Nickfed
Well-known
I'm really surprised this matter has never arisen before, so I throw this in as entertainment or inspiration for all you slackers out there........
If your viewfinder is separate from the rangefinder, looking through a different one is no disadvantage, even if it's for 50mm. The Voigtlander Kontur finder goes extremely well with FED-1 and the like. It takes a few seconds to get used to and then becomes the viewfinder to die for. You view both eyes open to see the real-life view (kosher 1:1) with the field of view suspended over it.
The huge lookempeeper at the back gives the message about how good this is to use.
The Kontur is a sloppy fit in the FED-1. I have two thicknesses of paper under it. The foot is long for the shoe too, but the KMZ finders are the same. It fits beautifully in my Zorki-6.
The first problem was that the finder fouled the shutter wheel. It is clear that the original design intent was that the wind and rewind knobs, along with the shutter dial, are all flush with the viewfinder housing. I'm not sure this is common with FED-1s. It is nonetheless easily fixed. I loosened the grub screw in the shutter dial, unscrewed the dial and cleaned it. I then put it back, screwed it all the way down, and then backed off to the right setting. This gives the vital millimeter clearance off the finder and looks more ship-shape to boot.
The finder has to be removed to change shutter speed. I don't change speeds much.
I don't like the chances of it not fouling the shutter on a Zorki-1c. It is 35mm wide. I believe it will work fine on a low-shoe FED-2. Nothing dim about the Kontur - what you see is what you see.
If your viewfinder is separate from the rangefinder, looking through a different one is no disadvantage, even if it's for 50mm. The Voigtlander Kontur finder goes extremely well with FED-1 and the like. It takes a few seconds to get used to and then becomes the viewfinder to die for. You view both eyes open to see the real-life view (kosher 1:1) with the field of view suspended over it.
The huge lookempeeper at the back gives the message about how good this is to use.
The Kontur is a sloppy fit in the FED-1. I have two thicknesses of paper under it. The foot is long for the shoe too, but the KMZ finders are the same. It fits beautifully in my Zorki-6.
The first problem was that the finder fouled the shutter wheel. It is clear that the original design intent was that the wind and rewind knobs, along with the shutter dial, are all flush with the viewfinder housing. I'm not sure this is common with FED-1s. It is nonetheless easily fixed. I loosened the grub screw in the shutter dial, unscrewed the dial and cleaned it. I then put it back, screwed it all the way down, and then backed off to the right setting. This gives the vital millimeter clearance off the finder and looks more ship-shape to boot.
The finder has to be removed to change shutter speed. I don't change speeds much.
I don't like the chances of it not fouling the shutter on a Zorki-1c. It is 35mm wide. I believe it will work fine on a low-shoe FED-2. Nothing dim about the Kontur - what you see is what you see.
