FSU via eBay experiences so far...

[David Doler]

Here's an update, er...rather an FYI. I've got three FSU cameras in my hot little hands now and her's what I've experienced so far: (all the prices include postage)

FED 3B $40 from Asterliks - Camera was like new. Perfect shape.
FED 3A $50 from Asterliks - Black paint job and rangefinder needed vert alignment
MIR (Zorki 4) $31 from Rosso20 - Good condition but finder bezel popped off.

The important point to these experiences is that I took a good hard look at the pictures in eBay and knew what I was getting. The cams are easy to fix and cheap as dirt. The FED3B is very nice and works well. The other two work fine but needed cleaning and the paint jobs are typical. Both vendors shipped fast and all three cameras are very acceptable. I only buy when I can see the serial numbers. If I were to get a camera that wasn't what was advertised, I'd leave flaming feedback. Not worth sending them back.

If you have experiences with FSU vendors, please let us know. I think that it is really hit and miss, but study the photos closely and understand that these cameras come from country with a very difficult history and economy. They may be Leica "clones" but they sure ain't Leicas. Can't expect them to be.

 

[photodog]

I would advise contacting the seller to resolve any issues before issuing negative feedback. Give the sellers a chance to make it right. One RFFer told me he complained about a lens he purchased and they sent another one for free and told him not to ship the original one back.

 

[rover]

I only had one bad deal on FSU stuff, an Industar 61LD. Described as new but it had a piece of dust the size of a hamster in it. Only a $6 lens though so how could I be very upset about it.

 

[David Doler]

Photodog is right, I'd see if the seller wouldn't make the deal right before I said anything negative. So far I haven't any reason to. I'll start fiddling around with these cameras a bit more when the time allows. One things for sure, these FSU sellers sell a heck of a lot of stuff. And yes, prices are going up.

 

[kzim56]

My first FSU was supposed to be a Fed 3a. What I recieved was a Fed 3b. I complained and the seller refunded the shipping and I was satisfied. The camera and I-61 lens were clean, worked well and I've grown to like the 3b just fine. IUnfortunately I can't remember the name of the seller.

Next was a Zorki 4 from Alex. It was just as described. The vintage 1960 body was in good condition and there were cleaning marks on the J-8 just like he said. I would definitely buy from him again.

Most recently purchased a Kiev 4a from Rosso20. The camera was in much better shape than I expected...really nice. Now, I'm always watching what he has for sale.

Maybe I've been lucky but I think with a little care and discernment one can get a good FSU camera from an *Bay seller.

 

[w3rk5]

If you have experiences with FSU vendors, please let us know. I think that it is really hit and miss, but study the photos closely and understand that these cameras come from country with a very difficult history and economy.

I've bought my FED 2 from Sergey. His *bay name is confdntart (http://stores.ebay.com/The-Best-from-Russia-and-Ukraine_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZQ2d1QQftidZ2QQtZkm). A good guy. He even went out of his way to look for things for me.

Oh yeah! The camera arrived fast, and everything works great. 😀

 

[JoeFriday]

I bought two Kiev 4a's on the same day.. one from Alex-Photo and one from RedJoe.. both were immaculate..

the Alex-Photo camera arrived in 9 days.. I've only put one roll of film through it (seems that I always have a new one to test and never get to use the same camera twice).. the focus was off so it needs an adjustment that might be beyond my capabilities.. but it's a very nice camera and lens, otherwise

the RedJoe camera is near mint and performs extremely well.. it took 6 weeks to arrive, but other than that, I have no complaints

 

[ducttape]

I would advise contacting the seller to resolve any issues before issuing negative feedback. Give the sellers a chance to make it right. One RFFer told me he complained about a lens he purchased and they sent another one for free and told him not to ship the original one back.

I've done that. Actually, as most of my items are one offs, I usually tellthe buyer to toss it or donate it or whatever and refund the money.

Having done eBay for a while, you get a feel about who made a mistake and who is trying to screw you. I just back off those altogther, if I can spot them early enough. If it's a mistake, most people do not want to spend life looking over their sholders, and will make good.

 

[kiev4a]

I used to get quite a bit of gear from Russo20. His stuff usually wasn't the quality of what you get from Alex-Photo but he never over represented stuff and most was better than I expected.

 

[brians]

I just emailed the seller I got my camera from. He hasn't responded, but he seems like a decent guy. I recently got a Zorki 4 off of a fellow but the lens wasn't functioning right. Hopefully things will go well.

This is a bit OT, but I got a Pentax Spotmatic off of a seller (in the US), and her pictures on the ebay auction looked really clean, and it said it was in working condition... but the rust, corrosion and spiderweb fungi...

It's a gamble, but you guys seem to be really good at it hearing from from what you've bagged on eBay!

 

[Duncan Ross]

I've bought my FED 2 from Sergey. His *bay name is confdntart (http://stores.ebay.com/The-Best-from-Russia-and-Ukraine_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZQ2d1QQftidZ2QQtZkm). A good guy. He even went out of his way to look for things for me.

Oh yeah! The camera arrived fast, and everything works great. 😀

I bought a Kiev from Sergey too. Arrived in excellent condition and everything worked perfectly; even the meter was spot on! (WOW!)

 

[atelier7]

do any of these guys actually service/ CLA the cameras before putting them on sale?

I've got a fed 1 from sergey coming. looking forward to it.

previously bought a zorki 4k from kasiapeya and it worked well.

rusfoto has some pretty mint stuff, my fed 2b was from him though the rf needed to be aligned. he usually sells complete kits - with box, manual (in russian), case, lens cap etc.

 

[David Doler]

Seems we all have had fairly good experiences with the FSU sellers. I suspect that we know that our loses would be acceptable if things went sour- these cameras aren't exactly expensive. Nevertheless, I hope that the sellers appreciate that being mentioned in a positive light here on RFF is a marketing windfall for them. It's one thing to get bad feedback on the Bay, but bad karma here could create real problems.

So far so good with the FSU stuff. I'm looking at a nice FED 2 and Zorki 4 to keep my comrades company.

 

[DaveP]

Ive only bought from Anya and Oleg, both perfect dealers. Except I got a 3a from some other seller, cant remember, and it was good too.....

 

[reagan]

I prefer to shop at Fedka or Oleg, but have dealt with these from the FSU that I would probably buy from again if the GAS really hit: (" if "... duh ... who am I kiddin'?)

> ostrovski105 , camera/lens & lens ~ good price, good items, on time
> nago60ru , lens ~ good price, on time
> confdntart , camera ~ good price, good item, on time
> sovdepia , camera ~ a little too much $, but a nice camera (worth it to me) on time, but the camera came with NO packing - camera in case in box! I got sick when I picked the box up and could hear my camera knocking around inside. However, once I opened it, all was fine. I quickly complained, but you might send a reminder to add packing should you deal here.
> h_o_h_o_l (DVD Tecknik) , camera, lenses. Again, a little pricey for me, one lens needed cleaned and lubricated immediately, but is a great lens once that was done; camera body seems great so far. I've ordered twice from here and both times I had great communication and both times the packages arrived within 10 days. Pretty darn good average.

 

[xayraa33]

I bought a Kiev 4a from Sergey too, it was described to be in excellent condition & everything works well. The camera I received had a broken shutter & a cloudy finder . I complained to Sergey , & he said that he does not know how this could happen( now I know why the first three letters of his e--y name are CON) Anyhow Sergey is a good communicator, and I sent the camera back in exchange for two FSU finders( it would be hard to screw these up). the return shipping was at my expence. Overall it was a more than less than lukewarm experience with this FSU gear seller.

 

[dll927]

A few observations from my own experience:

I, too, watch the illustrations very carefully, and enlarge them if possible. I usually go for "buy it now" rather than fool around with bidding. It seems as though Kievs look in better shape than a lot of LTM cameras. I don't care about the 'never-ready' cases that come with most, but I doh't order if it doesn't come with a lens cap. And I watch the feed-back from other buyers.

I have generally had pretty good luck, some cameras being hard to tell from new. But I have been a little disappointed with three FED-2s - I just don't think they measure up to the Zorkis.

So far my loot is:
Kiev: 3, 4, 4a
Fed: three 2s
Zorki: 1 (two) 3 (two) 4 (two) 5 (one) 6 (one) Still in the market for a 2, but they are sort of scarcer than others, since they weren't in production very long.

I bought the Kiev 4a and the Zorki 6 from Fedka in NYC. Good seller.

 

[dll927]

It might also be good to point out that most of the Russian and Ukranian sellers have American middlemen - and a lot say so on the sites. So you are really paying the U. S. outfit. Probably has to be that way - one Zorki I ordered came with an instruction book - in RUSSIAN! Sorry, guys, no dice. Greek, Hebrew, or Japanese would be just as useful!!

 

[darkkavenger]

My father ordered a LTM J-12 in perfect working condition for the Zorki-6 I offered him. No problems at all so far. I do purchase my FSU and other vintage hardware here in Prague, and a full inspection/checking is always worthy. It can happen that cameras have this or that trouble. The worst thing I ever bought was a J-8 that I didn't test (had no camera on me and was under heavy GAS attack) ... it turned out to be a SLR LTM J-8, not coupled hence.

I got my Zorki-4 for the price of 10$, because the I-50 was very hard to turn. The body was in perfect shape, a little cleaning of the lens makes the camera work perfectly now! All I have was bought here in Prague. I once went to purchase a leather case for my Pentacon Six, got one in !!perfect!! shape and returned home with a leather case AND a Fed-5B w/ I61 L/D - for the sum of 17$ 😀

Gotta love Prague... but still I think I'll tempt a few things on eBay, especially a Sverdlovsk-4 meter. Any experiences with these ?

Next week I'll get myself a FED NKVD 😀

Cheers from Prague!
Max

 

[atelier7]

do any of these guys actually service/ CLA the cameras before putting them on sale?

I've got a fed 1 from sergey coming. looking forward to it.

previously bought a zorki 4k from kasiapeya and it worked well.

rusfoto has some pretty mint stuff, my fed 2b was from him though the rf needed to be aligned. he usually sells complete kits - with box, manual (in russian), case, lens cap etc.

they've arrived.

the fed1 from sergey looks exactly as described. havent tested it yet.

disappointed with the J8 that came with the zorki 3m from kassiapeya... it's so stiff i can't even turn the focusing ring without unscrewing the whole lens from the body! will email him and see what can be done...