Smoothest, quietest - FSU cam

Hello
Considering true RF cameras, I wonder why FSU cameras with non focal plane shutters are often undervaluated or ignored. If you include them, then Iskra and/or Junost are as silent as a camera can be, at least in my experience.
OTOH, the Sokol, which also has a lens shutter, can be quite loud.
Regards
Joao
 
Joao said:
Hello
Considering true RF cameras, I wonder why FSU cameras with non focal plane shutters are often undervaluated or ignored. If you include them, then Iskra and/or Junost are as silent as a camera can be, at least in my experience.
OTOH, the Sokol, which also has a lens shutter, can be quite loud.
Regards
Joao

Actually ... I could have nominated my Iskra ... the shutter is nearly silent and the lens quality is reputed to be as good as you can get in FSU. Unfortunately the auto framing advance mechanism, which has a reputation for being a bit erratic, tore up a perfectly good roll of Reala the other day so I'm a bit cross with it. To it's credit though, and to my relief the following roll of T-Max went through without a hitch ... perhaps it doesn't like Fuji film? :p
 
Pssst...

Pssst...

zhang xk said:
After winning the title of the most complex rangefinder camera, it seems Kiev is going to win the quietest camera title, then the most accurate rangefinder, the most under valued,....:D :bang:
Let's keep it a secret so it will stay undervalued and available for us:angel: :D at least for the next year!
 
Hey, yes please, a coffe but without coffein with milk but the milk without fat and then a beer but please without alcohol and hmmm yes a fsu rangefinder but without loud!

Thank you. ;)
 
Possibly I misunderstood the original post. I thought triplefinger was seeking thoughts concerning smooth/quiet in relation to other FSU.LTMs. He wrote, "I'm thinking of a fed 1 or 2 or a Zorki 1 or 2 or 3." My Zorki.1 I mentioned is barely quieter than the other Zorkis I have, but waaay smoother in operation.

I like the sound of Zorki shutters. I like to hear that something has happened when the button has been pushed; gears are whirling, levers are banging, springs are released and curtains are slidin' n' slappin', .... tires squealin', women screamin', dogs barkin', babies cryin' ... ehhh, okay. Anyway, it's the sound of something mechanical in motion... in my hands. If they sound like "things are self-destructing," I try to adjust here and there and smooth it out down to a lesser "things are working properly" decibel.

If I need real, real quiet, I have a shutter-less, life-less, soul-less mobile phone cam.
 
Months ago someone remarked that my Olegated Zorki 1C was quieter than my Leica IIIc. The next time neither had film in it, I did a comparison by firing both bodies kept on a wooden desk. They sounded about the same. In use, the IIIc was naked while the Zorki always wore a half case, necessary because the body has no strap lugs.
 
I must have been lucky, my first fsu camera-Fed 2b ( from Fedka ) is as quiet and smooth, as a couple of Leica screw models I've owned and handles beautifully!:)
 
Fed50 is very quiet, just a faint high pitched "ping"!! If you want a really loud shutter, try a Purma Plus, a British (sorry Welsh!) made camera. metal focal plane shutter sounds like one of these steel shop front shutters coming down, and is almost as loud!!
Years ago I took a shot of a horse with mine, the poor animal fled in terror with the rider almost attached!! I was not popular, as it was at horse Guards Parade in London!!!!!
 
CVBLZ4 said:
Double LOL!! :D :D
I'll briefly tell the whole story!
1955 I was 11 years old on a school trip to London, and took my then new Purma camera, much to my school teachers chagrin!!
Incident one, In the Whispering Gallery of St Pauls Cathedral, I decided that an aerial shot of the congregation would be a good idea, I leant over the balcony rail and as I took the shot, my metal lens hood detached itself. As I watched it drop away, there was a quiet pause in the service shattered by the "boing boing" sound of the hood bouncing on the floor. The noise was incredible and hundreds of eyes turned skywards to see where the missile had come from. I was not allowed to retrieve the hood.
Incident two. Take a shot of mounted Guardsman at Horseguards Parade. Fired camera, and the combination of the shutter noise and flash made the horse rear up, pee all over my teacher, then bolt with the Guardsman hanging on for dear life.

The teacher vowed that I would never ever be allowed on one of her trips again. My father who was summoned to see her, found the whole thing hilarious, but tried to look serious. As we went home on the tram he could contain himself no longer, and laughed till the tears ran down his face. Happy memories:rolleyes:

P.S.. I still treasure the camera, a present from my father who died a year later.
 
Last edited:
Dear John,

Great stories!, you have something to tell to the grandsons ... and great that you have such a happy moments with your father, you ought to show your camera here one of these days, the WoMD model :)
 
John Robertson said:
The teacher vowed that I would never ever be allowed on one of her trips again.
Ahh, yes. Creative photogs are always among the most persecuted. :angel:

Wonderful story, John. Great men they are, those souls called "Dads."
 
zorroflores said:
Dear John,

Great stories!, you have something to tell to the grandsons ... and great that you have such a happy moments with your father, you ought to show your camera here one of these days, the WoMD model :)
Not sure about WoMD, i'm a bit dumb about these things!!
Here is the offending camera, I had the solid leather case restored a few years ago, but the camera is still in good condition and still works!! (unlike its owner!!) Also the Purma enlarger I had at the same time, sadly I no longer have mine. I also had the flash shown which took bulbs about the size of a domestic light bulb, their flash was almost nuclear!!!
 

Attachments

  • Dads Gift.jpg
    Dads Gift.jpg
    156.2 KB · Views: 0
  • Purma Enlarger.jpg
    Purma Enlarger.jpg
    122.3 KB · Views: 0
Last edited:
John,

The camera looks in very good shape, the case as new and the enlarger, well, a lot of metal!.
Have you some old pics taken with the Purma?

Regards
 
The most quiet FSU camera I have is a Zorki 1C, with a 2C shell (strap lugs) and shutter curtains made by Jay of an extra light material. I don't a Leica II of III would be any quieter.
 
Thanks John for your Story! It reminds me of my father who did not like to waste money ....but who went with me to camera auctions when I was 15 and bought there among other things 2 zorki 4's, a 4K and a FED 3 ....they were cheap then...so it is amazing that he paid the CLA for most of them.

Oh yes...it also helps making a camera quieter if you hold it away from you face! Just tried that with a Bessa R! Great results ;O)

Des
 
Spider67 said:
Thanks John for your Story! It reminds me of my father who did not like to waste money ....but who went with me to camera auctions when I was 15 and bought there among other things 2 zorki 4's, a 4K and a FED 3 ....they were cheap then...so it is amazing that he paid the CLA for most of them.

Oh yes...it also helps making a camera quieter if you hold it away from you face! Just tried that with a Bessa R! Great results ;O)

Des
And I bet your father was an educator like mine. I got 10% of my education from school and college and 90% from my father. He was interested in everything, had a great library of reference books, and patiently answered my every question. If he didn't know he would say so and we'd find the answer together. I worked the same way with my own kid (now 40!! ) and he does the same with his. I was a late arrival, my father was 45 when I was born, and he died when I was 13. His brother was a teacher at my school, unmarried with no kids, he took over from my father. I was lucky he only died in 1999, aged 99. Still as sharp as a needle to the end!! My fathers Ilford Advocate is almost silent, its difficult to know sometimes if you have taken the picture. Its still in use
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=6744
My own Fed2 is pretty quiet as well. Yes the Bessas are noisier, but not excessively so, at least not for my type of photography.;)
 
John Robertson said:
And I bet your father was an educator like mine. I got 10% of my education from school and college and 90% from my father. He was interested in everything, had a great library of reference books, and patiently answered my every question. If he didn't know he would say so and we'd find the answer together. I worked the same way with my own kid (now 40!! ) and he does the same with his. I was a late arrival, my father was 45 when I was born, and he died when I was 13. His brother was a teacher at my school, unmarried with no kids, he took over from my father. I was lucky he only died in 1999, aged 99. Still as sharp as a needle to the end!! My fathers Ilford Advocate is almost silent, its difficult to know sometimes if you have taken the picture. Its still in use
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=6744
My own Fed2 is pretty quiet as well. Yes the Bessas are noisier, but not excessively so, at least not for my type of photography.;)

Hello John,

Your family story is very interesting. Thanks for sharing.:)
 
Back
Top Bottom