FED-3 top removal

[p.giannakis]

Hi everyone,

I was thinking to clean the rangefinder of my FED-3, it is so cloudy that it is almost unusable.
Has anyone attempted to remove the top part of the camera? How straight-forward is it and are there any issues I should be aware of?

Thanks again!

 

[FalseDigital]

I've done it before. Depends on what version you have though. My version you have to remove the film advance and wind knobs plus the vertical RF glass in the front (that one just screws off with your hands, or if it's stiff you might need vice grip plyers to twist it off) It's pretty straight forward. There are tiny screws on the sides of the knobs to untwist. However DO NOT remove the screws on the coldshoe, it's completely unnecessary and annoying to put it back on.

Here's a picture I took of mine:

This is the Vertical RF glass that you have to twist off

I should note that this will affect vertical alignment so make sure you screw it back on correctly at the right distance. Mine was off so I had to use a metal washer to space it correctly. Hopefully yours won't need that.

Here it is put back together. If you're having a lot of trouble feel free to PM me with any questions. I'm no expert but I'll try to help you if I can.

 

[p.giannakis]

Hi falseDigital,

I have the Fed-3 b, with the wind knob, slightly different than yours but i suppose that it should be pretty much the same procedure to disassemble it.

 

[wolves3012]

The 3b has a wind-lever, not a knob.It's straightforward to remove the top, nothing to trick you really. When you remove the top, you may well find a big washer inside and wonder where it came from - it fits over the eyepiece tube, immediately inside the cover.