FED returns!

DH73

DH73

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Jul 23, 2016
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My lovely 1955 FED 1g, which wears a 1937-made Leitz Elmar lens, has just returned from a comprehensive overhaul by Steve Skears (www.skearsphoto.com). So nice to have this camera back, which now operates as it should do - probably better now than when it was made.

Steve also added some washers to the film chamber, so that normal 135 canisters sit in the correct position.

20180504_104712e.jpg


20180504_104751e.jpg
 
DH73 said:
Steve also added some washers to the film chamber, so that normal 135 canisters sit in the correct position.
Click to expand...

I wonder: Is that a common issue with Soviet cameras? On my Zorki-4, each exposure looked like its a little crooked. Its not noticeable looking at them frame-by-frame, but looking at the strip of negatives it appears each image is cocked a couple degrees crooked on the film. Then, my most recent roll ripped halfway through... If its going through the gate crooked, I can imagine it catching on something sharp and tearing. I'd sure like to get it sorted out because I like shooting with the ol' tank!
 
css9450 said:
I wonder: Is that a common issue with Soviet cameras? On my Zorki-4, each exposure looked like its a little crooked. Its not noticeable looking at them frame-by-frame, but looking at the strip of negatives it appears each image is cocked a couple degrees crooked on the film. Then, my most recent roll ripped halfway through... If its going through the gate crooked, I can imagine it catching on something sharp and tearing. I'd sure like to get it sorted out because I like shooting with the ol' tank!
Click to expand...

Certainly my FEDs (1 and 2) have this problem. I understand that they were designed to use the Leica style user loaded 35mm canisters, which are longer than the Kodak designed 135 canisters. Looking at the test film Steve ran through it, it now sits straight, with no sprocket holes visible when the shutter is open.
 
I now use an o-ring from a motorcycle chain to sit on the modern film cassette to make it line up nicely on my Leica III. It's just the right diameter to sit on the spool of a 35mm cassette.
 
The fact what some non FSU are willing to touch FSU for paid service is astonishing!

css9450 said:
I wonder: Is that a common issue with Soviet cameras? On my Zorki-4, each exposure looked like its a little crooked. Its not noticeable looking at them frame-by-frame, but looking at the strip of negatives it appears each image is cocked a couple degrees crooked on the film. Then, my most recent roll ripped halfway through... If its going through the gate crooked, I can imagine it catching on something sharp and tearing. I'd sure like to get it sorted out because I like shooting with the ol' tank!
Click to expand...

Is this the one I sold? It came as rear cap for my J-3 and it was stuffed with paper rings :).
 
Ko.Fe. said:
Is this the one I sold? It came as rear cap for my J-3 and it was stuffed with paper rings :).
Click to expand...

Nope, someone else probably has that one. Mine came from Fedka. Its actually pretty reliable until this tearing film issue, but I bet a spacer of some sort will keep the film cartridge where it belongs and then all will be good with it.
 
I have improved the alignment of the film in my FED I by laying a penny on top of the film can. It is also worthwhile sometimes to trim off the excess of the felt at the bottom end where the film emerges from the can.
 
There's a lot about this problem (going from an old reloadable cassette to a modern one) in the Leica screw threaded lens/body threads but I can't think where.

Regards, David

PS Good firm that Skears they've done several of my old cameras...
 
I'm going to try the penny trick on my Zorki-Zorki and FED2 Thanks for mentioning it. I've had a roll rip in one of my FSU cameras.

Steve W
 
David Hughes said:
There's a lot about this problem (going from an old reloadable cassette to a modern one) in the Leica screw threaded lens/body threads but I can't think where.

Regards, David

PS Good firm that Skears they've done several of my old cameras...
Click to expand...

I've been using Skears since their repair shop opened in Bailiff Street, just after I moved to Northampton in 1990. Steve extended the life of my beloved Honeywell-Pentax H3v, which was worn out. I got another few years from it until the shutter ribbon broke. They are lovely people to deal with, very honest and approachable. You may have read on the 120/220 Rangefinder board about the hand-made 6x7 camera they lent me, to brighten up my recovery from the major surgery I had recently.
https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2808236#post2808236
I take it, David, that you are no longer in Northamptonshire?
Quite a few local shots on my flickr page, especially from Abington Park, as I used to live right by the park:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskWHFR8o
 
DH73 said:
...I take it, David, that you are no longer in Northamptonshire?
Quite a few local shots on my flickr page, especially from Abington Park, as I used to live right by the park:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskWHFR8o
Click to expand...

Hi,

Yes, still here but on the fringes and, oddly enough, I've never been in the park but I stopped going to Northampton when the car parking went pearshaped; apart from a visit or two to NGH recently.

Regards, David
 
This thread helped me resurrect a shelf queen Fed 1 that was tracking so bad that film was wadding up in a big bunch on the back side of the spool and jamming the whole works. I used adhesive backed felt to make a "gasket" that wouldn't fall out when I changed film.

If you need a lens cap, the black cap from 32oz bottle of Powerade Energy Drink is the perfect size. The cap threads make it a snap fit - much better than an aftermarket plastic cap.
 
Franko said:
This thread helped me resurrect a shelf queen Fed 1 that was tracking so bad that film was wadding up in a big bunch on the back side of the spool and jamming the whole works. I used adhesive backed felt to make a "gasket" that wouldn't fall out when I changed film.

If you need a lens cap, the black cap from 32oz bottle of Powerade Energy Drink is the perfect size. The cap threads make it a snap fit - much better than an aftermarket plastic cap.
Click to expand...

I'm really pleased that this thread, and the combined knowledge of it's posters, have helped revive your FED1.

I use the lens cap from a FED 5cm f3.5 collapsible lens (the Elmar clone), although it kept falling off, so put a little surgical tape around the inside to help it stay in place.
 
My take-up spool spindle wobbled and I thought that was my problem. Several attempts to fix that didn't cure the wind problem but adjusting the cartridge height did. I've run a test roll completely through twice with no glitches and have a "user"now. Thanks again. It seems that I remember reading that postwar FSU cameras were modified to accept modern carts but mine sure wasn't. I used thinned adhesive backed felt for my gasket so I wouldn't have something that could fall out and be lost. My IIIa needs the same treatment for film placement but doesn't jam or tear film.

The Powerade cap is not elegant but very functional. I've used adhesive backed felt in Fedka caps before but prefer the drink cap. It snaps on and will stay on with nothing else required.
 
Hi,

During the war the factory was evacuated from the war zone and I imagine that they had problems making them during the war and then afterwards. It's on the cards that pre-war parts that they had in stock were used and then replaced with modern ones to fit the then standard Kodak cassette, as - like the Leica and Contax - they were originally designed for loading your own bulk or refill film...

Regards, David
 
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