Fed 5 Help!

[llvo]

Hi all,

I'm a DSLR camera user and that's a FSU Feb 5 that brought me into RF family.
However, after the first and second roll of film, I discovered something was wrong as the top of the picture shows some shadow every single frame.
Anyone know the cause of this problem? Thanks a lot!

 

[Phantomas]

I don't see anything strange...

 

[Uwe_Nds]

The dark shadow looks like the edge of the film gate.
How do the negatives look like?
Is the exposed part centered (more or less) between the upper and lower holes?
1. Could be a printer's error,
2. Could be that the film was not properly inserted.

Anyway, the pictures look good to me.
The FED5 was also my introduction to rangefinders.

Cheers,
Uwe

 

[robin a]

Me either,they look ok.

Robin

 

[llvo]

Just saw the negative, I found that all shots are in contact with the lower holes, not at the center of the film.

Is it the problem of the camera? The film was installed correctly - as far as I know. 😕

 

[Proteus617]

Check out your shot with the red flag. The shadow is at the top and decreases then ends as the film heads for the star wheels on the frame counter. It suggests that the film cartridge is sitting too low and transporting in a slightly diagonal manner to the take up spool. My first guess would be that the cartridge did not seat on the slot of the rewind shaft and was forced down a bit. Let us know how it goes.

 

[selloutboy]

Proteus617 and Uwe_Nds already pointed out, it is possible that the film is travelling diagonally and check your negatives again. Maybe there was an error in the scanning? The negatives were a bit diagonal when scanned? It mostly happens to me when I load 120 film on my TLR but small cropping fixes my loading error.

or it could have been like this too:

Check the left side of the photo, most of my shots in that roll had those dark lines on top of the frames. It's some cloth that is found on rail where the shutter travels. Those parts were black because they are being hit by the light instead of the film. I just trimmed it a little bit and now works well.

The FED 5V is my first RF that I purchased! It had so many problems like light leaks (Holes in the cloth shutter), that cloth thing, and I even had to ask help to relube my I-61. They say it's an ugly camera but I love my like a mother loves his child 😀

Have fun and good luck! Hope I helped.
Thanks much.

It is very hard to describe, I hoped you understood my explanation.

 

[Armoured]

Google this question

Google this question

I have seen and noticed this with some feds and other FSUs. Film seems to sit diagonally from cartridge to take-up spool over the film gate. Someone informed me this was because 'standard' soviet cartridge size sat slightly higher up (was shorter cartridge to the top of the film).

In some cameras, a (relatively) easy fix MAY be taking a washer out from under the prong that holds the cartridge. But will depend on camera and you may not be comfortable doing this.

 

[ully]

I saw this with one of my Feds, I think it is exactly as Armoured described.

 

[Dwig]

Just saw the negative, I found that all shots are in contact with the lower holes, not at the center of the film.

Is it the problem of the camera? The film was installed correctly - as far as I know. 😕

This is not all that uncommon. In fact, I have a 1960 vintage Nikon F that was an EPOI "Demonstrator" that does this. The actual image area is 25mm high. One edge was milled out 1mm too far. There is still a 24mm area well centered that matches the VF.

Measure the image on the negs. If its 24mm high and off center there is some error that you should compare to the VF. Handmade prints and scans will easily correct for the off center image but machine prints or scans are another matter. If the image touching the sprockets is extra image, like on my Nikon, its nothing to be concerned with.

 

[llvo]

It's very unlikely that the image that touched the sprockets was extra in my Fed. As my photos were scanned by a local workship, I guess they didn't readust the machine for it. Despite the "wavy black border" shown in some photos, I guess I better live with it.

Thank you for all the comments! And some more photos to share~

ISO 100, Jupiter 12, Fed 5

ISO 100, Jupiter 12, Fed 5

ISO 100, Industar-61 L/D, Fed 5

ISO 100, Industar-61 L/D, Fed 5 (PP to B&W)

 

[hootnholla1]

I just purchased my own Fed-5! I can't wait for it to come but I have heard it takes a long time for it to finally arrive.

 

[shadowfox]

ISO 100, Jupiter 12, Fed 5

I like this one, the colors are balanced and the details are good.

I believe I also have the same problem (film exposed not perfectly level) with my Zorki-6.
I crop my pictures in the scanner software anyways, so it's not a big problem for me.

 

[timmyd18]

my fed 5 does this as well. i think the quality of the lens and the fact that the meter still works great makes up for it.

by the way, beautiful photos. the market one is making me hungry!

 

[DonaldJ.]

the black marks are from light seals, take off the lens and the back of the camera so you can see the shutter. put the camera on bulb and you should see some of the light seals protruding into the area where the film should cover. i had the same problem and i found it out one day when i looked at the camera up close.