Looking for a FED2?

[Carburo]

I was looking around Ebay for some Kievs, and I found this.
It looks one of the best I've seen!

http://makeashorterlink.com/?C1B723F79

If you buy it, take some pics and dedicate them to me

[Doug]

One cynic offered a possible reason for an old Russian camera to be like new: It didn't work, so was put in the closet. >:-/

[GeneW]

Originally posted by Carburo
I was looking around Ebay for some Kievs, and I found this.
It looks one of the best I've seen!

If you buy it, take some pics and dedicate them to me

Carburo, I bought it and it arrived today. Thanks for spotting it!

Cosmetically it's in wonderful condition. Extremely clean, no dings or dents and the shutter speeds all sound relatively accurate. Came in original Fed-2 box with original instruction manual and a very nice leather case that shows little sign of wear.

I'll run through a test roll and check for light leaks, but I think I've got a nice Fed-2 here.

If you ever visit Toronto, I'll treat you to a pint or two!

Gene

P.S. a question for you knowledgeable FSU collectors. The lens is a silver 52mm/2.8 -- which lens is this? I can't make out the short, stylized cyrillic name.

P.P.S. found the answer on the Net. It's an Industar I-26m. How is this lens as a shooter?

[pshinkaw]

I have several. There seem to be two silver styles. One is tapered with large easy to grip knurling. the other is a deadringer for the Jupiter-8 (50/2.0). They are well made 4/3 Tessar formula lenses. Results are pretty consistent with the best of any 50/2.8 coated Tessar.

As to the 52 mm focal length, most lenses are within a few millimeters of what their nominal markings are. If you picked up a 50mm lens from another camera and actually measured the focal length, it could be anywhere from 48 to 52 mm.


-Paul

[GeneW]

Thanks Paul.

This has the tapered one with the large knurled grip. After checking a few websites I've determined that this is a FED-2 (e) model. The original papers were in the box and dated 1965.

I haven't tried to load a film yet. Does the leader need to be cut or just inserted into the clip?

I really like the size, heft and feel of the cam. Even more than my Zorki 4K.

Gene

[Carburo]

Originally posted by Gene
Carburo, I bought it and it arrived today. Thanks for spotting it!

Cosmetically it's in wonderful condition. Extremely clean, no dings or dents and the shutter speeds all sound relatively accurate. Came in original Fed-2 box with original instruction manual and a very nice leather case that shows little sign of wear.

I'll run through a test roll and check for light leaks, but I think I've got a nice Fed-2 here.

If you ever visit Toronto, I'll treat you to a pint or two!

Gene

P.S. a question for you knowledgeable FSU collectors. The lens is a silver 52mm/2.8 -- which lens is this? I can't make out the short, stylized cyrillic name.

P.P.S. found the answer on the Net. It's an Industar I-26m. How is this lens as a shooter?

Hi Gene!
I'm glad about this.
A proposal to all the friends here: do the same when you notice a good stuff on ebay (and you are not bidding! )

[pshinkaw]

Gene:

Just stick it in.

I presume you have the removable take-up spool. The later models of the 2 as well as the 3 thru 5 have a split tube that is fixed in the camera and replaces the removeable spool. It can be removed with a screwdriver and placed into the earlier models of the Fed-2 thus giving you a fixed take-up spool. A great example of Soviet functional simplicity combined with incremental design improvements.

However since you have such a great collectible outfit, you might want to preserve it as it is.

-Paul

[GeneW]

Thanks Paul. Yes, it has the original take out spool. I don't mind using it this way. Much better, imo, than the bottom loading models.

Carburo, thanks once again for spotting this and certainly if I see something interesting on eBay that I'm not bidding on, I'll pass it along to the group!

Gene

[back alley]

gene, i agree about the size and feel of the fed, it's very nice.
i never did get mine to work properly, it does not advance the film.
but it looks nice hanging on my camera rack.

joe