Smoothest, quietest - FSU cam

[triplefinger]

I'm thinking of a fed 1 or 2 or a Zorki 1 or 2 or 3.

I know they can be very clunky and loud. does anyone have knowledge of the smoothest quietest one?

Thanks!

[raid]

Hm ... I have not heard of the existence of a "quiet" FSU camera. They usually range between "very loud" to "unbelieveably loud" with intermediate postions inbetween.

Raid

[Peter A (NYC)]

Once in a Prague antique shop, I saw an old Kiev copy of a Contax II. It had a wheezy sound that was so gentle I thought it was broken, until I removed the back and saw the shutter working.

[triplefinger]

i see on fedka's website a couple cams where he talks about them as VERY smooth... fed 2 and a couple others

[mike goldberg]

Hi...
Fed-2 from the 60's; Fedka is very reliable.
Or check with Oleg for one that's been CLA'd at okvintagecamera.com
Good luck, mike

[ZorkiKat]

The build quality- which varies a lot- can determine how much noise a shutter in an old soviet camera makes. My quietest camera is one Zorki-1, but my other Zorki-1 and FED-1 are also among the noisiest as well. My FED-2 also fire with more noise. The laths used in the shutter - early ones used plain metal ones with the cloth wrapped around it, and the latter ones used crimped metal- would determine the firing sound as well. The latter, found in FED-2 and later cameras- tend to create more noise.

Then there is shutter tensioning as well. The more tensioning there is in the shutter, the more noise it would likely produce.

The soviet RF which I found to make the least sound when firing are the Kiev RF, the older ones in particular. They "sigh" rather than "wheeze" as the latter ones would.

If I were to select the soviet camera in my stash which makes the least noise when firing, it would be the Kiev-35A, Smena-8M and Lubitel-1.

Jay

[varjag]

A good Kiev will be quieter than most Leicas.

[winoto]

my Kievs are definitely quieter than my former FEDs and Zorki 3.

[payasam]

I doubt that any Fed, Zorki or Kiev model is inherently smoother or quieter than other models. The same is true of Leicas. All depends on the attention that the particular example has received.

[spiderfrank]

One day I handled an old Kiev 4 (Contax copy): the overall impression was of an ugly and heavy tank, but a masterpiece of smooth mechanics, a clear viewfinder and a soft and beautiful shutter sound!
If I didn't have my Bessa R I had bought that "not so little" jewel

[darkkavenger]

Definitely a Kiev, the older the better.

[oscroft]

does anyone have knowledge of the smoothest quietest one?

One of my FED-2s (but not the other one)

Considering FEDs and Zorkis I think there's probably more difference between individual cameras than there is between specific models.

[Spyderman]

Of course Kievs are quite quiet

but if you want a screwmount then probably one without slow speeds - FED 1 and 2, Zorki 1 and 2, and maybe 5 nad 6. But it depends on the shape of the camera, and the time from last CLA...

A CLA specially to make a camera quiet should always include decreasing the shutter curtains tension as much as possible. I did this to my Zorki 1 and it's just soooo quiet. I tried to decrease the tension on my Zorki 4, 3C and FED 3, but none of these can compare to the Zorki 1...

[Kin Lau]

I have 3 Kiev's and they're all very quiet. You'd think that the metal shutter would be louder, but that's not the case.

My Fed 2 is also very quiet, but not as quiet as the Kiev's. However, my Fed 2 is the smoothest.

[raid]

I did not know that Kiev cameras are that quiet.

[GeneW]

Like Kin, my Kiev is my quietest FSU, followed by my slightly louder but not aggressively loud Fed-2. My Zorki 4's now, they're aggressive. KA-CHUNK!!

Gene

[ZorkiKat]

Originally Posted by payasam

I doubt that any Fed, Zorki or Kiev model is inherently smoother or quieter than other models. The same is true of Leicas. All depends on the attention that the particular example has received.

That is an innacurate sweeping generalisation. You'd need to have several of these cameras of different models with all the shutter variations and 'average' out their relative firing sounds.

You're comparing three cameras here which used two very different shutter
systems. Kiev RF shutters- metal blinds which glide to and fro with silk ribbons and sufficiently dampened by complicated gear trains- can really fire significantly with less noise than any FED or Zorki, regardless of the "attention" they received.

The FED, Zorki and Leica (pre IIIc) curtains are constructed with less complication and run in a very straightforward manner between drums and rollers through a narrow channel. This is where the manner of treatment during assembly or repair can spell the difference between a sigh or a clunk. Then there's also the shutter lath. The later FED and Zorki all used exposed metal laths, which would make more noise once they meet at the other end of the shutter traverse. No sort of "attention" given will make them as quiet as those with wrapped laths like those found in FED-1, Zorki-1, and Leica, which BTW used the same style laths until the IIIg.

[payasam]

Bye, friends.

[payasam]

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-...?msg_id=00Kvkj

[brachal]

As everybody else has pointed out, there's a great deal of variation. My Kiev 2a is very quiet. My Fed3b is also extremely quiet -- sometimes so quiet I have to check to make sure it's working. It's much quieter than my Fed2, but was CLA'd much more recently.

All of my FSU cameras are quieter than my Bessa R, which is quieter than most SLRs.

[payasam]

It's true, Brian, that camera noise will vary for reasons of design and materials. However, unless we are speaking only of cameras fresh from the factory, variation in noise will depend rather more on the condition of the particular bodies. A competent technician alone can see to it that a camera makes as little noise as possible -- as little as its design allows.

Such places as recording studios and board meetings (not to speak of confessionals) excepted, camera noise is seldom an issue. Most SLRs are certainly louder than most RF cameras, but in actual use the noise is seldom found objectionable.

[mcgrattan]

My Zorki 2c is very quiet -- it makes a soft chunk. I took a photo on the bus a week or so back, and the woman sitting in the seat next to mine didn't even hear the shutter go off. My Fed-4 and Kiev are both louder -- or least the noise they make is higher pitched and more obtrusive.

As it happens, the Zorki also has a very smooth shutter release and wind -- I think the ebay seller I bought it from may have CLA'd it before I got it as it's smooth as silk.

[ruben]

Originally Posted by triplefinger

I'm thinking of a fed 1 or 2 or a Zorki 1 or 2 or 3.

I know they can be very clunky and loud. does anyone have knowledge of the smoothest quietest one?

Thanks!

Hi Triplefinger,
After reading your question and following thread, I find that there are two aspects: One issue is what camera has been better designed for smoothness and silent operation, and wether today several decades after is it still relevant .

For the practical issue, how you can achieve the smoothest and silent possible camera, I would propose to contact Oleg, offering him either to select from his stock or to buy specially for you a camera to which he will perform CLA.

It will not harm if you concede Oleg the treatment a master repairman should get, and remind him you are not in any rush and he can take his time.

As you have posted your question at the leica screwmount forum, I would recall the fact that a recently purchased from Oleg Fed-2, with special request to make it silent, is more silent than my local buddy Mike Leica M4. Oleg is your key person for the practical issue.

Cheers,
Ruben

[mike goldberg]

Hi Triplefinger and all...
There's some great and useful comments above, and I want to appreciate the technical expertise of more than a few of our members, regarding quiet shutters, smooth winding... and, which cameras are the "classics."

Further, I want to support Ruben's comments above, although the Leica he refers to for comparison, is an M2 ;-) Ruben's Fed 2 has an exceptionally smooth film advance & shutter cocking mechanism, and it is the quietest FSU rangefinder camera, I have ever had in my hands.

The Fed 1g that my son brought me from the flea market in Yerevan, has just gone off to Oleg for similar treatment. In an exchange of emails with Spyderman, I learned that the Fed 1g and the Zorki 1 are nearly the same camera, manufactured by the KMZ factory.

More later and cheers, mike

[fidget]

As one of our number mentioned some time ago, the noise that a nice FED2 can make can be an advantage, a nice ker-lop. My CLA'd Fed2 s and 3s can be quiet, but none so quiet as my later model Kiev4. This is by far the quietest shutter noise, much quieter than the Bessa R too. I have had some Kievs which had a heavier shutter "thump", so they must vary too.