starting

[ramestica]

Hi people,

I'm very excited about starting shooting with a rangefinder camera. My background is from SLR.

I was thinking to start off with a new Voigtlander something, but since then I have discovered the existence of all these Russian cameras, and well, price wise it seems very attractive to start the experience with this sort of shorter investment.

I'm planning to buy a Zorki 6 because it has the longest baseline length I have seen among these cameras. Does this make any sense? or does the state of this old cameras make not possible to assume that a Z6 will focus better than, for example, a Z4?

These cameras do not have a meter. How do you do? Do you train your eye for a good guessing? Do you go out with a hand held meter?

from a newbee, many thanks in advance,
Rodrigo

[GeneW]

Rodrigo, welcome aboard! A good FSU camera is an excellent way to get started. I don't know the Zorki 6 myself but I enjoyed my Zorki 4 and 3M. If you're interested in a longer-based RF, the Kievs have many fans around here.

A small external meter you can carry around easily is a good match. You can guess a lot of exposures pretty well, especially if it's sunny, but a meter helps.

Gene

[wlewisiii]

I'll also say to not forget the Kiev's. Being a Contax RF decendant, they have the longest RF base of any 35mm camera, there are marvellous lenses available for them and, I feel, that even given FSU quality control they were better built cameras because they started with such a great design. I'm a big Kiev fan, so if you'd like to ask further questions, just give me a hollar.

William

[jdos2]

Welcome, Rodrigo!

I've found that the most important thing about FSU cameras is to simply get one that works- and though that might sound sorta silly, it's quite the truth that in my experience, only about 1/4 of them sent to me actually perform a more useful function that paperweights, display pieces, or better- to be cut up into lens mounts that'll eventually allow me to use Contax lenses on my Leica. What that means is that if I want a FSU camera, I buy four and get one that I can use, or I find the cost of a complete repair and figure that into the purchase cost.

With that being said...

An amazing amount of photography can done for very little money, and the Kiev/Zorki/Fed can do it very well. The high quality images that these cameras can make are on par with anything modern. It's the method of work that's changed with modern times.

Does one need a meter? Well... Modern films being what they are, I'd say "no" for color negatives, as long as one is willing to blow some shots, and read the inside of the film box for exposure guesses (Fuji does this with their color films). Simple lighting situations will probably give the best results, as always. "Acceptable Results" are par for the course, as modern films have lots of latitude.
Meters are a good thing, though, and I highly recommend one. The more complicated situations that you expect, the better the meter should be. A hand held selenium is fine for most (>60 percent) situations, and interpretation is the rule of the day. Practice, and you can cover most photographic situations you may well encounter.
The deeper and broader your interest, the more likely a meter will help. Wanna work with VERY SLOW film (Illford 50, pulled to 25, for instance, with an ND filter) and you'll pretty much need a meter and thought, as the latitude of the film for printable pictures ain't all that great. The meter will reduce your workload in the darkroom, even for a digital darkroom.

Focusing baseline does help making focusing easier, but as with all rangefinders, practice, a steady hand, and careful tecnique makes up for almost any mechanical limitations imposed by the camera. Baseline helps with very bright lenses, like the 85mm f/2 or the 50 f/1.5 that the FSU made. Are you hoping to use 'em? If so, that long base rangefinder will indeed make a difference, though not as much as you might expect. I do well focusing a Voigtlander Nokton (50mm f/1.5) on a Prominent (notoriously narrow rangefinder base) and have no troubles with it. At all. I suffer instead from the mistaken thought that I can keep as much as I expect in focus with the very thin DOF offered by the lens. Again, practice, and I'm much better about it after practice.

I'd say: "Go for it," buy yourself a decent working FSU camera, run lots of film through it, make someone in the FSU republics happy, have fun, and see what you can do. Take pictures of people- these are, after all, really "people cameras" more so than SLR's seem to be, in my opinion.

[peter_n]

Welcome to the forum Rodrigo! I think the key to a successful FSU experience is to get something that works, as JD points out above. I've only bought a very few Soviet things and no bodies, I'm too scared! You didn't post your location but if you live in the U.S. many people on RFF have dealt with fedka.com and have reported positively. You pay more, but Yuri stands behind his sales and will look after you if something goes wrong.

[cbass]

Hi Rodrigo,

Not long ago I was in your position. FSU cams & lenses are a great way to try RF photography. I strongly considered buying a Bessa R and lens from Cameraquest but instead I picked up a used FED-2 & I-26m. The camera worked out of the box and I'm in the middle of my test roll right now. I figure if I like the FED-2 I can upgrade later to a Bessa or (gasp!) even a used Leica.

Unless you get a clunker you will not be disappointed FSU gear. I hope that you enjoy learning the RF way of photography. I have also learned many things about from reading the threads in RFF. Good luck and happy snapping.

[Roman]

Welcome, Rodrigo!
The Zorki 6 is a very good choice - my favorite Russian rangefinder; use it with a Jupiter-8 or 12, or an Industar 61L/D, get a meter that does incident metering, and you're all set; I use mine mostly with fast film (TMax 3200) for indoor portraits without flash.

Roman

[ramestica]

many thanks for all these replies, for all your advise and encouragement! I'm sure this is a great forum!

Now I'm retreating into my cave. I need to take a decision. Decisions, decisions, always decisions.

I hope to be back soon.

Rodrigo

[einolu]

Also check out the classified since you can get a good deal without the hassle of ebay (and shipping wont take as long). I think I saw a nice Leningrad camera there that I would have bought if I hadnt recently gotten a kiev 4. The russians made some great cameras, Im sure you will enjoy them. The fed 1 is probably one of my favorites (no slow shutter speeds but its so small and sleek).

[rbiemer]

Rodrigo,
Welcome to this fine corner of the camera world! As you mentioned-you want to decide on your first camera and you have lots of options so I won't throw more choices at you but I will say this: one of the very nice things about the FSU cameras is that they are mostly pretty inexpensive so you don't have to limit yourself to just one. Perhaps we all should limit ourselves that way--it might make us better photographers-- but these cameras are just so much fun it becomes very hard to own just one.
Unlike a lot of other forums you won't get snotty answers to even the most basic questions(and I have certainly asked my share of those! ) so feel free to ask for our help. Odds are some one here will have an answer for you. There are a bunch of great people around here and we are happy to have another victi...sorry I meant to type fellow traveler along!
Please let us know what you end up choosing!
Best, Rob