Show Off Your FSU

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Just got this one, Zorki 1, serial starts at 17, and yes, I do need to fix it up a little. But yes, It is a wonderful camera. I love the rangefinder!
 
ZorkiKat said:
My 1937 FED. The last FED I will ever buy. No lens mount. No pressure plate. Shredded Shutter. And every fastening screw missing.
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That's a pretty impressive job! I like the use of cross headed screws too.
It's also impressive that you even took the job on.
Did you know it was in that state when you bought it?

Dave..
 
Siepacz said:
My beauty just arrived few days ago. Any idea how to paint it black without sending to any specialist?

It looks good as it is, although I'm not a fan of that particular "ZORKI 4" marking on the front. My 4 has the signature style marking, but my 4K is similar to yours. I wonder if it can be cleaned off?

Dave...
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ZorkiKat said:
My 1937 FED. The last FED I will ever buy. No lens mount. No pressure plate. Shredded Shutter. And every fastening screw missing.
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I'll bet that was described as "good working condition" on the auction site?

I bought a Fed 1g described that way - the curtains were more like a seive, and the whole thing was gummed up solid with old whale oil. Complete strip down of body & lens resulted ina camera that's very nearly as smooth as my Leica II. I'm debating whether to keep it as my "car camera" or to sell it on - I have far too many cameras.
 
john neal said:
I'll bet that was described as "good working condition" on the auction site?


.
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This FED was clearly listed as a "parts" or "repair" camera. However its being an early (with an oval "lavatory seat" style top cover) production specimen put its cost close to a working FED-1 of later vintage, with lens included.

The seller is known for his reliability and honesty- the pictures on the auction showed the camera as it is. I now believe that its wrecked condition was what appealed to me in the first place 🙂
 
Here's my FED-2 with different lenses :

FED-2-I-26-M.jpg


I-26M

FED-2-I-50-collapsible.jpg

Home made lens hood on the I-50

Fed-2-Jup-12.jpg

Jup-12
Also got a voigtländer Color Skopar 35mm P1, which lives on my Hexar with an M adaptor right now.
 
I just got my Fed 2 today. It appears to be in really great shape. The shutter curtains look almost brand new and they fire at what seems like the correct speeds without any lag that I can tell. The rangefinder patch is probably as bright if not brighter than the one on my Yashica GSN and the viewfinder is pretty bright. The older I-61 is a bit stiff but is loosening up as I use it but it's not bad at all.

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Anybody have any idea what year that serial would correspond to?
 
Alowisney said:
Anybody have any idea what year that serial would correspond to?
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Beautiful FED-2! There are a couple of places on the Web that have lists of FED serial numbers. Unfortunately they don't seem to follow the general convention of FSU cameras where the first two digits indicate the year of production. Just looking at your camera, I suspect that it probably dates to the mid-1960s. I also suspect that the lens ("Panda" I-61) is newer than the camera by several years.

Edit:
I did a little research (HERE) and it looks like your camera was made in 1959 and is a FED-2 (Type-C3).


Steve

(Waiting for my FED-2 to get here and still trying to get a handle on the different variants and dates of production...)
 
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stevebrot said:
Beautiful FED-2! There are a couple of places on the Web that have lists of FED serial numbers. Unfortunately they don't seem to follow the general convention of FSU cameras where the first two digits indicate the year of production. Just looking at your camera, I suspect that it probably dates to the mid-1960s. I also suspect that the lens ("Panda" I-61) is newer than the camera by several years.

Edit:
I did a little research (HERE) and it looks like your camera was made in 1959 and is a FED-2 (Type-C3).


Steve

(Waiting for my FED-2 to get here and still trying to get a handle on the different variants and dates of production...)
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Thanks so much! I haven't even shot a roll through this camera but I love it already.

At first I didn't like the looks of the Zorkis and Kievs but this thread has turned that around! 😀 I may feel an addiction coming on!
 
Two new additions to the fold...

Kiev 4A (series-1), ca. 1961


FED-2 (type-D6), ca. 1963



So far, both cameras appear to be winners, so I am happy. A small note regarding the lens on the FED-2. While it is labeled Industar-61, I suspect that it is really a "parts-bin" hybrid made from a mix of I-61 and I-26 parts. My thoughts are that the lens body, front plate, and rear optical block are I-61 (panda), while the aperture ring (silver and clickless), aperture assembly (10-bladed), and front optical element are from an I-26. Any thoughts on this are appreciated as I am in "conversation" with the eBay seller on this matter. BTW, optical performance of this particular lens is so-so...🙁 Steve
 
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stevebrot said:
While it is labeled Industar-61, I suspect that it is really a "parts-bin" hybrid made from a mix of I-61 and I-26 parts. My thoughts are that the lens body, front plate, and rear optical block are I-61 (panda), while the aperture ring (silver and clickless), aperture assembly (10-bladed), and front optical element are from an I-26. Any thoughts on this are appreciated as I am in "conversation" with the eBay seller on this matter. BTW, optical performance of this particular lens is so-so...🙁 Steve
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No, no 26m parts, this is the first type I61, the second type was the zebra, and the third is the black one.
This I61 lens from 1966 is the runnerup from the 26m, and therefore quite resembles in part.

here's another one, posted by one of our fellow members:
DSC01877.JPG
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