Fed 4 Rangefinder Adjustment **Help**

[Penny Lane]

Amazingly a light application of alcohol and a bit of wiggling restored the function. The rangefinder now appears to be working OK. Will test with film.

Good work!

You can do some preliminary testing with a piece of ground glass or something to that effect over the film rails to get an idea of how the distance markings line up with the true focusing distance. On the other hand, shooting a roll will probably be more fun 🙂

Be sure to post some results!

Cheers,
Derk

 

[snapper78]

Thanks Derk

I'll try the method of taping a bit of clear film, or tracing paper perhaps, to the rails and focusing on a light bulb or something. So far focusing on a distant object and a near object seems to give encouraging results, to judge from the markings on the lens. Furthermore the horizontal and vertical rangefinder spots seem to be better aligned than in my other Feds ( I have too many of the blighters).

 

[snapper78]

What a wonderful resource this site is! After quite a long absence I'm now back and still messing with Fed 4s and other FSU jobs. I have found the Fed 4 generally quite reliable although it is ugly. I now have four of them and one on its way for spares and disassembly practice. My Fed 4s are more reliable than any Fed 2 I have tried, all of which seem to have faults. This is a pity because I think the Fed 2 is really pretty. On the subject of lighter petrol, would that be suitable for dribbling into film advance gears on a MIR that is very, very stiff but takes good pictures? Or should I be brave and take the top off?

 

[wolves3012]

What a wonderful resource this site is! After quite a long absence I'm now back and still messing with Fed 4s and other FSU jobs. I have found the Fed 4 generally quite reliable although it is ugly. I now have four of them and one on its way for spares and disassembly practice. My Fed 4s are more reliable than any Fed 2 I have tried, all of which seem to have faults. This is a pity because I think the Fed 2 is really pretty. On the subject of lighter petrol, would that be suitable for dribbling into film advance gears on a MIR that is very, very stiff but takes good pictures? Or should I be brave and take the top off?

A somewhat late reply: take the top off, it's really not that difficult and the MIR doesn't have the complications of, say, the 4K. You can use lighter petrol but it's volatile and so will evaporate again, leaving the original gummed-up grease just as gummed up. Do the job once but properly and you'll be much happier, as will the camera.

You can find instructions in the Zorki 4K CLA thread, just ignore the bits about the winder spring and slow-speed escapements which don't apply.

 

[snapper78]

Thanks. Will do.