Soviet Camera Store...?

[Photon-hunter]

Does anybody here have any experience dealing with the Soviet Camera Store ( http://www.sovietcamera.com.ua/ ).

They seem to have some nice looking machines over there and apparently they sell all their gear CLAD´d and with a warranty. Prices are a bit steap fro some copies (specialy some of the FED´s). After all, what we are all after is a fully working body..

E.

 

[mongo141]

Does anybody here have any experience dealing with the Soviet Camera Store ( http://www.sovietcamera.com.ua/ ).

They seem to have some nice looking machines over there and apparently they sell all their gear CLAD´d and with a warranty. Prices are a bit steap fro some copies (specialy some of the FED´s). After all, what we are all after is a fully working body..

E.

I have bought several items from Vikentiy Trofimov and have never been unhappy with any of them, always exactally as stated. He ships quickly and items are well packed but he has to deal with the State postal system so expect about 3 weeks to the US West coast, altho I did get a package in 9 days one time. Dave

 

[fanshaw]

I have bought several items from Vikentiy Trofimov and have never been unhappy with any of them, always exactally as stated. He ships quickly and items are well packed but he has to deal with the State postal system so expect about 3 weeks to the US West coast, altho I did get a package in 9 days one time. Dave

Yes, I second that. He has been in business for years. I have bought a number of items from him and have never been disappointed.

 

[Semushkin]

I got a FED-4a from him. Before, I emailed and asked about the (built-in) lightmeter. The reply was that it worked correctly, so I ordered the camera. The camera came and was as described, with one exception. The lightmeter needle was not moving at all! I emailed him and he replied that he would be unable to do anything about it. I consider this a violation of his warranty.

I had to open the top to see what was wrong. It turns out a screw was loose inside and was caught in the meter needle magnet, preventing it from moving. The meter was fine after that. The camera performed flawlessly, still does, and had clearly been CLA-ed well. But he did not honor his warranty, so I will not buy from him again.


Semushkin

 

[Photon-hunter]

Well. I can see a Fed2 in my near future...Thanks guys.

E.

 

[ray*j*gun]

I got a FED-4a from him. Before, I emailed and asked about the (built-in) lightmeter. The reply was that it worked correctly, so I ordered the camera. The camera came and was as described, with one exception. The lightmeter needle was not moving at all! I emailed him and he replied that he would be unable to do anything about it. I consider this a violation of his warranty.

I had to open the top to see what was wrong. It turns out a screw was loose inside and was caught in the meter needle magnet, preventing it from moving. The meter was fine after that. The camera performed flawlessly, still does, and had clearly been CLA-ed well. But he did not honor his warranty, so I will not buy from him again.


Semushkin

How is that a warranty then??

If you have to repair the camera yourself??

 

[giovatony]

I got a FED-4a from him. Before, I emailed and asked about the (built-in) lightmeter. The reply was that it worked correctly, so I ordered the camera. The camera came and was as described, with one exception. The lightmeter needle was not moving at all! I emailed him and he replied that he would be unable to do anything about it. I consider this a violation of his warranty.

I had to open the top to see what was wrong. It turns out a screw was loose inside and was caught in the meter needle magnet, preventing it from moving. The meter was fine after that. The camera performed flawlessly, still does, and had clearly been CLA-ed well. But he did not honor his warranty, so I will not buy from him again.


Semushkin

It`s quite possible that the meter was in fact working when he checked it and the screw got loose in transit and therefore he felt he wasn`t to blame.
I would be taken back myself if a buyer replied to me that I misrepresented the item when I know for sure it worked when I sent it.
But the bottom line is that I believe the seller has the burden of responsibility to the seller that the item is not DOA .

I received a Kodak Retina that was missing a camera back closure. It was from a volume seller with 100% feedback . You`d have to be blind not to see it was missing.
I asked for a refund and he called me a liar and said it was complete.
I had sent him a MO so I had no recourse. Only $25 but I was mad so i left him negative feedback, which he then returned the favor.
Sometimes you just can`t win.
John

 

[Semushkin]

It`s quite possible that the meter was in fact working when he checked it and the screw got loose in transit and therefore he felt he wasn`t to blame.
I would be taken back myself if a buyer replied to me that I misrepresented the item when I know for sure it worked when I sent it.
But the bottom line is that I believe the seller has the burden of responsibility to the seller that the item is not DOA .

...

It probably did get unscrewed in transit, probably because it was not screwed tightly enough during CLA, no matter though, a warranty is a warranty. He should have offered to take it back and fix it or refund or replace, or offer a discount if he was unwilling to fix. What does the warranty mean otherwise? What is the point of having one?

 

[moving_electron]

When you buy from the site and pay electronically, there is no feedback that it has shipped, only that the order was placed. That is a bit disconcerting as your item does not disappear from the website for 10 days or so. Things always showed up in the US at exactly week 3 which means they actually shipped pretty rapidly. He does respond to an email query if needed though.

On my Iskra the tab that would shift between X,M and timer is broken and was not mentioned in the description. In fairness I never followed up on it because I had heard the timer was finicky anyway and I can still move the lever with a small scewdriver if needed. Plus I fell in love with the Iskra the day I got it and I was not going to send it back for any reason. 🙂

I just recieved a Moskva 4 that is exacly as shown, clean and CLAed. But the rangefinder was set the front lens exactly backwards. When the rangefinder focused on something close it rotate the lens to infinity. Infinity objects set the lens to 1.5m??? Again in fairness I did not contact him. I messed with the rangefinder geared lenses and got it focusing just fine.

All this is much better than the eBay Fed 2 I got from the Ukraine a few weeks back that was in "full working, very good condition" but has screws missing that let light in from the front to the film, a disconnected diopter adjust and no lubrication - LOL.

 

[Bill58]

Buy from Yuri @ Fedka.com and never have to look back or worry.