Fed 3 light leaks and shutter sticking

[Cjhillman]

Hi everyone!

I'm new on here and thought I'd start with my Fed3. I bought a lovely gold Fed3 last year and loved everything about it. I used it a few times but, had to retire it as out of a roll of 24, only about 16 would come out and some of those had black blurred edges to them and it seemed to get so unpredictable (I now know it's a shutter problem, most likely 250 and 500 speeds ) . Also light leaks started to appear and I went back to my Nikon FG20.

So fast forward to last week and my Girlfriend surprised me with a new "fully serviced" fed 3 from Ukraine. I was delighted! But, realised it was far from serviced.

1)shutter speed selector knob in the wrong place. (Fixed)
2) self time sticking and then not firing if it makes it.
3) light leaks in the curtain! Again!!


So first of all I wanted to ask advice on the light leaks. I found a how to on the Lomography site using white glue and black plastic paint (which I haven't found yet). My problem is the shutter curtain has deteriorated right on the edge of where it wraps onto the spool. I'm concerned to get glue in there as it'll jam the whole thing up so, I thought of repairing it from the back.
Any thoughts?

I do want to fix both cameras at some point so any help on checking shutter speak for a newbie would be appreciated. Trying to avoid sending them in for major £££ services. Don't want to waste money and film.

Chris

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Painting shutter cloth, soaking in WD-40 is not going to fix anything. Sorry, but Lomography side is not something to trust.
FSU shutter cloth is not Leica quality and durability. And lube needed to be replaced decades ago.

You have three options:
Do complete CLA, including shutter cloth replacement by yourself.
Try to find service.
Buy another camera from Ukraine. Where are couple of sellers who does sell after CLA and testing with film. Just one or two on entire e-bay.

 

[Joao]

For SMALL pinholes or thinned curtains you can use the black paint used to paint fabric or T-shirts. Let it dry for 24 hours.
Keep in mind that: 1)This is a temporary fix 2) It may not work in major lightleaks like the one you posted.
Regards
Joao

 

[Sid836]

It is so cheap that you should not bother with it and get another one. It is so easy to fix that if you have another one you can get the curtains from it.

 

[Cjhillman]

I understand these are cheap but, I just thought I'd fix what I had rather than keep buying broken ones. Also thought if I could repair these I could keep on top of them then.

Anyone know where you can get blinds for these other than buying used cameras?

I tried to dismantle the black one and the screw that hold the shutter button on has half sheared off... I guess that one is never coming apart .

Chris

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Ebay has at least one seller of curtains. But I think he sells Zenit curtains as FED curtains.
Another alternative is to buy on ebay cloth material (one seller from Japan). One which has rubber on one side only. Not on two. He also sells ribbons. But often old ones are good.

My FED-2 current shutter has one curtain from ebay seller of "original" FED (which is Zenit curtain) and second is from this Japan seller material (but rubber on both sides). And... shutter works.

To get curtains replaced you have to use utility knife and special glue which is available for purchase.
Entire camera re-haul is doable by regular tools, but I recommend to buy MiC cheap round clams or make them to remove VF, RF round frames without damaging them.

In general, you need to Search on Google for DiY.
Asking how to on forums is waste of time, IMO.

Here is one example. Googling FED-3 service gives:
https://www.lomography.com/homes/falsedigital/notes/1120-dissecting-my-fed-3-camera
http://www.dvdtechcameras.com/info/2.htm
http://fedka.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=590
http://jay.fedka.com/index_files/Page488.htm
http://www.paulbg.com/Fed 2.html

Videos for "ремонт ФЭД-3":
https://youtu.be/hHtrrGjiHJU
https://youtu.be/50NjQAywooo
https://youtu.be/ZipEWbpxAaI
https://youtu.be/MKGj7ruQ0_M
https://youtu.be/BKvbKPMlDcY

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

You could always send it to Oleg and get it sorted out. He's at:-

http://www.okvintagecamera.com/

A lot of people will tell you not to bother but I'm all for restoring them and using them. The result should be a very nice camera that you'll enjoy using. Why not send the old 'posh' one and then you'd have it back as you wanted it originally?

Regards, David

PS The sheered screw head is one of the reasons I'm against people repairing cameras at home.

 

[ForestCap]

Buy another camera from Ukraine. Where are couple of sellers who does sell after CLA and testing with film. Just one or two on entire e-bay.

Can you post links to the ebay sellers who test their cameras with film before sale? Till now I haven't encountered any. On the contrary I've dealt with some who didn't even bother to check if there are holes on shutter curtains..

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Some with CLA indication.

http://www.ebay.com/usr/ussr_time_machine

Some from my saved sellers list:
http://www.ebay.com/usr/alex-ukr-alex
http://www.ebay.com/usr/hero4g

This one indicated to be tested with film:
www.ebay.com/sch/ua-artprojectcom

This one was the same in 2012. I purchased FED-2 as backup for my FED-2 which was with Oleg service.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/wwaph
Don't know if he is still active or switched user name for sales. FED-2 came with test film.

 

[ThreeToedSlothLuke]

My 2 cents worth.

A Fed-3 from Moldova was my first rangefinder and it too had plenty of holes in the curtain that were only visible when the shutter was cocked. Someone on this site suggested Liquid Electrical tape. I bought some and painted the curtain coat by coat -- letting it dry between coats -- until no more holes could be seen.
Still have the camera, it still works.

Give it a go, you really don't have that much to lose.

Colin

 

[ForestCap]

Some with CLA indication.

http://www.ebay.com/usr/ussr_time_machine

Some from my saved sellers list:
http://www.ebay.com/usr/alex-ukr-alex
http://www.ebay.com/usr/hero4g

This one indicated to be tested with film:
www.ebay.com/sch/ua-artprojectcom

This one was the same in 2012. I purchased FED-2 as backup for my FED-2 which was with Oleg service.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/wwaph
Don't know if he is still active or switched user name for sales. FED-2 came with test film.

Thanks. I've had good experience with alex-ukr-alex too.

I've talked to the sellers listed above who are associated with "SynOptics", they do give their camera CLAs and sometimes a nice paint for eye-candy lovers but curtain replacement is not included in it, and they somehow don't guarantee the lubrication for low temperature shooting (which one does need to pay attention to on any camera with Leica-styled shutter). Those issues doesn't make it justify the price they charge, for me .🙂

 

[Steve M.]

The best way to fix your camera is called a Bessa R :]

 

[ForestCap]

The best way to fix your camera is called a Bessa R :]

I was against this before I got my Bessa-R, but now having it in my jacket pocket with a collapsible Industar-50, I change my mind 🙂

But still I would take my KIEV-4a out for winter shooting.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I was against this before I got my Bessa-R, but now having it in my jacket pocket with a collapsible Industar-50, I change my mind 🙂

But still I would take my KIEV-4a out for winter shooting.

Take pictures of R now and year later after jacket pocket life and then compare it to Kiev-4a exterior.

Many of us went R way. Not all of us keep going on it.