FEDKA and prices

Fedka prices are certainly higher than eBay prices, and if you're willing to gamble on eBay, that's a cheaper route.

Yuri, however, stands by his sales and returns email quickly. His cameras are also shipped from New York, which can make a difference to some of us on this side of the pond.

I purchased my Zorki 4K from Yuri and the shutter jammed during the first half hour of trying it out (I was careful to always cock the shutter before setting shutter speeds so it wasn't accidental).

Yuri was very apologetic and sent me a different Zorki 4K as soon as the first one arrived back. It has been perfect.

I think his prices are somewhat high, but if you want a sure thing, it may be worth it. It was for me.

Gene
 
Yep. I have an Iskra from him that is in excellent condition and should get, today or tomorrow a Kiev 4a with Jupiter 8m from him. I had actually ordered a cheaper 4AM from him, however when he tested it prior to boxing it up, he decided the shutter didn't sound right. So he offered me a 4a at the same price...

That's why I buy from Yuri and will do all my Soviet camera biz with him. His prices are higher than playing Ukranian roullette on ebay, but I'll get a camera that works from someone who cares about his customers. And he get's my custom as a result.

Hope this makes sense.

William
 
It is good to hear that there is a reputable dealer of FSU cameras. The only reason I have not gone and bid for one is because it seems that everyone has trouble with them when they arrive at their new home. I have looked at Fedka and have been very tempted, if a Kiev is in my future, I will be willing to pay a little extra for the piece of mind.
 
There seem to be so many problems with FSU cameras that "customer service" takes on a special importance when buying. I'd rather deal with someone in NY than in the Ukraine or Bielorus. I think it's worth the extra cost to shop with Fedka, though I wish all the gear there had received a CLA. That's what's attractive about buying instead from Oleg or Certa6...

I bought a Kiev 4a from Yuri, and it didn't work, so I sent it back. He sent a replacement that also had problems, so I sent that back too. He finally hand-picked one, tested it with film, and sent that along with the negs and prints he'd shot! It's been fine as long as I leave it in the leather case, otherwise it suffers the odd light leak occasionally. Seems to be a crap-shoot.
 
The problems are where the fun is! If you only pay $20.00 for camera and have to puzzle through all of these interesting issues, you are buying a lot of entertainment for only a sawbuck.

If you want to make photographs, you might want to have an alternative camera of your choice.

-Paul
 
If you want to make photographs, you might want to have an alternative camera of your choice.

-Paul [/B][/QUOTE]
Make photographs???------- Why spoil the fun?:D :D :D :D
 
Right, the cameras are dodgy, but the lenses seem to be a bit better. They may need a CLA to get the congealed lubricant out of them when they get here, but the optics seem to be quite good to excellent.

The only thing I've bought from Fedka is a filter. It was great... ;)
 
it might be worth buying from someone that will offer a known product.
i bought my fed 2 off the ebay site and while it looks and feels great, it does not work. i got turned off fsu cams and have not bid on another.
crap shoot - luck of the draw, whatever!

joe
 
pshinkaw said:
The problems are where the fun is! If you only pay $20.00 for camera and have to puzzle through all of these interesting issues, you are buying a lot of entertainment for only a sawbuck.

If you want to make photographs, you might want to have an alternative camera of your choice.

-Paul
Click to expand...

That is one way of looking at it. I did buy a Holga for entertainment after all.
 
crap shoot - luck of the draw, whatever!

This is apparently true of lenses, also. I've been trying to do a bit of research because I'm interested in a J-11 and a J-8 and there seems to be a school of thought that the lenses made in the late 50's and early 60's are statistically a bit more reliable than the rest. Still dodgy but less so, so to speak.

In particular with the J-8 the formulation was changed in 1957 and it is thought that the resulting lenses were an improvement on the original Sonnar. Then in 1963 or so the quality started to slip on the production lines and never regained the earlier level. So with the J-8 at least it seems that you stand a better chance with a lens from the 1958-1962 period.
 
I've used Camera Mate in Vienna, for those on this side of the pond, and found them reliable. Vitaliyi who runs it is helpful. The camera arrived from Ukraine, well packed and as advertised.
 
AS for CameraMate, I got my Iskra from them - since I live in Vienna, I arranged a meating - with a Ukrainian exchange student of economics, who had a dorm room full of Soviet cameras (a nice FT2 among them); he had two nice Iskras, I chose the smoother one. But I don't like that they are selling those Nazi-symbol-marred Leica copies over Ebay...
As for reliable sellers of SovCam gear on Ebay, 'alex-phot' (also known as 'asr-photo' and 'grizzly33bear' are really great to deal with.
 
I've purchased many Russian cameras and, while the prices are wonderfully cheap, the rate of dud or misfunctioning cameras I get is pretty high. But that's part of the fun of dealing with sellers very far away for with not so much money on the line.

However, when I wanted a camera that I could trust, I bought myKiev 2 from Yuri and found myself willing to pay a higher price (but still very inexpensive compared to other rangefinder options). I paid it because I wanted to be sure I got a camera that works well and I think I have received good value from Fedka.

Alan
 
Fedka's reputation is excellent. But having bought a large number of FSU cameras including two Kiev 4's, 5 FED 2s (in various colors) 2 Zorki 4K, a Photosniper, a Zorki 2, etc., and a set of lenses (35, 85, 135) both for the Kievs and in LTM, and a universal viewfinder, plus various miscellaneous items from a number of highly rated sellers on the auction site, there are reasonable alternatives. I had one camera be really defective - one of the Zorki 4K's - but I was really "bottom fishing" on that one and I probably deserved what I got. My experiences have generally been very good. I believe in buying non-mint items. My theory is that if an item has been used well and is said to be in good condition from a highly reputed seller, it probably is okay. The mint condition older items from FSU may well be ones which never were any good, given the quality control operations. They were placed on the shelf and left until they could be sold.
 
Also I think you have to be careful of the use of the terms "mint" and "rare" for FSU stuff on eBay. Maybe they're a bit liberal with those adjectives in Russia and Ukraine... ;)
 
Roman said:
AS for CameraMate, I got my Iskra from them - since I live in Vienna, I arranged a meating - with a Ukrainian exchange student of economics, who had a dorm room full of Soviet cameras (a nice FT2 among them); he had two nice Iskras, I chose the smoother one. But I don't like that they are selling those Nazi-symbol-marred Leica copies over Ebay...
As for reliable sellers of SovCam gear on Ebay, 'alex-phot' (also known as 'asr-photo' and 'grizzly33bear' are really great to deal with.
Click to expand...

Have to agree about the Nazi symbol cameras, in his defence he is not the only one selling them, and my distaste is more with the buyers of these!! If there was no market they would not be sold!!
 
If Fedka's prices seem high, that may only be a measure of how spoiled we are by ultra-low prices for cameras sold directly from Russia/Ukraine. By most standards and compared to U.S. incomes, Fedka's prices for cherry-picked nearly professional-grade cameras are very reasonable. Since Yuri lives in the U.S., he has every right to set prices high enough to make decent wages for what he does.
 
Ok, now I'm persuaded about FEDKA's prices :)

But... due to my location (Northern Italy) I think it's a bit strange to buy a Soviet camera from USA.

So I'm thinking about
http://www.dvdtechcameras.com/
or someone else closer to me, supposing that they are as reliable as Yuri. Is it true for your experience?
What else you suggest, considering that I'm tired of Ebay's rulette?

Thanks.
 
Hi,
I once bought some adapter rings from dvdtech, and they were pretty fast in sending them...
Roman
 
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