I couldn't believe I did it!!!

[cysasam]

Being one with admittedly two left hands, I was really pleased as a sun-burned pig stumbling upon a mud pool 🙂 Never was good with fixing stuff but I guess that's what total frustration with the dim FED 2 VF can do to a person.

So I got to work:

A shoe cover really helped with catching all the little screws

The FED 2 in all its naked glory

I was really struck at how logically simple my FED is - no fancy designs, no extraneous features. Just design and construction that makes complete sense. I got working on the RF and VF prisms, concentrating much of my attention there. The film advance and winder knobs, along with the top metal plate got introduced to Mr. Soap and Ms. Toothbrush.

Three hours later, after much wriggling, countless dropping of the gnat-sized screws, here's what I have.

No more knurled knobs with black gunk, and the etched FED on the metal lost its (possibly)40-50 years worth of dirt.

The best part is of course the VF/RF. I'm not exaggerating that the difference is complete night and day. The emerald/amber combination of the VF/RF really is now a complete joy to use. No trouble focusing now even in very low lights. Love reborn!!!

I humbly recommend giving cleaning a go. It made a dramatic difference on my FED. Hope it does for yours too.

Many thanks to Laika's sticky on the procedure.

 

[40oz]

woot! Looks good, too 🙂

 

[bcostin]

Nice job! I'm actually a little embarrassed that I never thought to clean things that well when I had my camera apart.

Sometimes jumping right in is the best way to learn; I know that's true for me. One nice thing about FSU cameras is that there's so much good repair information online (and Rick Oleson's CDs!).

And, of course, it's not nearly as nerve-wracking to take apart a $20 Fed as it is a $300 Leica. 🙂

 

[BillBingham2]

Well done. I am envious of the time and patients you have, very envious. I loved the feel of the FED 2, it just felt like a solid simple camera should feel.

B2 (;->

 

[cysasam]

Thanks all. One thing I left out was the real pain came when aligning the RF. Infinity focus is the easiest, and vertical alignment is much more painful, but close focusing is the mother of all... 😉

 

[David Hughes]

Congratulations: you're braver than I am.

Something I love about Soviet stuff is that the engineers had a lot to do with the design and so it can be repaired and adjusted and even have new parts made. Luckily they didn't believe in letting the lawyers and accountants design cameras in those days. And thank heaven there was no PR or sales involvement either.

Regards, David

 

[Rhodes]

Very well done! I bought last year a cheap fed2. The lens was stiff and the vf/rf dirty. By asking here what to do and following the tutorial to clean the vf/rf from Laika, I managed to lub the lens and done what you did. I liked the camera build, easy and simple in some areas, but functional!

 

[cysasam]

Jim Rohn, an American public speaker once said "Disgust is one of the most power of human emotions." Guess I had it with the dim VF that it's either I won't use the FED because of it or go into the deep end. 🙂

 

[Elektrojänis]

Nice work!

Btw. It looks very much like the one I'm currently working on (no self timer, no "mushroom" film advance knob and the placement of the flash sync connector).

 

[Janos]

Hey,

can you tell what kind of cleaner you used to make your FED shine?😀

 

[cysasam]

Hey,

can you tell what kind of cleaner you used to make your FED shine?😀

Just mild soap and toothbrush:angel:

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Great Job!

EDIT: I misread the post as "Toothpaste", not soap with a toothbrush. I've read other people using toothpaste for corroded parts.

I've been using Silver Polish for badly corroded metal. I also bought a $30 ultrasonic cleaner found on Ebay. Of course, just individual parts get dropped in the cleaner. And my wife likes it for her jewelry.

 

[MartinP]

I read cysasam's text to mean soap, not toothpaste, though the soap was scrubbed with a toothbrush.

Toothpaste is full of tiny abrasive particles - could be nasty . . .

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Correct you are, and I am editing my Post!

Toothpaste is mildly abrasice, as is silver polish. Some of the Soviet Chrome gets corroded, and the abrasive removes it. I would try the soap and toothbrush first. I use alchohol, and if that fails, use silver polish.

The I-61 mount on this homemade lens was badly corroded when received. It cleaned up using silver polish and the $30 ultrasonic cleaner.

 

[Janos]

Thanks a lot!

I also found very fine (~1000 grit) sandpaper can be used to clean up outer metal parts of lenses like your one. You just need to have an eye on always stroking in the same direction as you go.
After that you can polish and it will look like still warm from production. 😀

 

[blazejs]

WoW! This lens looks like combined from Jupiter 8 (bottom) and Industar-61 (top). Am I right? And combination looks almost like Leica collapsible lenses🙂 Very nice!

 

[Sonnar Brian]

This lens is unique, and you are 2/3rds correct!

The Top portion is from a J-8. The focus mount is an I-61. And the rear module is from a Schneider Xenon 50/2. The rear module is set for a 50mm focal length, and the lens is shimmed to focus correctly on a Leica camera. I wanted to see what happens when you make a 1/2 Sonnar lens. I gave it to a friend who uses it on an M8.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33192774@N08/3318307656/

 

[Eugen Mezei]

Is the black in the engraving really dirt or was it originally paint from the factory?

Eugen