renaming this forum

Oh Steph... you of little faith.

Believe it or not, some of us don't have those problems with FSU gear.

(OK, maybe we DID have, but we fixed 'em and they're fine now.)

When YOU get to be 50+, you'll understand the need for a little more TLC.

Old Rick 😛
 
rolleistef said:
Silly suggestion : why don't we rename this forum in "FSU RF Problems, Light Leaks and Reparation"?
Ok I leave the ring...
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I find it curious that there is much less talk here of FSU cameras. When I first joined, that seemed to be the main topic of conversation. I have often wondered why that has changed. Have we become a haven for Leica owners from other less friendly forums? 😀 😀

I especially notice it since I have finally joined the crowd (I have my own Kiev now). I don't say that accusingly at all. If money was no object I might get a Leica myself. Or a "real" Contax. But I doubt it. Anyway your point is well taken. I had to learn (from Ruben) how to get rid of the light leaks in the Kiev. Now I kind of like the little thing.

But change the forum name? Nah, not even in jest.
 
oftheherd said:
I find it curious that there is much less talk here of FSU cameras. When I first joined, that seemed to be the main topic of conversation. I have often wondered why that has changed. Have we become a haven for Leica owners from other less friendly forums? 😀 😀

I especially notice it since I have finally joined the crowd (I have my own Kiev now). I don't say that accusingly at all. If money was no object I might get a Leica myself. Or a "real" Contax. But I doubt it. Anyway your point is well taken. I had to learn (from Ruben) how to get rid of the light leaks in the Kiev. Now I kind of like the little thing.

But change the forum name? Nah, not even in jest.
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That's a good point ... there was a lot of FSU chat a year or so ago but it does seem to have dried up a little! You only had to mention a Fed 2 and you'd be swamped with replies about what a great camera they are.

Not much talk about Leica LTM's any more either! 🙁
 
There is supposed to be a fsu photo contest going on at the moment. I haven't heard any more about it. I suppose people are out & about with their favorite fsu snapping away. I have my Fed2 loaded with some Gekko 100 at the moment, & plan to shoot & develope in the next week. I'm gonna try developing in Perceptol to get a nice fine grain effect.
 
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pesphoto said:
Well, FSU prices have gone up. Especially on the Fed 2. Probably as a result of all of us here.
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I agree. FSU lenses have really took an increase also. The price of a J3 is ridiculous and I have been looking at J-9s for awhile and I'll wait until I find one at a good price. If one is patient you can get a good price. I recently picked up a J-8 for $15.00 & that was with shipping. I think with this recession we are about to experience(many already are) prices will come down.
 
Damn .... I have a few lovely FSU's in the cupboard that haven't been used in a long time. An Iskra, my delightful blue Fed 2, a Kiev II and a Moskva! The '55 Kiev II, (Kneb) in particular is a gorgeous camera with a J3 mounted!
 
Oh yes! I realized I was just in time to get a Kiev 5 but already to late for a J 3 for 50-60 USD. Now they are about 70-80 Euros. Zorki 3's go regularly for about 8o € and Kievs are also very often in the 50 € range (as "cheap" imports from FSU have become nigh impossible thanks to the greed of our Austrian /European customs - anybody else remember that you were allowed free import up to a certain amount?).
J 8's, J 12's and J 11's are still comparably cheap. On the other side FSU's basic design comes from atime when cars, motorcycles and cameras were made to be repaired (=tinkered with) by their users.
 
I concur, but in name only. "Russian RF" covers a lot the FSU RF's discussed here (KMZ etc around Moscow etc) , but it should be called "FSU Rangefinders", or even better "Soviet Leica's" ;-0..... to incorporate the major contribution of the likes of non Soviet (now) but former Soviet Union.....errrr... isn't "Kiev the capital of the UKRAINE.... hence the camera.....etc....etc....
 
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Only if you add "RF Problems, Light Leaks and Reparation" to all of the forums here.

My Leica M2 is in for repair again. Jammed because of a shutter brake. Second CLA in 5 years.

My Zorki 3M is working well.

Or how about "50 year old gear used by Cavemen"
 
I never thought they were "former" Soviet cameras. They were built by the Soviet Union. Rather than FSUs, I think of them as SUs.
 
I like "Soviet-era cameras and lenses," or Soviet-era for short. I tried to see if the hyphen should or should not be used by doing a google search on the term.

It seems that newspapers like to use the hyphen, and since rangefinders (and scale focusing viewfinders) have been the staple of the great photogs, and the great photogs were mostly photojournalists, then I think the hypen is appropriate.

Soviet-era is what I use when I write about my FSU cameras.

Note:
I just did some thinking; hyphens are useful when describing something: "a Soviet-era lens," rather than being something: "the Soviet Era." Now, I am no expert, but my mentor/professor Alan Mandell often suggested that consistency and common sense are more important writing features than pure compliance. The goal of writing is communicating; that is why we use common languages, and have discussions like these!







pesphoto said:
Well, FSU prices have gone up. Especially on the Fed 2. Probably as a result of all of us here.
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I started with this stuff about a year and a half ago, and prices seem to have doubled, if not tripled, for all the lower priced RF equipment especially Soviet-era stuff.

Same for SLR, again especially for Soviet-era stuff. I think these postings have an effect, but I think the biggest effect is digital photography. More and more people are getting into photography through the low cost and ease of digital, and are then realizing that digital is not really the art form that film is... and film produces much more expressive images, perhaps because it is "wet."
 
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