I now know I'm spoiled rotten... :D

W

wlewisiii

Guest
I've been a big Contax/Kiev person ever since discovering them through this site. I like the feel and everything about them. But I'd been curious about some of the other FSU rangefinders and so when a $9.99 FED-5 presented itself, I couldn't resist.

I got it today in traditional brown paper and tied with yak string. I opened it up and took a look - it's exactly as described - a barely used camera, working (and appears consistant) light meter, working selftimer, the shutter speeds sound at least close enough and the view, while squinty, isn't bad. Not as good as my Kievs, to me, but usable none-the-less. The lens is a 55/2.8 Industar-61L/D that is clean and smooth. The RF is probably off but as that can happen easily enough in transit, I'm not surprised. I'll look up how to fix that when the test roll is done and I can see just how off it is.

But what amazes me is how utterly cheap it feels, especially compared to the Kievs. It's light construction and odd layout reminds me of the old instamatics my mother had when I was little. I half way expect a magic cube plug instead of a hot shoe on top. I doubt this camera is going to be much more than a toss into the glove box so I'll always have something along kind of camera. I am glad I bought it, for the experiance if nothing else, but I'm even more glad I didn't spend any more than that for it. I think I need to go mount my SC Skopar 35/2.5 on the Kiev 5 and get this wierd feeling out of my hands... :eek:

William
 
You need to have a special moment or two with a FED 2. Weighty, yet small. Wholesome and strong like the farm girls of the Ukraine.
 
think of it as a lens with a disposable body.. but as we all know, the proof is in the pictures.. hold your judgement til you see what you get
 
Jeez, Bob, that bit about the wholesome and strong farm girls of the Ukraine is simply beautiful prose.

I'm booking a flight to Kiev tomorrow.

Actually, might not be a bad idea. Gevorg has his shop there (ARAX-FOTO). He takes brand new MF Kiev 60 cameras, tears them apart and makes them work just perfectly, rebadges them as ARAX 60 and sells them with a 80/2.8 for something like $298. What better way to get into medium format. When the whole near-revolution was going down in December he walked out of his front door and shot a bunch of digital images of the demonstrators and emailed them to me. Amazing.

Also, I think ALEX-FOTO is also in Kiev. Maybe just stay in Kiev and goof around with the not-so-sturdy city girls?

Ted
 
This camera is not for the person who insists on precision machining and individually hand-fitted parts. Yet, properly adjusted, it can be quite amazing. No frills except for the self-timer. Just a basic 35mm camera.

-Paul
 
tedwhite said:
Also, I think ALEX-FOTO is also in Kiev. Maybe just stay in Kiev and goof around with the not-so-sturdy city girls?Ted
Click to expand...

LOL Ted- sounds like I have inspired you. Beware though, my wife tells me I have a gift for BS. To which I answer- "Me? :angel: "

Back to the Fed 5... I would regard it as a camera that you can afford to carry around and not worry about much.

What kind of lens came with it? an Industar 61? If so and if the shutter is good, I think you might be pleased with the quality of the images.
 
Fedzilla_Bob said:
You need to have a special moment or two with a FED 2. Weighty, yet small. Wholesome and strong like the farm girls of the Ukraine.
Click to expand...

And beautiful too, in a natural (agricultural)way of course. They are the most beautiful rangefinders of all time in my eyes-a lovers eyes.:)

My second largest collection to Kievs are 6-7 Fed-2s.
 
As an owner of 3,5 fed-5's, I have to agree: they feel cheap when compared to their ancestors and other FSU-cameras with changeable lenses. After the fed-4 the engineers apparently tried very hard to reduce production costs. On the plus side: they are very cheap, have all the controls (slow shutter speeds, light meter, diopter adjustment), they're cheap, they are lighter than a fed-4 and they are cheap. Did I mention they are cheap? I still can't believe you can buy this amount of screws, wheels, springs, machined metal, curtains,... for so little money and still have them function together as a camera. As mentioned: the fed-5 + industar-61 l/d is a nice combo for real picture taking. I take it to places where I wouldn't take my Leica (my M5 cost about 40 fed-5's).

Wim
 
I agree, the beauty of these cameras is in their simple, economic way of being. They can make photos, too, and the lenses aren't bad at all, and they can be serviced in an easy way. If you need a shooter, here they are...

ciao!
 
Well, I've gotten through about half of the test roll and it's not so bad. I'll be interested in seeing what comes out from it. I am considering tracking down a collapsable Industar for it eventually and then keeping it in one of the cars as a "so I always have something along" camera. It's certainly a much better $10 dollar camera than most!

William
 
No temptation for me. Another Kiev 5? A Canon 7? That's a different game :D

One good thing about the Fed is that it's meter is spot on. It agrees really well with my VC Meter II and between the two I've finally gotten the meter on the Kiev 5 (which only goes up to (old style) gost 250) calibrated for ISO/GOST 400. The adjustment ring moves quite a bit beyond the markings and continues to adjust the response of the meter, so it was mearly needing to sit down with a comparable selenium meter and getting the appropriat points figured out.

It's nice to try something different and, hey, it's even cheaper than a Holga and does have a real lens. It's simple enough and rugged enough that when my son is a couple of years older (he turned three in January), I'll probably use it to teach him the basics.

William
 
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