Biggest draw back of your rangefinder

ChrisCummins

ChrisCummins

Couch Photographer.
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Ok lets face it - if people only used FSU rangefinders because of convenience, then there would be very few users left! So what do you find to be the greatest draw back of your FSU RF, and how do you cope with it? My personal suggestions for my FED-2:

- Slooow unloading/loading process. Makes for a big down time in between rolls. I GUARANTEE you that you will never see so many 'kodak moments' pass as when you are fumbly round with the take up spool and removeable back... My solution: buy another body! One roll full? Pull out the other one.

- Crap viewfinders. I'm spoilt by SLRs large clear viewfinders with depth of field and clear cut frame. No perfect solution as of yet, i think I just need to spend more time getting used to squinting through a tiny dim bit of glass...

So what is your cam's Achilles heel?
 
Kiev 4 drawbacks:
-squinty, dark viewfinder.
-iffy stiffy shutter release.

solution:
bought a Leica M2. :D
 
I actually find it a little hard to be critical of my Fed 2 whereas the viewfinder of my early KievII drives me insane and stops me using the camera. The Fed for it's age and price paid ($45.00) is a very good camera ... it has a diopter adjuster for the reasonably good viewfinder and the rangefinder itself is contrasty and easy to focus with. The film loading I can live with because it's no harder than my M2 or M3. It's a great camera but it needs a better lens ... the battered I-26 it came with has some very ugly marks on the front element ... that said it gives it a nice glow and it works pretty well.


fed160409_01-1.jpg
 
The Brand-name. In many instances photos get ignored or bypassed because they were labelled to have been shot with a Zorki or FED! :rolleyes:

Solution: Don't ask, don't tell. :p

- Slooow unloading/loading process. Makes for a big down time in between rolls. I GUARANTEE you that you will never see so many 'kodak moments' pass as when you are fumbly round with the take up spool and removeable back... My solution: buy another body! One roll full? Pull out the other one.
Click to expand...

With practice, this becomes faster. Some FED or Zorki actually load faster than others- for instance, I can load a Barnack type in under 15 seconds.

Having two cameras to guarantee continuous shooting between rolls has been the accepted practice for years.

Or think like Mr Winogrand who said that there were no pictures when he reloaded film. :D

- Crap viewfinders. I'm spoilt by SLRs large clear viewfinders with depth of field and clear cut frame. No perfect solution as of yet, i think I just need to spend more time getting used to squinting through a tiny dim bit of glass...
Click to expand...

Just about any non-SLR camera from a certain period (before the1960s?) had small squinty viewfinders. The likes of the M3 was unique and an exception, until the late 1950s when the Japanese RFs grew bigger and helftier. SLRs were around too, but in those times, their viewfinders were crappier (think of the Exakta or Contax D- dim groundglass, no auto diaphragms), so that even the small squinty viewfinders of the average RF were considered better to use. Until Nikon F or Asahi Pentax came along and changed all that.:)
 
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Kiev 4a is nice (minus the slow speed issues but that just needs fixing). I wish it was a little smaller though.

FED 2 is great but I wish it was as smaller. The Leica iiic fits my hands better. I know I should consider a FED 1/Zorki 1 but I don't like gambling given the number of cameras I already have in need of work.
 
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On a whim, I bought a FSU sampler. Here are my frustrations, to date:

Zorki 4K:
  • No strap lugs...case trips shutter when closed.
  • Hard to determine frame boundary with 1:1 Viewfinder
Zorki solutions:
  • Remove top half of case and leave bottom half on camera
FED-2 (from about 1963, I think):
  • Light leak near rangefinder window
  • Shooting with gloves means risk of glove rubbing on rotating shutter dial causing curtain to lag.
FED solutions:
  • Fingerless glove
  • When I solve the light leak, I will let you know...
Kiev 4A (ser 1):
  • Film is hard to load with any confidence
Kiev solution:
  • I will be trying the "modified" spool approach (end caps glued to spool ends)...fingers crossed that this works!
And if all else fails, I can always just shoot with one of my Yashica Lynx or the Olympus XA. They are short on frustration and usually deliver with a minimum of drama!


Steve
 
Let's see...

Kiev 4a - smooth winding, lovely and silent shutter, perfect for Jupiter 12 and 8 and 9 (I have a telescoping external finder with parallax compensation).

Zorki 1c (or f or whatever) - smoother than the leica iiic that I once had.

Zorki 6 - excellent viewfinder with bluish and high contrast RF patch, very easy to use. Not as smooth as Canon P, but works as well.

Zenit 3M - Solid SLR, the mirror didn't bounce back after the shot. The viewfinder looks like a mini ground glass, I can focus sometimes better than my Konica T4 (now that's a dark viewfinder).

Zenit 3C - Probably the smallest full-frame SLR, feels like Zorki 1, wait, it *is* zorki 1 with mirror box.

Sorry, I simply can't complain about my FSU cameras.
 
shadowfox said:
...Sorry, I simply can't complain about my FSU cameras.
Click to expand...

Man...what a spoil sport! :D

I actually like all three of my FSU cameras, though the film load on the Kiev drives me crazy. I wish it had the nice solid take-up spool from the FED-2. (The FED is a joy to load.) Even so, the Kiev has a unique character. It has really grown on me. The film wind on mine is smooth (like yours) and the large-diameter rewind knob works great. Ditto for the rewind button on the bottom of the camera. I have the J-12 for the Kiev and wow, what a lens. Did I mention that the shutter sound is a seductive whisper?

I also appreciate the very secure double latches for the back on all three cameras.

The Zorki's 1:1 viewfinder is big and bright and easy to see through...like looking out a window. I am thinking of covering the Zorki in dark Griptac.

The FED-2, though is my personal favorite. It is the smallest of the three and feels the best in my hands. It balances so nicely. Swap the Jupiter-9 off the Zorki and the FED feels even nicer. The wide base rangefinder is quite accurate too and the mechanicals are pretty much bullet proof.


Steve

(Never had any luck bonding with a Zenit, though I have to admit that the "3C" is a very pretty camera...)
 
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stevebrot said:
Steve

(Never had any luck bonding with a Zenit, though I have to admit that the "3C" is a very pretty camera...)
Click to expand...

You mean the 3M? 3C was used for the Zorki 3 series. There was a Zenit 3 but it was bottom loading. The 3M loads from the back and is relatively 'modern' in styling: knob advance, topmounted controls, etc. And in such a small package. The only conveniences lacking were the instant return mirror, slow speeds, and auto diaphgragm. Plus the M39 lens mount wasn't as universal. The 3M became the basis for the popular Zenit models in the years to come.

Zenit finders from the start did not show a full view of the field. It's more like 70% of what goes on the negative, like seeing what will go into an 8x10 print instead of showing what gets into a slide frame instead.


Zenit 3C - Probably the smallest full-frame SLR, feels like Zorki 1, wait, it *is* zorki 1 with mirror box
Click to expand...

That's the Zenit-C. It's more of a Zorki 2C with a mirror box. The Zorki-1 slr version would be the Zenit (1). The Zenit-1 and Zenit-C were slightly different creatures. The Zenit 1 used a different mirror setting mechanism consisting entirely of levers and gears; The Zenit-S used mainly a pulley with cord to pull the mirror down. The pulley and cord method made for a smoother and lighter winding, but it was hard to fix when the cord broke.
 
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Biggest drawback?
The insecurity i get from RFF "don`t buy an FSU posts", "all the FSU cameras ever made are crap" posts and my favourite the " throw out that FSU and buy a Leica" post:D


not much else really as research before buying lets ya know what you are in for;)

regards
 
I gotta tell ya I have no drawbacks with both my Zorki 4's except for a few snippy Leica users. Must be the name brand like ZorkiKat says. But then again what do I know, I just take pictures.
 
My FED-S has minimal gripping on the take-up spool and it's hard to get out with those big fingers of mine.

It's been to Yuri at Fedka.com for a full CLA in the past so it's in perfect working order, the spool really is the only gripe I have with it.
 
FED-1: Shutter speed dial turning while the shutter runs. It's probably because of how I held the camera, but my thumb often just touched the dial, and the shutter action was disturbed leading to uneven exposures.
 
I've no problems with the FED 1's and Zorki 1's that I haven't had with the Leica II's and the tinted RF windows on the FSU's are a good thing.

Plus the FSU's are far cheaper to get repaired by the expert and he has a good supply of parts at reasonable prices. And the FSU's have coated lenses, another big plus. And the FSU Leica clones can take some of the Contax clone bits and pieces. Getting a Sonnar modified to fit a Leica II is difficult and look at the contemporary Leitz universal view-finder that reversed everything. And the ex-USSR reloadable cassette is the Contax version and superior to the Leitz one, and so on, and so on.

Regards, David
 
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