I finally got a Fed 2!

[jimford]

I got a Fed 2 from Ebay a couple of days ago. It's quite tidy with no obvious damage or mutilated screw slots suggesting inexpert dismantling.

The body serial number is: A046355. Lens: Industar 26M serial number 6715192

It's got quite pleasing and substantial 'heft' to it. From the appearance of the bare metal interior of the body, it seems to be made of a die casting zinc, aluminium, magnesium and copper alloy - the sort that carburettors and model cars used to be made from, rather than just aluminium that I've seen stated.

I'm not sure whether the frame counter is working properly, as it is easily moved when winding on. there appears to be no way of locking it after setting.

It came with a leather case, which is a bit clumsy. I favour carrying the camera in this case:

https://www.7dayshop.com/products/7...oss-chest-shoulder-equipment-bag-black-DS-090

which is far more convenient, as it will also take other items - exposure meter, compact digital camera (for reference images!), map and other small items. Yes - it's only seven quid!

Jim

 

[bobby_novatron]

Congrats! The Fed-2 is a solid workhorse camera. I have a couple myself.

Here's my green Fed-2, it's very reliable machine, especially considering its age:

 

[citizen99]

...
I'm not sure whether the frame counter is working properly, as it is easily moved when winding on. there appears to be no way of locking it after setting.
...

It's coupled to the winding-on knob by friction, so it would need to be tightened a bit, but not so much that it's difficult to set after loading the film.

Nice acquisition, hope you enjoy it 🙂 .

 

[farlymac]

I chose the FED 2 for it's wide rangefinder base, and viewfinder diopter adjustment. Now if I could just get one of the four to work. :bang:

PF

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Yes, getting FED-2 doesn't mean anything. Getting working FED-2 is different story. Getting working FED-2 from eBay is another story.
Getting all three together and right is little bit of the lottery.

 

[jimford]

Hmm - from the comments about the difficulty of getting a good one, I might get a nasty shock when I get the first film (still in the camera) developed!

Jim

 

[farlymac]

While a couple of mine are really junkers, the others just need either a tune up, or new curtains. Too easy to burn holes in them. Other than that, you can get some good images with them.

FED Zarya with I-26M

Chief by P F McFarland, on Flickr

FED 2D with I-26M

0002_2A000012870002 by P F McFarland, on Flickr

You could do worse than a FED.

PF

 

[ForestCap]

I chose the FED 2 for it's wide rangefinder base, and viewfinder diopter adjustment. Now if I could just get one of the four to work. :bang:

PF

Get a Zorki-6 instead!

 

[David Hughes]

Hmm - from the comments about the difficulty of getting a good one, I might get a nasty shock when I get the first film (still in the camera) developed!

Jim

Hi,

OTOH, you might not. A lot of us have been very pleased with our FED 2's and other models and have had nasty shocks with other makes of camera. Paying a lot doesn't guarantee much either. I've had Leicas from dealers that have had to go back for repairs, including digital ones...

I think the real problem is that people sell them as Leica copies and they are not really, although the first few years they were; later ones were derived from Leica's design but went further and further from it. Worse still they were mass produced and cheap when they started to appear in 'the West' and so few bothered to repair them. Then add in the coming of digital and the general abandonment of film cameras and you can see how the problems arise. And there's those who think camera repairs can be done at home, sitting in the kitchen without any of the specialised tools needed or the experience and a stock of spare parts. Luckily lots of other makers' cameras have suffered in the same way. Just look around the threads in RFF.

Best to buy one and get Oleg to sort it out if it's nbg. But don't forget that people on forums are more inclined to moan about the odd dud one than the other way round. And they moan about the cameras instead of moaning about the sellers...

Regards, David

PS And the Zorki 6 is a very nice camera too. Like a lot of the FEDs and Zorkis.

 

[timmyd18]

I'm a small sample size, but of the 3 Feds I bought sight unseen on eBay (a Fed 2, a Fed 5c, and a Fed 5b,) plus the Fed 2 my friend bought at the same time, I've had almost no trouble.

One Fed 2 (mine) had a small pinhole in the curtain, which I fixed with a drop of black t-shirt paint, and the Fed 5B and it's industar 61 had been put together oddly such that everything worked right but none of the numbers on either the lens or shutter speed lined up correctly (I suspect a CLA gone wrong. The camera is perfectly usable, and it and the Fed 2 are my main film cameras. You just have to get used to where the notches are for film speed and what the numbers on the lens barrel really mean.)

In addition, a Kiev 4am and a Kiev 4 worked well, with the exception of the old lightmeter on the 4.

My strategy has been to avoid cameras that someone's done something cute to, and look for sellers that have many cameras for sale. That means they've probably got some knowledge on what it should be like, and they're concerned about feedback.

It's always a crapshoot, but the odds of getting a working camera aren't nearly as bad as sometimes people say they are.

 

[ForestCap]

My strategy has been to avoid cameras that someone's done something cute to, and look for sellers that have many cameras for sale. That means they've probably got some knowledge on what it should be like, and they're concerned about feedback.

For FSU gears, I always avoid eBay sellers with hundreds of listings. My personal experience is (most of) them are the "sell and hope buyers won't use the item" type, and in such cases the buyers feedback is not good reference. Just looking at the exactly same item description for like 50 cameras gives me creep. I agree with the cute thing part, though.

Sometimes one can really encounter sellers with knowledge of what they are selling, for example, if a seller shows a picture of the curtains when the shutter is half-way cocked, he probably know what he is selling. But it's rare.

 

[farlymac]

Get a Zorki-6 instead!

I did! And it needs a shutter adjustment. Just haven't gotten around to it yet. I fixed the other issues with it, none of which were mentioned by the RFF "member" I got it from.

Of the four FED 2's I have, one was given to me with a busted shutter, another I bought from Latvia because it was the export model but has issues (like the light leak I can't figure out), the third I got from a USA owner that didn't know it had been put back together wrong (though it's still somewhat functional), and the fourth I bought from a camera shop in Richmond, VA. It's got so much grease in it that it stalls out all the time (the drive shaft on the shutter sticks in the up position).

The Zarya had the least problems, with just a little shutter capping, but I really blasted a hole in the shutter one day sticking it through a chain-link fence for a shot. Try as I might, I just can't avoid direct sunlight on the lens.

But I still like the way the Fed-2 and and Zorki-6 feel and operate. The Zorki looks more appealing, and has the hinged back, but the FED is more classic looking.

PF

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I have tried to use Z-6, not just to own it. Advance mechanism is crude and advancing lever travel too far to be useful. Release button is with sharp edges, I still feel this pain. But soft release never kept in it for long, falling out. I ended up with pressing film rewind button instead, because it is located where shutter release button has to be. On FED-2 🙂

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

Interesting about all these cameras but I'd like to point out that a lot of people think camera repairs are easy and they are not. So you find a lot done badly; not unusual with cameras that could be 50, 60 or more years old. Worse still, forums encourage it...

As for the shutter button position, my Contax, Kiev and Zorki 6 have them in the same place; meaning the centre of the axis of the wind-on or cocking lever.

The lever wind models like the FED 3 and 4 have them in the usual FED 1, Zorki 1 and Leica Barnack position; meaning at the back of the top plate about 1¼" from the end of the camera.

As for the feel of the lever wind, it feels just like the Pentax Spotmatic to me: well, it did a few seconds ago after getting them all out and checking.

My 2d worth, is to point out that, if you treat a FED, Kiev or Zorki like a Leica or Contax it will respond like a Leica or Contax. The ones repaired by competent people will be OK and the ones repaired by the incompetent* will be dodgy.

Regards, David

* I nearly typed 'pro' and 'amateur' in that sentence...

 

[RichL]

I've repaired plenty of spring blinds and the shutters are just tiny spring blinds. Repairing them should be a cinch. 😀

Hi,

Interesting about all these cameras but I'd like to point out that a lot of people think camera repairs are easy and they are not. So you find a lot done badly; not unusual with cameras that could be 50, 60 or more years old. Worse still, forums encourage it...

As for the shutter button position, my Contax, Kiev and Zorki 6 have them in the same place; meaning the centre of the axis of the wind-on or cocking lever.

The lever wind models like the FED 3 and 4 have them in the usual FED 1, Zorki 1 and Leica Barnack position; meaning at the back of the top plate about 1¼" from the end of the camera.

As for the feel of the lever wind, it feels just like the Pentax Spotmatic to me: well, it did a few seconds ago after getting them all out and checking.

My 2d worth, is to point out that, if you treat a FED, Kiev or Zorki like a Leica or Contax it will respond like a Leica or Contax. The ones repaired by competent people will be OK and the ones repaired by the incompetent* will be dodgy.

Regards, David

* I nearly typed 'pro' and 'amateur' in that sentence...

 

[David Hughes]

I've repaired plenty of spring blinds and the shutters are just tiny spring blinds. Repairing them should be a cinch. 😀

Hi,

My answer to that is along the lines of 'of course' but it didn't take me long to realise that a lot of people can see these things (and have a decent tool box) and a lot of people can't (even though they've spent a lot on the tool box). Those that can't are my main target. And I hope you and I and a lot of others on this forum are the first type mentioned.

I think it's like speaking other languages or arithmetic etc; some of us have brains wired one way and some other ways. What I'm against is telling everyone that they can easily do it. Bitter experience tells me that they can't all see what has to be done and many of them don't know how to use tools either; just look at some of the screw heads, f'instance. Worse still, they think it OK to do it regardless...

That was the point of my comment about competence etc.

Sorry if this rant seems directed at you, because it's not intended that way. My main aim is to preserve the few cameras that are undamaged before it's too late.

Regards, David

 

[jimford]

I'm still running a film through my FED 2.

The only faults I've spotted are that the frame counter dial is easily involuntarily moved. Also, when I observed the shutter when winding, I noticed that one of the blind edges was slightly at an angle to the other, though it appeared to be capping. I'll soon know when I get the film processed if it leaks light!

I agree with David about using correct tools. Mutilated screw slots are a dead giveaway that a camera has been inexpertly 'fixed'.

Jim