ChrisCummins
Couch Photographer.
So as most people do, I received my FED from a Ukrainian ebayer, packed in bubble wrap and a neat cardboard box covered in cyrillic text. However, while many can favorably compare a well kept FED to an early Leica, my camera feels much more like it's on it's last legs. The shutter coughs and spurts it's way through exposures, the winding mechanism is uncooperative and the lens feels stiff and feeble.
The camera is clearly in need of some love and repair work. Thanks to the generosity of a RobbieChad on this forum, I have already been able to replace the original rangefinder prism which had been mangled in (presumably) a previous botched repair job, but there is still much more that needs seeing to - so in order to prevent myself from littering the forum with countless threads, I've consoled all my questions into this post and will use this as a running diary of my repair attempts.
Here it is next to my 'new' Yashica Mat-124. The FED itself is in pretty good shape cosmetically.
So here's a few initial problems which I need to sort out first:
Lazy Shutter
When I depress the shutter release in Bulb mode, the shutter springs open pretty snappy, but on releasing the shutter, it visibly slides closed very slowly, which I assume can't be normal behavior. I assume something similar happens like this on other shutter speeds, but it's harder to see visibly.
Shutter winding is stiff
Even without film loaded, the winding knob feels quite stiff. It is certainly not possible to do the one-finger wind technique which I've heard of. With film loaded, it becomes slightly more stiff, and whilst rewinding, the whole mechanism makes a bit of a squeaky noise.
Reflections inside the viewfinder
During my initial disassembly and quick CLA, I cleaned the viewfinder and rangefinder prisms, as well as giving the inside of the top cover a coat of matt black paint. However, I still have problems with reflections and other visual relics appearing in the viewfinder. While looking through the viewfinder, the right side of the prism reflects almost a perfect mirror which is very confusing and disorientating. Also, I've found that the orange dot of the rangefinder can sometimes overpower the regular view, making it hard to see when the two images are aligned.
Lens focus ring too stiff
I've stripped down my I-26 and I-61 following Matt's instructions, and relubed the focus ring with some cheap Granville Multi-Purpose Grease (Lithium Based), however I still find this to be a little too stiff to be described as 'smooth'. Can anyone recommend a less viscous lube to use?
If anyone could help me with any of these problems I would greatly appreciate it. Sorry to overload y'all with so many questions - I'm just keen to do this camera some justice
Best regards,
Chris
The camera is clearly in need of some love and repair work. Thanks to the generosity of a RobbieChad on this forum, I have already been able to replace the original rangefinder prism which had been mangled in (presumably) a previous botched repair job, but there is still much more that needs seeing to - so in order to prevent myself from littering the forum with countless threads, I've consoled all my questions into this post and will use this as a running diary of my repair attempts.
Here it is next to my 'new' Yashica Mat-124. The FED itself is in pretty good shape cosmetically.
So here's a few initial problems which I need to sort out first:
Lazy Shutter
When I depress the shutter release in Bulb mode, the shutter springs open pretty snappy, but on releasing the shutter, it visibly slides closed very slowly, which I assume can't be normal behavior. I assume something similar happens like this on other shutter speeds, but it's harder to see visibly.
Shutter winding is stiff
Even without film loaded, the winding knob feels quite stiff. It is certainly not possible to do the one-finger wind technique which I've heard of. With film loaded, it becomes slightly more stiff, and whilst rewinding, the whole mechanism makes a bit of a squeaky noise.
Reflections inside the viewfinder
During my initial disassembly and quick CLA, I cleaned the viewfinder and rangefinder prisms, as well as giving the inside of the top cover a coat of matt black paint. However, I still have problems with reflections and other visual relics appearing in the viewfinder. While looking through the viewfinder, the right side of the prism reflects almost a perfect mirror which is very confusing and disorientating. Also, I've found that the orange dot of the rangefinder can sometimes overpower the regular view, making it hard to see when the two images are aligned.
Lens focus ring too stiff
I've stripped down my I-26 and I-61 following Matt's instructions, and relubed the focus ring with some cheap Granville Multi-Purpose Grease (Lithium Based), however I still find this to be a little too stiff to be described as 'smooth'. Can anyone recommend a less viscous lube to use?
If anyone could help me with any of these problems I would greatly appreciate it. Sorry to overload y'all with so many questions - I'm just keen to do this camera some justice
Best regards,
Chris
wolves3012
Veteran
Well Chris...
As I'm just up the road from you and no stranger to the insides of FSU cameras, I would be quite happy to show you what's needed to sort the shutter/winding out (and bring along an FSU to show you what can be achieved!).
As for the lens, I have yet to come across an I-26 or I-61 that didn't need a re-lube (I've done half a dozen or more of them). I used a silicone grease that's relatively lightweight, I got it from Maplins, they're local to you. How stiff the focus ought to be is largely down to personal preference - assuming it isn't stiff due to congealed russian "grease"!
The RF reflections I'm not sure about, I've never noticed it with my own FSUs but maybe I just ignore it...time to compare?
As I'm just up the road from you and no stranger to the insides of FSU cameras, I would be quite happy to show you what's needed to sort the shutter/winding out (and bring along an FSU to show you what can be achieved!).
As for the lens, I have yet to come across an I-26 or I-61 that didn't need a re-lube (I've done half a dozen or more of them). I used a silicone grease that's relatively lightweight, I got it from Maplins, they're local to you. How stiff the focus ought to be is largely down to personal preference - assuming it isn't stiff due to congealed russian "grease"!
The RF reflections I'm not sure about, I've never noticed it with my own FSUs but maybe I just ignore it...time to compare?
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stevebrot
Established
Chris,
I have a FED-2 (type D6) and it has the viewfinder reflection you describe. I don't know that there is any obvious way to get rid of this reflection though.
Steve
I have a FED-2 (type D6) and it has the viewfinder reflection you describe. I don't know that there is any obvious way to get rid of this reflection though.
Steve
Pfreddee
Well-known
Not to be a pest, but, why don't you buy FSU cameras from Yuri at fedka.com?
Just askin'.
With best regards,
Pfreddee(Stephen)
Just askin'.
With best regards,
Pfreddee(Stephen)
ChrisCummins
Couch Photographer.
Hi wolves and thanks for the very generous offer - I'm in Derbyshire for the Christmas holidays til mid January but maybe I could drop you a PM when I'm back over in Birmingham way?
Stephen, I am a new and naive photographer. I started shooting DSLRs before moving to 35mm SLRs and 120 TLRs. Up until late this year I had never used a rangefinder and didn't know much about them, but from reading about them - they sounded very interesting, so I decided to invest in a cheap rangefinder to try out the medium. Thus I bought a cheap FED-2 off ebay. I didn't have the money for a Fedka.com FED-2, and didn't have the desire to spend that much even if I did. I just wanted something cheap and knock-about to try my hand at shooting/repairing. Needless to say, the experiment worked and I have quickly fallen in love with RFs!
I have temporarily converted the camera into an open-topped model so that I could see the mechanisms at work, and am now starting to suspect that the problems of the lazy shutter and stiff winder may be related. What if there was something causing the second curtain to drag, thereby causing more friction on the winding mechanism? The winding lever rotates with slightly greater ease when the shutter is in the locked position (for unwinding).
Have a good Christmas everyone!
wolves3012
Veteran
No problem, PM me when you are ready.
The drag from the shutter is negligible in comparison to winding the film on, I doubt is has much effect on the winding. That's most likely due to dried-up grease in the gears etc. Whatever, a full CLA should have it running smoothly.
ChrisCummins
Couch Photographer.
So I've shot about half a dozen rolls through the FED over christmas, waiting for some chemicals to arrive so I can get them developed and examine the quality.
I have performed a CLA as far as the instructions on this forum explain, but it doesn't involve any lubricating of the winding mechanism, so I'm at a loss as to what to do.
Also, I'm at a loss as to how to cure the shutter lag problem. At 1/30 and B setting I can see quite clearly that the problem is that the second curtain moves slower than the first. So on 1/30, I'd expect the left side of the frame to exposed more than the right (although on the negs, left and right will be reversed?). I assume this happens at the faster shutter speeds as well, but I find it hard to see for certain.
On Bulb, the right curtain doesn't close with the same 'snap' that the left curtain opens with, which I guess will have the same effect.
Are these problems addressed in this thread? This is my first camera with curtains so I don't really understand all the jargon about tension etc.
Regards
Chris
I have performed a CLA as far as the instructions on this forum explain, but it doesn't involve any lubricating of the winding mechanism, so I'm at a loss as to what to do.
Also, I'm at a loss as to how to cure the shutter lag problem. At 1/30 and B setting I can see quite clearly that the problem is that the second curtain moves slower than the first. So on 1/30, I'd expect the left side of the frame to exposed more than the right (although on the negs, left and right will be reversed?). I assume this happens at the faster shutter speeds as well, but I find it hard to see for certain.
On Bulb, the right curtain doesn't close with the same 'snap' that the left curtain opens with, which I guess will have the same effect.
Are these problems addressed in this thread? This is my first camera with curtains so I don't really understand all the jargon about tension etc.
Regards
Chris
stevebrot
Established
Chris,
Do a Google search for "FED-2 shutter repair". There are several good resources. Here is a link to one that gives step-by-step instructions for complete service and repair:
Steve
Do a Google search for "FED-2 shutter repair". There are several good resources. Here is a link to one that gives step-by-step instructions for complete service and repair:
Steve
NorpA
Established
Hi Chris,
I have the same situation with my "new" FED2:
the second curtain is very lazy using slow times, so from 1/60 to B it doesn't close immediately and sometimes it doesn't close at all.
To be honest I can't figure out how to solve it using the page suggested by stevebrot, but I'll try with this "simple" approach
http://members.myactv.net/~je205d/cla.htm
I'll try to leave the curtain attached on the camera and lube the gears in this way (I cross my fingers).
Anybody here restored a not working self-timer?
Regards,
I have the same situation with my "new" FED2:
the second curtain is very lazy using slow times, so from 1/60 to B it doesn't close immediately and sometimes it doesn't close at all.
To be honest I can't figure out how to solve it using the page suggested by stevebrot, but I'll try with this "simple" approach
http://members.myactv.net/~je205d/cla.htm
I'll try to leave the curtain attached on the camera and lube the gears in this way (I cross my fingers).
Anybody here restored a not working self-timer?
Regards,
NorpA
Established
Ok, I solved my curtain problem just lubing the drum and its speed selector coupling pin. ФЭД is now shooting correctly with 1/60, 1/30 and even in B. I want to postpone the complete CLA as a long term project.
ChrisCummins
Couch Photographer.
That's good to hear NorpA. It gives me confidence being able to bring mine back up to strength!
Regards,
Chris
Regards,
Chris
ChrisCummins
Couch Photographer.
Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been really busy getting film/scanning equipment up and running so that I can finally process my own negs. So looking back on some of the shots with the camera, the shutter actually works better than expected. Exposures seem to be fairly accurate and consistent. However, there is a definite blacking out of the left edge of some negatives. I believe these are shots made at 1/500 speed. The third image shows this. Does anyone have any idea what would be causing this?
Apart from this problem, I am otherwise very pleased with the look of the camera. While it will take me a fair bit of practice to get used to it's quirky mannerisms, it is surely capable of taking a fine looking shot.
Regards,
Chris
Apart from this problem, I am otherwise very pleased with the look of the camera. While it will take me a fair bit of practice to get used to it's quirky mannerisms, it is surely capable of taking a fine looking shot.
Regards,
Chris