FED 2 problem - what would you do?

fraley

fraley

Beware of Claws
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Sep 6, 2004
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I've got a FED 2 that I sent to Oleg for a new shutter curtain. The old one was cracked. He put a nice curtain in but it wasn't firing correctly when I got it back. Some times the shutter wouldn't open at all. I ended up with a lot of blank frames on a test roll.

I let him know and he apologized and said to send it back. I paid for shipping (again) and minimal parts cost only. Also he fixed the shutter times on a Zorki for free, to make up for the headache.

I got both back the other day. The Zorki is great. The FED 2 still has a capping or non-opening shutter.

Could be me? Am I not supposed to rotate the shutter speed dial 360 degrees?

Rather than pay shipping both ways a third time, I'm going to take it to my neighborhood camera shop which has a camera repair person of Russian extraction. They'll charge more but it will be quicker and no shipping.

What would you do?
 
You sent it to Oleg twice and it's still not working? Man, that's unheard of!!! Something must be wrong with the camera, cause I can't imagine Oleg not getting it right twice.
 
Hey Fraley ~ ouch. Definitely an odd one and surprising Oleg didn't get 'er done, but he is human and I'm sure he runs into an ornery shooter on occasion. IMHO, you're on the right track by going to your local photo guy, if you don't mind the added investment.

Also (if you haven't already) I'd just email Oleg and let him know the update. He has always seemed very concerned about satisfying the customer, as I'm sure you know.

Now, why are you rotating the shutter speed dial 360? To change speeds? (or was that a joke?)
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Anyway, best of luck. Hang in there. One thing FSUs have incorporated in each unit is a "Automatic Patience Builder."
 
CVBLZ4 said:
Now, why are you rotating the shutter speed dial 360? To change speeds? (or was that a joke?)
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I do hope so! Fraley, you just need to move it a tiny bit - to the desired speed. There is some dispute about whether you really need to wind on before changing speeds on a FED 2 ( I do, from habit and caution) but (and I dont want to try this) I wonder if you're somehow damaging the shutter mechanism by turning the knob "all the way round". In which case, Oleg's first repair may have been successful... Only a thought, I stress...

Cheers, Ian
 
the shutter speed knob definitely doesn't turn all the way round. The shutter speed mechanism is basicly the same as on Zenit E, and there you can turn it from B, through 30, 125, 250 to 500. Never directly from B to 500 in the oposite direction. So i guess that if you're turning it from B to 500 you may be damaging the camera.

But don't take my post too seriously, I don't own a Fed 2, but I have a Zenit E and I read that Fed 2 has very very similar shutter speed mechanism.
 
Have a go yourself. Buy more of these and you will need to learn at least how to clean the internals. If you fail, you can still send it to your local repair man.
 
How about switching from FEDs to Zorkis? After buying several Zorkis, I decided to get some "colored" bodies, so got three FED 2's. I'm NOT impressed with them - two of them can't seem to agree on getting the back on & off.

My understanding is that the FEDs were sort of the "every man's" camera. I don't know if Zorkis were better made, but, at least in my experience, they seem to work better.
 
Thanks everyone! I guess I should update Oleg. He addressed the shutter problem once -- the first time around was for a new curtain, not the shutter. So maybe I should give him another chance..

ps. the Fed 2(e) seems to have a rotating dial or I have a bad 'un. My Fed 5c and my Zorki's do not rotate around, you'd have to force it.
 
I have a FED-2d and the shutter speed dial is willing to turn between B and 1/500. I'm not saying I've done it, nor have I attended any meetings where it was advocated and I definitely haven't dialed phone numbers of people who called other people who have done it. I'm just saying there's no obvious resistance in the shutter speed dial between B and 1/500. :D
 
Spyderman said:
the shutter speed knob definitely doesn't turn all the way round. The shutter speed mechanism is basicly the same as on Zenit E, and there you can turn it from B, through 30, 125, 250 to 500. Never directly from B to 500 in the oposite direction. So i guess that if you're turning it from B to 500 you may be damaging the camera.
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I agree with Spyderman. :) Good luck on your camera.
 
Okay, sounds like I broke it :( Or it was done broke and is still broke :(
Mayhaps I shouldst poichase a Leica IIIf...
 
dll927 said:
My understanding is that the FEDs were sort of the "every man's" camera. I don't know if Zorkis were better made, but, at least in my experience, they seem to work better.
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Which goes to show how varied these things can be. I have two FED 2 (or is that FEDs 2 or FED 2s?). One is as smooth and quiet as you can imagine, the other more agricultural. A third one is on the way back from Yoshkar Ola and Oleg surgery and I am sure it will be the best of the lot when it arrives.
 
lushd said:
Which goes to show how varied these things can be. I have two FED 2 (or is that FEDs 2 or FED 2s?). One is as smooth and quiet as you can imagine, the other more agricultural.
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2 X FED 2 = FED 4! I may be mad, but I've always felt that there is an essential difference in the the nature of Zorki's (Zorkii?) and FEDs. It seems to me that the Zorki aspired to be an "international" camera. Compare the Zorkis of the late 50s - especially the 5 and 6, IMHO the best of all - with comparable western cameras. They come off pretty well.

On the other hand FEDs seem truer to classic Soviet design. Robust and effective, punching above their weight, sacrificing comfort and frills to the attainment of a goal. The FED 2 always strikes me as the exact counterpart of the PPsh-41 submachine gun (considered of course, purely as an object). It is precisely the solid, "agricultural" qualities that I find preferable to the aspirant Zorki - especially the 4, which I have never taken to... Just my irrational opinion of course....

Ian
 
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