Fed 2 exposure problem - What is it?

januaryman

januaryman

"Flim? You want flim?"
Local time
12:54 PM
Joined
Oct 17, 2006
Messages
1,440
Location
Earth
View My Gallery
Hi- I have just finished off 2 rolls of XP2 with my newly acquired Fed 2 and after looking at the results I am disappointed and puzzled. The frames look nicely exposed, but there is a gradation of light to dark or over to under exposed running across nearly every frame.http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryman/sets/72157600051002833/

I scanned in three negatives with my Epson 4990, then after seeing the results, shot another roll that was processed/printed in a lab. Same effect. Most shots were at 1/500, 1/250 and f16 or f11, depending on what I thought the setting should be (Sunny 16).

I know the camera has been recently CLAed by Oleg, I loaded the film in a darkened area, I used 2 different batches of film stock, I remembered to advance the shutter before changing settings; I have never seen anything like this. The camera will be useless to me unless I can come up with an answer.

I appreciate any help you may have to offer. I don't really want to return it, I love the feel ofthe camera and it is a beauty.

Thanks in advance,

Jim
 
Last edited:
Doesn't this look like the second curtain being slower than the first ? Or the first one much faster than the second, depending on which side of the neg you think has the more reasonable exposure. There is a sticky-thread about checking shutter tension on this site somewhere - each drum has it's own tension spring, so it is possible to have them mis-matched.

You could try a short test film using much slower speeds (1/30 or 1/25, depending on camera) to see if the problem becomes less noticeable. It wouldn't magically go away, but the difference between one side of the neg and the other would be proportionally less, due to the first curtain finishing it's movemnt before the second one starts. Such a test doesn't really help though !
 
This is the typical result of misadjusted shutter curtain tension. Your second curtain is running faster than the first, thus the slit gets narrower and causes uneven exposure.

You need to either increase tension of the first curtain spring or decrease tension of the secont curtain. Go see the sticky thread about adjusting curtain tension...

It won't show so pronounced at slower shutter speed though...
 
Thanks to you both for the quick answer. I'd never think of trying to fix this myself, and if it had been CLAed recently, I just will probably need to return it to the seller. I was hoping to spend a little extra and get a fully functional, no problem camera. Too bad. A sweet camera she is.
 
Was it that expensive that you're afraid to try to adjust it yourself? It's really not that difficult... All you need are 2 tiny screwdrivers and some needle nosed pliers.

1. remove securing screw
2. hold the tensioning screw with screwdriver and loosen the nut with pliers
3. increase (CCW) or decrease (CW) tension by turning the screw (which is in fact the axis of curtain roller) 1/4 turn at a time
4. tighten the nut
5. check curtain speed with your TV-set - go to step 3 if necessary
6 replace the securing screw

That's all.
 
Go for it ! It's easier than you think. I did it with my Fed 2 when it developed a sticking shutter curtain. Even if you slip with the pliers and you here this awful rewind noise inside the camera you can just take the screwdriver and tighten it back up. With the lens off set the speed selector on 60 (this is where the second curtain likes to stick most) and watch the travel of the 2 curtains. Just be careful you don't lose any screws.

Greg
 
Jim, GO FOR IT!
You've got step-by-step instructions from spyderman...
And, you may first want to do a short test roll with the slow speeds.
That occurred to me as I was reading... and was confirmed above.

The camera was manufactured between the mid 50's-1970.
You have no idea as to its use history.
Sounds like a little adjustment will do the trick.
I'm waiting on a FED-2, ordered from Fedka. Here's hoping :angel:
And, just to be on the safe side, I've copy-pasted the
instructions, above.

Cheers, mike
 
Last edited:
To add to the general din I will say-- 'Go Ahead, fix it your self'

The true joy of owning a FSU camera is the excuse to pull it apart and trying to put it back together. You can tell the true FSU aficionado because he or she know where to find lens spanners or has ground down a pair of needle nose pliers to be used as a spanner. They know how to make a lens shim from aluminum foil or wax paper and black gaffers tape is your friend.

Go for it.
 
I think they say to use a tv because, with the lens and the back off, when you hold the camera up to the tvs light and snap the shutter, you can see the travel of both the 1st & 2nd shutter curtain & the spacing in between. I just used the overhead lighting.
 
... It has to be the now old-fashioned 'crt' type television, the not-thin kind. Or a computer monitor, the deep type you see all over the sidewalks here in Boston, due to a law that television tubes and monitor tubes cannot foul the environment in landfills. So the tv and monitors sit un-recovered by the sanitation trucks, on the sidewalk until they are smashed and the glass, lead, thorium and mercury falls directly on the ground, getting on the soles of pedestrian's feet, walked into the house, deposited on the floor, and promptly ingested by infants via the teething toys.
Great law, that!

The strobing of the screen gives discreet images to your eye and latent image persistance whatever it's called. Looks like a series of verticle white lines as the shutter curtains pass with the gap from one side to the next. If viewed against the sky, you'll just see a gradient of light to dark as the curtain travels. Or in the case of my dusty mir, just half of the plane lit up as it travels on 1/500.
 
I agree with the other posts, one curtain is wrong. Try taking the back off & firing it on "B" and watching the curtains. If the second curtain is sluggish then it's too low in tension, if the first seems VERY snappy it's probably too high in tension. The ideal tester is the (CRT type) computer monitor, get a blank white window up and fire the shutter while looking through it (lens removed!). You'll see the bands quite easily as per the sticky thread. Then it's a case of adjust & repeat till the stripes are "square".... Tedious but not difficult. Try not to lose the locking screw, they are TINY!

I'd say from the pics that the tension will be quite far off so I'd suggest a full turn initially and see what happens, then fine-tune it when it's nearer. A full turn will probably make quite a noticeable difference so you'll know if you're heading the right way. Make a note of which curtain, which way and how far, so you can return to "initial" settings if it goes the wrong way!
 
IMO the best way is to start from scratch, release all preload of the springs and then set it as low as possible for the shutter to work...

but let's not overwhelm and scare him 😉

So, Jim, I'd advise to start by increasing tension of the first curtain. This way it is far less likely that the second curtain would stop in the middle due to too low tension, (though it might make the shutter a bit louder)...
 
Here's where I start laughing hysterically and i need a slap to stop. This is just not me. If there was an FSU repair shop nearby, I'd bring itthere. Anyone know one in the Washington, DC area? Alexandria, VA? Baltimore, MD, even.
 
If i didn't wish to tinker, i'd send it to fedka as linked above,
usually a curtain dragging is just a symptom of the lack of oil in the works.
Simply adjusting the tension without knowing that the right amount of the right type of oil is in the right place is not really addressing the root of the problem.
 
Interestingly the Fed 2 I got from Oleg did the same thing but only on a few frames on one roll of film. After reading all this I can only assume that the second curtain had a hangup that cleared itself. The last couple of rolls have been fine! 😕

I'm glad you love your Fed enough not to want to hurl it in the bin. 🙂
 
I think it's a great camera, I love the feel, but of almost 72 shots I have taken, 2 came back unexposed, 3 were almost perfect, maybe 2 more I can fix up, the rest are trash filler. Unacceptable ratio, to say the least.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
Fed 50/3.5 collapsible
2
Replies
34
Views
6K
aw614
A
Dorrell
FED 2 Shutter Problems
Replies
7
Views
1K
Brambling
Brambling
B
Fed 2 infinity focus
2
Replies
23
Views
3K
bonino
B
E
FED 2: can't make equal exposure times across frame for all shutter settings
Replies
17
Views
1K
e_asphyx
E
E
FED 2 - how to complete a vertical alignment adjustment
Replies
4
Views
1K
Coldkennels
Coldkennels
Back
Top Bottom