can wait a week or so, I am having a sort out and I will be offering several Zorki 4/4Ks, some Fed 2's and a Fed 4 to RFF members once I have double checked they are working correctly.

Regards
Kim
 
All of the above looks like good advice. Welcome to the most eclectic rangefinder forum in the world.

I've dealt with Yuri at Fedka, the Soviet Camera Store, a.k.a sovietcamera.com.ua/ , and Oleg. Yuri at Fedka is my favorite. I doubt that it is possible to get better customer service anywhere elso on the web.

In regards to the other two. Oleg serviced my Zorki 3M, which was purchased off eBay, and it is now spot on the money. While waiting for the 3M to return from Oleg, I purchased a Zorki 3 from the Soviet Camera Store and was very impressed on how well the camera performed right out of the box.

For a minimalist, but splendid introduction to Soviet Era 35mm rangefinders, start with a FED 2 from the previous poster.
 
I've bought from several ebay sellers, including kassiapeya, confdntart, sovietepoch, moscowphoto, and cupog.
Cupog has an excellent reputation, and the Kiev4a I got from him is near perfect. Definately my first choice. He CLA's everything, and you won't see many of his items that don't get sold on the first listing.
From Kassiapeya I bought a $24 Kiev 4a, which was dissapointing (you get what you pay for), but I took another chance and bought a $45 Moskva 5 and I'm satisfied with it.
Sovdepia was another good source, but no longer sells on ebay.

Most important thing I've found is to really study the photos of the item carefully, since many descriptions are vague and or optimistic, usually from language difficulties and cultural differences.
 
You'll come across the short list of best sellers on the forum and pretty much already in this thread: Alex-photo, Oleg, Fedka. Apart from those there are a lot of good sellers and bad sellers, but most of them have sold bad goods, intentionally or not.

One to avoid: Kostik_p. He uses the same descriptions of the condition of the items he sells, regardless of the true condition. I got from him an Industar-61 that I will treasure forever, just because it has the most scratches I've ever seen or heard of on a single lens. He offered to sell me another camera as a replacement!
 
Another vote for Oleg or Yuri, I would include Anya ,but shes away on business for a while.........
 
Some time ago I bought a Kiev 4a (meterless version) from Yuri at Fedka. Once the order was in, I got an e-mail from him saying that the J-8 lens had "minor cleaning marks" on it (which I can't see), therefore he was including a Helios-103 also. The camera arrived with BOTH lenses. How many sellers will go that far to satisfy a customer? He's tops in my book.

Needless to say, neither "Jupiter" nor "Helios" on the lenses is in any way recognizable to a non-Russian!! Once in a while I have to remind myself what we call them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

bmattock
The Way of the Gear-Head
2 3
Replies
45
Views
4K
Rafael
R
Back
Top Bottom