Russian FED-2 rangefinder

On Sun, 1 May 2005 01:35:10 +0000 (UTC), Peter Irwin
wrote:

Thom wrote:

other than the fact you won't get the speed you asked for is it worth
the risk of damaging the shutter?

On the ones with the centre post (Fed 2c and later, the Zorki-C and
many Zenits)) are designed to show the correct speed whether or not
the shutter has been wound. This is a real improvement on St. Oscar's
design.

amen to that!

Since these cameras are so old I
tend not to wind after a shot but before so theres no spring tension
when not in use.

I always wind just after taking a shot. If a camera is left without
film, I will usually leave it unwound. The springs are under tension
in either case, so I'm not convinced it will make that big a difference.
On the cameras with the slow speeds, I like to set the shutter
to one of the higher speeds or B or 1/30 and then release the shutter
if I'm going to put it away for a while. This will make sure that the
slow speed mechanism is under minimum tension.

Worth considering. I also keep it on B or 1/30th in storage

One of the first things you notice is there's tension when you go to
slower speeds vs todays' where you feel nothing. Even my mid-range
ZENITs don't have any feel but of course most of them didn't have slow
speeds.

On the ones with slow speeds, you are winding the slow speed timer
when you turn the dial to 1/60th and slower speeds (except for the
1/30th speed which is on the other side of B.) This is a very
strange arrangement, but it seems to work apart from the problem
with changing speeds before winding.

Do you know what the term "Anti-firing mechanism" means? This was
supposed to be a feature introduced on the Fed-2D.

THOM

Peter
--

.

On Sat, 30 Apr 2005 22:21:37 +0000, Peter Irwin wrote:

Dick wrote:

I agree with what you say, but he seemed to ask just the opposite.

There is a real problem with changing the shutter speed before
winding on soviet cameras with slow speeds on the rotating leica
style dial. People are naturally cautious and assume that the
same problem exists with the models which lack slow speeds.

The warning is important for cameras such as the Fed 3, 4, 5.
On a Fed-2 there won't be a problem. Some Fed-2 cameras have
the speed setting mark on a central post in the centre of
the shutter speed dial and will show the speed correctly both
before and after winding the shutter. Others have the arrow
on the camera body (same as old leica) or have the shutter speed
numbers on the camera body and an arrow on the dial and will show
an incorrect speed setting with an uncocked shutter.

It is important to know that you need to lift the shutter speed
dial slightly when changing speeds, and that you shouldn't force
anything. It is a really good habit to always wind the shutter
before changing speeds on a focal plane shutter with a rotating
dial because it does matter on some cameras.

Peter.

Thanks guys.

It seems as if the seller has it the wrong way around. He was telling me
to change speeds before winding. I have always been in the habit of
winding immediately after taking a shot, so that would have been a bit of
a problem for me.

--
"My beef about digital is that you see certain images out
there, and things are so digital and retouched that you lose
the person in the process - lose the rawness and the
touchability because it is just too perfect." ~ Tony Duran