Do you change lenses on your FSU cameras?

[mindcircus]

Hello,
Does your rangefinder give correct readings when you put two different lenses? I'm about to buy a FED or a Zorki 1, but I would like to test some lenses to see which one I prefer. I used to have a FED with a collapsible Industar and a Jupiter and when I put the jupiter on, it gave me completely wrong readings on the distance, so I had to readjust the RF if I wanted to use it... Is this a common problem with these cameras?

Thanks in advance

 

[Mablo]

You can change lenses without problems when you do it carefully - at least I do with my Zorki-1 - but be extra careful to mount and unmount the lens always set in the minimum distance, see why:

http://www.zorkikat.com/how-not-to-destroy-your-fed-and-zorki-a-basic-primer/123/

 

[rxmd]

Does your rangefinder give correct readings when you put two different lenses? I'm about to buy a FED or a Zorki 1, but I would like to test some lenses to see which one I prefer. I used to have a FED with a collapsible Industar and a Jupiter and when I put the jupiter on, it gave me completely wrong readings on the distance, so I had to readjust the RF if I wanted to use it... Is this a common problem with these cameras?

Normally the rangefinder should not be affected by a lens change. A lens focused at 1m is a lens focused at 1m, so the rangefinder cam on all lenses focused at 1m should be in the same position, and the camera rangefinder should be adjusted so that at this position it shows 1m.

Depending on which Jupiter you had the lens may have been misadjusted.

It makes much more sense to adjust the lens to conform to the standard, than to adjust the camera to conform to the lens. Can you give an example of the wrong readings you got? Were they wrong as in "a couple of centimeters off at 1m", or wrong as in "rangefinder indicates infinity with the lens at 2m"?

 

[pschauss]

I have no problem changing lenses on my Zorkii 1s. Keep in mind that some of the prewar FEDs used a non-Leica standard flange to film distance and would only focus properly with a lens which was adjusted to match.

I have also run into some FSU lenses where the cam on the lens did not line up properly with the rangefinder sensing foot on the camera which caused focusing problems.

 

[mindcircus]

but be extra careful to mount and unmount the lens always set in the minimum distance,

Yes I know that. It's not that the RF sensor changed its position. The problem was with one of the lenses, so my question should be: Are FSU lenses so different between them or one of my lenses was misadjusted?

Can you give an example of the wrong readings you got?

As far as I can remember trying to focus on an object at infinity, the RF was focused when the lens indicated 10m (maybe less). I had the same problem at 1m.

I have no problem changing lenses on my Zorkii 1s. Keep in mind that some of the prewar FEDs used a non-Leica standard flange to film distance and would only focus properly with a lens which was adjusted to match.

Well, I had tried to put them on a Zorki 4K too, so that was not the problem.

So I conclude that I was unlucky with the lenses I had and it's not a general FSU camera problem

Thanks guys!

 

[payasam]

A badly adjusted lens is likely. I used 50 and 35 and 85 lenses with a Zorki 1 and had no trouble -- except that sometimes I forgot to set the accessory finder to the focal length in use.

 

[wolves3012]

One of the lenses is probably wrong. I use a variety of lenses on my FSUs without any problems. Some do give a very slight difference but it's not enough to matter, it is very slight

 

[Nickfed]

when I put the jupiter on, it gave me completely wrong readings on the distance, so I had to readjust the RF if I wanted to use it...

If it really is completely wrong, there is something seriously and probably obviously wrong with the lens and the rangefinder is innocent until proven guilty.

If there is a consistent but not great error, it could be that the rangefinder follower arm is misaligned. This is probably made evident because it doesn't sound and/or feel right either. It is caused by sloppy handling when changing the lens, and the arm gets bent, but it may be OK with one lense but not another. Needless to say, you can't see it happening with a bottom loader. It may be obviously bent, which is what happened to me, or it may even be only loose of the shaft.

 

[mindcircus]

If there is a consistent but not great error, it could be that the rangefinder follower arm is misaligned. This is probably made evident because it doesn't sound and/or feel right either. It is caused by sloppy handling when changing the lens, and the arm gets bent, but it may be OK with one lense but not another. Needless to say, you can't see it happening with a bottom loader. It may be obviously bent, which is what happened to me, or it may even be only loose of the shaft.

I don't think that's the problem of the body. I said before that I tried the lenses on a zorki 4k too and I had the same issue.

There is no need to mind though, cause I don't have either the lenses or the bodies. I just want to buy one and wanted to know if it is likely to have the same problem...

 

[Spyderman]

Generally speaking there is a chance that you will get bad lenses and/or bad camera body when you buy used. You can't be sure unless you or a skilled repairman check it.

 

[mindcircus]

That's why I will avoid ebay this time... I will try to test it myself in order to find as many faults as I can... Of course I can't check speeds in a bottom loader.

One more question: Can you tell if a shutter curtain has a hole or I'll have to make a film test to find out? I just don't know what are the usual dimensions of a hole...

 

[fanshaw]

Holes can be of any size of course, but often they are pinholes or areas of a few mm in width in which the curtain fabric has become thin and not perfectly light -tight. Often this is caused by deterioration of the rubber fabric coating present on old curtains. You can check for these problems easily if you have a camera with a removable back by removing the lens and holding the camera up to a bright light or a flash while you look at the curtains. Do this with the shutter wound and unwound. You do have to look very carefully because 'thinned' areas are not always immediately obvious. Obviously you can't do this with a bottom loader without removing the shutter crate. You can try sliding a piece of white paper in the film plane in the hope of seeing light reflected off the paper through any holes, but this will only show gross defects.