Loading a FED 1

[pschauss]

Have been using bottom loading Zorkiis for more than 10 years so I am accustomed to trimming the film leader. However, I just received a FED 1and I am having trouble getting the film to slip between the pressure plate and the film track. Is there something different about the way FEDs are designed or is it this particular camera?

I notice that the collar around the shutter release has a slot in it which allows one to lock the shutter open in the B setting. Was that supposed to allow the user to reach in and depress the pressure plate?

 

[Robert Lai]

On the B setting with shutter open, check to make sure that there is not a film chip stuck in the film channel.

 

[wolves3012]

Apart from looking for the obvious, shine a light in the base of the camera and see if you can see the bevelled edge of the pressure plate. FEDs and Zorkis are fundamentally the same so if you can load a Zorki you shouldn't be having this problem.

Possibly someone's re-installed the pressure plate incorrectly. The locking shutter is designed for long exposures without a locking cable-release and not so that you can poke your fingers into the camera - not a good idea to do that. However, if you lock it open you could just push gently on the pressure plate to see if it moves back as it should.

If you can't solve it from the above, it's a very simple job to remove the bodyshell and find out what exactly is going wrong.

 

[Penny Lane]

Did the FED-1 ever change over to the band-aid shaped pressure plate? Because the older, round ones don't have a real lip. They only have the rounded edge. I was completely comfortable loading my Zorki-1c, but the brass-shutter FED-1 I have (with round pressure plate) is just that little bit harder to get right. Hence why Zorkis at least changed over to a different pressure plate.

Derk