Fed fans help?

[bigdog]

I just made an impulse buy on Fleabay and purchased a FED 2C with the following description:

Fed-2 C Russian 35mm Rangefinder Camera. The camera is in excellent condition.
Works completely properly.

I paid 8 pounds plus 12 pounds shipping to the USA ($39 total)...an ok price?

I have only owned a Canon QL17 GIII which I love even with the periodic light leak and quirky mulit-frame advance if I cock the film advance lever too many times!

Can you owners/expertsl fill me in on the good and bad of this camera. All I know is it is an cheap Leica copy.

Did curiousity and impulse got the best of me?

There is no light meter right?

Film loads from underneath?

Does it take interchangeable lenses?

How does it handle and what size is it compared to my Canon?

Can you tell from photo what lens is attached?

I have not received camera yet but picture from auction is attached.

 

[santino]

I paid 8 pounds plus 12 pounds shipping to the USA ($39 total)...an ok price?

it is

There is no light meter right?

right

Film loads from underneath?

nope

Does it take interchangeable lenses?

probably all LTM lenses

Can you tell from photo what lens is attached?

Industar 61, a rather good lens.

 

[santino]

sorry, I took a closer look at the lens, seems to be a Industar 61 LD, you one lucky guy. some say it's the best russian prime lens, it's multi coated!

 

[bigdog]

Thanks Santino,

Im glad to hear my impulse may have paid off. Lets wait and see what comes in the mail!

So film loads from back with conventional film door?

What is the f/stop and focal length on the lens? Is it a 55mm f/2?

 

[robin a]

9-29 Hi,you will like it!They're fun to use,no meter,sunny 16.DO NOT CHANGE THE SHUTTER SPEED BEFORE YOU ADVANCE THE FILM!!! Built like a tank.

 

[Stanton]

I have several FED2s, in various sub-models, and, primarily, in color of the body covering. I like using them to go back to the fully manual days of my youth. (I"m 65). Remember the advice on winding to cock the shutter before changing the film speed. It is correct. I have a number of inexpensive USSR lenses, the 35mm, 85mm, and 135mm, with a finder and have consistently good luck. I hope you do. Dave

 

[GeneW]

My Fed-2 is one of my fav cams. I have a Canonet QL17 GIII as well and they're quite different. Both are good cams to shoot with. The Fed has a nice heft but is relatively small and I love its quirks.

Gene

 

[oscroft]

Hi bigdog,

I think you've made a good purchase there, and it's a pretty good price. I've got several FSU cameras, including a Fed 2C which I really like - it's very comfortable in the hand, feels nicely solid, and has an accurate long base rangefinder. It doesn't have slow shutter speeds, but I never want them anyway.

Just the one warning (as with all the FSU rangefinders): ALWAYS cock the shutter before changing shutter speed - trying to change the shutter speed first will very often break the shutter.

 

[Aurelius]

I have posted this one before, but if you want a "working-metering-method" try this! The VC meter II & Double shoe Adaptor Type C (10mm). The type C is sadly discontinued, but if you find one get it!

The sample pic:
FED 2, Voigtländer Color Skopar 21/4, Voigtländer VC Meter II, Rollei R3 400

 

[Aurelius]

The fed2 is fun to use, and you can get funny pics too ...

a canon? no no.😀
http://www.fotosidan.se/gallery/viewpic.htm/793879.htm?set=lp

 

[Aurelius]

one moore ...😀

http://www.fotosidan.se/gallery/viewpic.htm/793899.htm?set=lp

 

[giria]

Hello there,

You just bought a very good and capable camera. It´s a cheap Leica copy but that doesn´t mean the quality is bad. It´s a completely diferent animal from your Canonet. It´s a little more difficult to use, doesn´t have all the refinents of a more modern camera.

The lens you get is very good, one of the best russian made lenses. You have a wide choice of aditional lenses you can choose and the good part is they´re low priced. I recomend that you get a Industar-50, if possible the colapsible type. In my opinion it´s the best russian lens ever built, the results are just amazing. The only drawback, they're a bit slow at f:3,5. If you like a faster lens, get a jupiter-9, another little jewel for a small price.

I´m sure you won't be disapointed by your impulse...
​

 

[ZorkiKat]

Does it take interchangeable lenses?

How does it handle and what size is it compared to my Canon?

Can you tell from photo what lens is attached?

The FED-2 will take interchangeable lenses. It will take FSU Industar and Jupiter lenses whose FLs range from 28-135mm. Though it has the Leica thread mount, not all LTM lenses from Leica, Canon or other makers can fit the FED-2.

Only those with "full barrel" rangefinder coupling cams will fit the camera. Some lenses from Leica or Canon used a tongue-shaped cam which at best won't mount properly oriented to the camera's RF sensor tip, or at worst will cause the cam to jam with the tip and make lens removal difficult.

Unlike the roller sensors found in Leica or Canon, FED and Zorki used pointy, fixed tips. These were designed to work with full barrel cams which don't give any opportunity for catching cams. FED lens mounts also tend to have non-standard thread milling. Entry points and stopping points are not on the same place so a lens will mount with its index marks slightly differently oriented. Where a lens can be expected to stop so that its marks could be seen from the top on a Leica or Canon, this isn't always so with FED or Zorki. A full-barrel cam will make a lens couple correctly with the camera regardless of how it parks on the mount.


On the picture below, a Canon 28mm is shown on a FED-2 whose mount slightly differs from the standard Canon mount. The lens mounts on the camera with its tab at 6:00 position instead of the usual 7:00 or 8:00.

Your camera appears to have an Industar 61 L/D 50mm lens on it. Though lens and camera are not strictly contemporary with each other, the I-61 L/D is one of the best 50mms ever made.

Were you referring to a Canon LTM camera? Handling the FED-2 may actually be easier. 🙂

Jay

 

[nzeeman]

fed is great camera. i only have problem with mounting industar 22 but i dont care. when i want my i22 i use my zorki s.