Where to buy FSU Rangefinders

T

Turves

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I am concidering purchasing a FSU rangefinder.
I notice some of people mention FEDKA as a source, I also have seen the listings on the Lomo site and of course ebay.

Any suggestions who to buy from.
 
You can order one from a number of sources on ebay. They might be cheaper than Fedka, but then again the gear from Fedka should work.

Pity to wait three weeks for a camera and then ...
 
Fedka is faster and Yuri is quick to answer questions. And he stands behind his gear in my experience. Also, shipping doesn't wind up becoming 50% of the price of the camera.
 
Fedka. I've never bought a working FSU item from anyone else, after something like six ebay transactions.

That's not quite true, I did get a nice Zorki from Oleg. But he seems to be hard to track down lately.
 
I think eBay is ok as long as you use a legitimate seller with good feedback. But Fedka is very reliable, and you get some sort of guarantee that way too.
 
fedka is no doubt safest, but I have also had good service and goods from Grizzly33Bear on e-bay. It takes about 2 weeks.
 
Fedka in the US, Oleg elsewhere. There must be other reliable sellers -- in S-E Asia, for example -- but these two have been around for some while.
 
Another vote for Yuri at Fedka.com. I ordered a Lubitel but he didn't like the quality of the one he had in stock so we worked out an alternate prior to any shipment and with my approval. Confirms his quality control. I wouldn't hesitate and probably will order from him again in the future.
 
Hi Turves, and welcome to RFF. I see that you are in Melbourne and I am assuming that is THE Melbourne and not one of the smaller copies on the other side of the Big Pond (that's the Pacific, not our biggest ISP). From another who lives in Melbourne and the owner of much FSU gear may I suggest that you are better off taking a punt with some of the eBay sellers located in FSU countries than to pay a premium price from fedka, who is in the US. They are cheaper, no further away, no less reliable, and will willingly refund or exchange. Either way it is going to cost you shipping to and from the other side of the world. Most of the gear I have bought from FSU-based sellers is still functioning as well as it came to me, but the Kiev I bought from fedka is not, and the conditions for having it remedied by him made it not worthwhile. Sellers I have bought successfully from include alex-photo, kubanoid, confdntart, sovietepoch, rusantique. You can also buy direct from www.dvdtechnik.com if you don't want to buy on the 'bay.
 
I bought my 3 Zorkis (4/4K) on ebay. I think you must observe some auctions before buying, to create an idea on the prices...
 
Here are some sellers that I like and trust.
Specifically:
Fedka,

Oleg Kahlyavin--http://www.okvintagecamera.com/index.html,

Alex-photo ( on ebay),

RafCamera--I bought my Zorki 3m from them. Lately, they seem to be concentrating on movie equiptmment--http://rafcamera.com/.

Andhttp://www.rus-camera.com--Valdis has been a very good guy to deal with. His site doesn't look like it's selling anything but some where on it ( I can't recall where I read it ) he does say to contact him if you want something. Good prices and I trust him to deliver what he says he will.
The one thing that I was a little nervous about was that he wanted to use Western Union wire transfer to get paid.
I took a chance and have been well served since. It has been about a year since I bought anything from him but I will contact him first next time I "need" some FSU gear.
You might also want to search at the Kiev Report--http://forums.delphiforums.com/kievreport--for discussions about FSU dealers.
Rob
 
Based on many of the recommendations on the Forum, I just placed an order with Yuri at Fedka. It's a FED 2 with the green vulcanite covering, with a case and a lens cap. I'll let you know how it is, and hopefully I'll be able to make some meaningful photos with it.
 

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Rob, any e-mail address for Alex-photo?

I'm looking for a J-9 in Leica/Zorki mount, Ron, if you can help.
 
Has anyone had experience comparing the various FED 2 versions -- particularly the different winding knobs? Any difference in reliability, or is it strictly aesthetics?
 
So I came home last night after a long day shooting interiors, and was happy to find a box from Yuri waiting for me! The FED 2 that he sent is really nice - it has the 'newer' knob, and I do like the way it works. Strange as this might sound, when I operated the shutter for the first time (at 1/25 sec), it sounded to me like a Nikon S shutter. As well, I have to say that the viewfinder diopter adjustment has the widest range that I've ever seen on a camera. I'm quite near sighted (-4.75), and the diopter can adjust so that I can see clearly and sharply through the viewfinder without my glasses....never had that happen before!

So, now the task at hand is to make some meaningful photos with this beast.....I'll keep you posted!
 
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