FED 2 - first roll

[wolves3012]

Right, so I've just received back my first roll of film from my recently-acquired FED 2. Lens is great, shutter not so great. The film was tranparency so I can't scan and post pictures :-(

Now, overall they're a little under-exposed though a couple of frames were certainly goofed by me. Since I'm confident in my metering, that makes me think the shutter is a little fast. On a couple of frames there's a definite light band on the left of the picture. Carelessly I didn't note my exposures but it seems to be only on the highest speeds, 1/500 or possibly 1/250.

I did the "monitor test" and the stripes look rather narrow, but they are the correct shape. Anyway, I've backed off curtain 1 tension by 2 turns. That hasn't upset the shape of the stripes, but neither does it seem to widen them either. There's about 3 turns tension on both rollers now.

Bearing in mind that the whole mechanism seems *very* free-running and the camera has IMO been over-lubricated (I had to remove surplus when I first got it), does this seem a reasonable step? On B the shutter makes that kind of open-close clip-clop noise like all my other FSUs and both surtains seem snappy.

Advice from those that know please!

 

[reagan]

Hard to say, but I don't think I've got any FSUs that show any signs of being "too fast", but it's possible. Does the light look even on the pics? like from side to side, one side not darker than the other? If the curtains look even when tested and they sound right, as in fairly smooth and not banging closed, I'd try another test roll and see if your adjusting helped. Good luck.

 

[wolves3012]

Hard to say, but I don't think I've got any FSUs that show any signs of being "too fast", but it's possible. Does the light look even on the pics? like from side to side, one side not darker than the other? If the curtains look even when tested and they sound right, as in fairly smooth and not banging closed, I'd try another test roll and see if your adjusting helped. Good luck.

Well, here's the rub - on virtually every shot the lighting varied across the frame so it's impossible to say on them. On the few with even backgrounds there's no sign of variation, but they were not taken on the higher speeds.

The curtains sound smooth and they don't bang closed, before or after adjustment. I guess it's another roll of film to know for sure if it's worked, this time I'll go for even backgrounds and try all speeds with notes! That'll teach me to be more thorough on a first roll I guess! I like this camera a lot, so I'm keen to get it working A1.

 

[fidget]

Hi, a suggestion which might help: I suspected that my camera (FED3a) was having similar problems with uneven exposure, but, just as you say, it's very difficult to see. Take a few frames of a evenly lit subject: include a couple taken with the camera upside down, sounds silly but can eliminate or confirm problems like this as you will have opposite curtain travel on each one.
BTW should "we" develop a test roll procedure? Perhaps between us we can come up with a good series of test shots which are informative.
Dave....

 

[MartinP]

Fidget, that is a very simple and practical idea, for the upside-down pic to compare for curtain problems. I am trying to sort out an underexposure symptom on a Zorki these few days and will use your tip 🙂

It's also a good idea of yours to figure out a generally applicable test routine for "new" cameras, but I'm too new to rf's to have much experience there. I'm sure it would be a very useful joint-project sticky-thread though....

 

[reagan]

A shot with a portion of sky will often reveal uneven exposure. In the middle of this page from Jay's website is an example. (And I have several more examples on my hard drive. 🙁 )

I've been playing with FSUs for only a year and a half or so, but one thing I've learned is that "test shots" get taken ever so often as I tweek here and there. When I first get a camera, I'll right off shoot a roll, then give it a good take-the-body-off cleaning and lube as needed. During this, I adjust the shutter tension as per Dave's thread and Jay's website. (I'm a tinkering addict too. ) A second roll then gets put through it and more tweeking [usually] if necessary. More tweeking = more test shots, but not to despair. I've gotten some very enjoyable photos from test shots that didn't turn out to be "technically perfect." Each camera has it's own little unique characteristics, but alas, in time I get the camera to a performance that suits me.

Hang in there, be patient... you'll enjoy the ol' FED for a long time.

 

[fidget]

I do similar retests as Reagan, in my case largely because I forgot a test or had reason to suspect a problem from the results of my first roll. And, in my case I've had some nice shots spoiled by exposure problems I hadn't seen on earlier test rolls (you should not point a test roll shoot at a good subject, unless you like the uncertainty?). Let's start a thread inviting input for a test roll. We've all got some good ideas which may not be apparent to those new to test rolling FSU cams (and me!).
Dave