Fed 2 infinity focus

[johnbay]

I have two Fed 2's, one a 2b and the other a 2d. The 2b rangefinder focuses perfectly at infinity with my J6 and I26 lenses. However, my I22 will not rotate to infinity on this camera. On the Fed 2d, the focus is slightly off at infinity with the J8 and the I26 but perfect with the I22. I would appreciate any thoughts on this from the RFF member FSU experts.

Thanks,

johnbay

 

[Jocko]

Just a couple of thoughts...

As Philipp (RXMD) recently pointed out (and which is something that few of us had realised until now) people in the Soviet Union rarely changed lenses in the incessant way we do. There is also good evidence that the FED, despite it's LTM mount, was not really intended for interchangeable lenses, which are never mentioned in its various manuals (unlike the Zorki or Kiev). So, we might assume that a certain degree of incompatibility is inevitable. The Fed was not designed to take an I-22 and I seem to recall that some people find the infinity lock fouls the body and prevents the lens turning, I wonder if that is happening here.

I believe it was recommended practice, if using interchangeable lenses, to have all of them adjusted to the camera. As we buy odd lenses, they are unlikely to be perfectly matched and I have found that I routinely have to adjust the RF to suit a given lens. In practice I leave one lens on one body.

Cheers, Ian

 

[wolves3012]

As Jocko says, these lenses were not subject to tight quality control and lenses were matched (in theory anyway) to bodies in many cases. I find that certain lens/body combinations show slight variation in terms of the RF and lens agreeing at infinity.

I've just tried an Industar 22 on a FED 2b body and it fits and can be moved to infinity BUT only by the smallest margin. An Industar 50 collapsible that I have will not quite go to infinity. As Jocko thought, this is down to the infinity lock fouling the body and I could well believe other collapsibles would not fit. The lens mount on cameras normally fitted with collapsibles stands proud of the body by more than those that didn't come so fitted, so it's often not possible to use collapsibles. Some examples have had the lock pin removed and some may have been manufactured without - this may well be the reason.

 

[johnbay]

Ian, Wolves,

I appreciate your expert and helpful comments. My plan is to do as suggested; one body, one lens, keeping a CV25 Snapshot Skopar on the Fed 2d and the J8 on the 2b. It makes for a nice two body kit. Unrelated to my original post is the fact that the J8 is somewhat stiff while focusing but otherwise pristine. It would seem like that it requires cleaning and lubrication. Is this an easy procedure? Again, thanks for your help.

johnbay

 

[Jocko]

Hallo Johnbay 🙂
I couldn't lubricate an oil can, and the only time I've taken lenses apart has been using a stuck filter 🙁

But thankfully the great Kim Coxon is made of finer stuff! Copious instructions on dismantling and lubing the J8 may be found here: http://www.pentax-manuals.com/repairs.htm

Cheers, Ian 🙂

 

[mike goldberg]

Hi, I know that wolves3012 & Jocko are two guys who know what they are talking about. A lovely 35mm black J-12 arrived today, and very likely it will go on a Zorki-4 and stay there. And, a dedicated 35mm Rostow viewer sits in the shoe.

BTW: When I sent my Fed-2c to Oleg for CLA, I also sent a favorite FED 50/3.5 collapsible to check R/F alignment with.
Cheers, Mike

 

[johnbay]

Fed 2 infinity focus

Ian,

Thanks for the link on CLA of the Jupiter 8. I can see that this would not be for me. If it remains stiff, I will send it off for service. Thank you Mike for reinforcing the "one lens, one camera" with regard to FSU cameras. I am enjoying my Feds immensley as they are forcing me back to Sunny 16 and a hand held meter after years of shooting with OM's and more recently a Hexar RF.

johnbay