How to seperate the base plate and back cover of Fed-2

[yek]

I got two Fed-2s. One of them has been broken, but it has a base plate I think is better than another's. I want to exchange them, but don't know how to seperate the base plate with the back cover. I tried to un-screw the tripod screw, but after it was removed, the base plate still conects with the back cover, so it is not so straitforwad as I had thought.

Any idea?

Thanks!

 

[Spyderman]

You need to disassemble the twist-locks... there should be a tiny screw inside on top of the lock...

 

[wolves3012]

You need to disassemble the twist-locks... there should be a tiny screw inside on top of the lock...

And make a careful note how it all comes apart - they can be very fiddly to reassemble!

 

[yek]

Thanks

Thanks

Hi, thanks for your help. After some trying, I have figured out how to disassemble the twist-locks. There is no screw. A tiny pin connects everything. Just pull it out, the parts fall off. The mechanism is rather simple, but ...

It is still a problem how to pull the pin out. This one took me a lot of time. :bang:

Maybe it doesn't deserve so much effort just exchanging the baseplate. Or maybe there are better ways to do it? Any ideas?

 

[wolves3012]

I can't figure out from the photos if these are different from mine or not. On mine there is a small locking screw in the centre of the INSIDE part of the lock, i.e. inside the camera back, not outside . Removing this, followed by the outer part of that (hollow) screw allows dismantling without resorting to your method. I may be wrong but I think you've done this the hard way!

Edit: Just checked...ALL my FEDs are identical to this, from FED 2 to FED 5

 

[radiocemetery]

Wolves, Yek, and Spyderman,

I have a FED 2 serial no. 099617 that has no internal screws like the camera illustrated in Wolves picture above. The bottom plate has no relieved area around the external folding latches either. Consequently the pins cannot be pushed out of the latches as Yek has done. More of those Russian variations I guess. I know there is a way to disassemble it. Perhaps the protruding pin on the inside of my camera is an interference fit (pressed on) or maybe a collet type tool is needed to turn the pin if the pin is threaded into the part beneath. I don't know but I am not going to mess with it on my camera unless I have to. Thanks for the photo. documentation.

Steve

 

[yek]

Picture of the twist lock

Picture of the twist lock

Thanks for the informations. I didn't realize that my two Fed 2s have different twist locks untill I read wolves' post. The working copy, as well as my Fed 3, is same with wolves'. But this broken Fed 2 is different. Since I'm very new to these cameras, I always try on the broken one first, so didn't check the structure of the other two working cameras.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=68993

Thanks!

 

[wolves3012]

Thanks for the informations. I didn't realize that my two Fed 2s have different twist locks untill I read wolves' post. The working copy, as well as my Fed 3, is same with wolves'. But this broken Fed 2 is different. Since I'm very new to these cameras, I always try on the broken one first, so didn't check the structure of the other two working cameras.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=68993

Thanks!

That's quite a fascinating picture - that lock is identical to the ones on my Zorki 4 and 4K. Since the Zorki back would not be interchangeable with a FED 2 I can't see that back could have been switched. Exactly which model FED 2 is it? I wonder if someone has switched the locks at some point, or maybe FED used that style.

I can certainly see why you struggled now, I can't see that the Zorki locks could possibly be dismantled, short of drilling the whole pin out, slowly! Once the pin is in place there's no access at all to remove it again, unless someone knows a way...

 

[yek]

about the Fed-2

about the Fed-2

The broken Fed-2 has a self-timer and a high cold shoe, so I think it should be a late version. Serial number is A015972. I bought it from ebay as "excellent condition", but when it came it had been broken. The camera body distorted so much that a corner cracked. Seller said it was damaged in shipping. However, shutter and rangefinder still work -- as well as the selftimer , so I think it is really sturdy and decided to buy another.

The other Fed-2 I got later works fine, but the bottom plate is not so flat. It always occilates when standing on the table, like a chair with one leg shorter than the others. So I want to exchange the bottom plates.

A bad news is I damaged the other twist lock. I rotated it exceeding the limit and wished to break the pin. Unfortunately, the pin didn't break, but the twist lock did. It's not too bad, after all, since the camera has been broken and I just broke it once more. The pin is smooth, without screw on it. I thought if it broke, I could make one easily.

Now, I have installed the bottom plate on the working Fed-2. It fits the camera body quite well. A little looser than the original one, but I expect it doesn't cause light leakage.

Thank you!