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Oct 4, 2006 15:21:16 GMT -5
Post by John Parry on Oct 4, 2006 15:21:16 GMT -5
I seem to have won a little package on eBay Check this out:
Kowa 35mm made in japan
GOED fed4 made in the USSR (i believe its a 35mm but not 100% sure )
Halina 35x made in Germany 35mm with an extra lens attachment
Zenit E made in the USSR
Selling price? £26 - around $40. Even PeterW wouldn't have objected to that!
Only problem now is the postage!
Regards - John
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Oct 4, 2006 15:30:31 GMT -5
Post by kiev4a on Oct 4, 2006 15:30:31 GMT -5
If it's a FED 4 it's 35mm. Not familar with the "GOED" term.
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PeterW
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Oct 4, 2006 20:58:25 GMT -5
Post by PeterW on Oct 4, 2006 20:58:25 GMT -5
Hi John,
Sounds like a fair enough haul. No, I don't think I'd object provided the postage wasn't too high.
But ... Halina, made in Germany???
Sorry, old mate. Halinas were made by that most prolific camera maker W. Haking in Hong Kong. Most of his cameras had Empire Made stamped on the bottom plate. He was possibly the last overseas manufacturer to use this. It harks back to the 1930s when goods from what was then the Empire enjoyed lower import duties than those made in other countries. I believe it was called 'Empire Preference'. I'm not sure if it survived the war.
It should have Haking's monogram trademark on a small metal plate set into the front leatherette. It's an H with a W inside the top part and a symbolic representation of light rays through a lens in the bottom part.
I've got a couple of 35Xs, from about 1959-60 and the triplet lenses give a reasonable account of themselves up to about 7x5 inch prints. There's a wind-on shutter-button interlock, but you have to cock the four-speed shutter manually. Last time I used one I kept forgetting!
The FED 4 is IMHO a much under-rated FSU rangefinder with a built-in uncoupled meter, and I'd rate it the prize of your haul, chunky and quite heavy but nice to use. Someone in one of the photo mags once called it the 'poor man's M3'.
Well ... Leica it ain't even though from a distance there's a passing resemblance. But in good condition it's a nice camera, and the standard I-61 lens (looks like N-61 with a back-to-front N in Russian) is excellent. The knurled ring round the viewfinder is a very handy diopter adjustment. A lot of people miss that. Only argument I've got with mine is the finger-aching and slow recessed rewind wheel. You'll see what I mean when you rewind the first film.
BTW, I gave almost as much for mine 12 years ago as you gave for the whole lot!
PeterW
PS. Wayne, I think GOED is someone trying an English spelling of the script Cyrillic. I've also seen a FED called a QED on ebay.
PW
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Oct 6, 2006 5:50:18 GMT -5
Post by Just Plain Curt on Oct 6, 2006 5:50:18 GMT -5
Hi John, Your Halina 35X was as Peter said made in China and should look like this: or its evil twin the Ranger 35 like this: The Ranger has a few differences like the metal front plate and a sliding shutter speed selector lever instaed of a shutter speed ring. Also the Ranger has a Gendis 40mm f3.5 while the Halina 35X has a 45mm f3.5 Halina Anastigmat but they're one and the same camera.
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Oct 6, 2006 6:54:02 GMT -5
Post by John Parry on Oct 6, 2006 6:54:02 GMT -5
Thanks Wayne, Peter & Curt
The descriptions are the seller's, who is of the "Don't know anything about cameras but..." variety. In this case I'm inclined to believe them - If they had, they'd have sold them separately.
Looks like a nice package. I'm pleased about the Zenit E, because I had a little disaster here. Didn't latch the skylight properly in my "workday" accommodation. The wind caught it, and then it started to rain. (A friend of mine was in Florida when one of the big hurricanes came through - his description was "Like Cumbria in winter, only warm")
I lost two computer keyboards, my monitor picture now oscillates when I turn it on, and several of my Praktica parts cameras have oxidised. The only total loss was my Zenit E, which was in it's ERC, inside a camera bag. When I opened it, the whole bag was full of blue mould. Luckily my Jupiter 135 wasn't in there.
I've heard good things about the Kowas too so I'm looking forward to playing with that. I just hope it's M42 (although I suspect it could be a K-mount, in which case it'll go to Nadiah for evaluation!)
Regards - John
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Oct 12, 2006 15:46:18 GMT -5
Post by wolves3012 on Oct 12, 2006 15:46:18 GMT -5
If it's a FED 4 it's 35mm. Not familar with the "GOED" term. I'm guessing but I think that "GOED" is about as near to the cyrillic version of "FED" as can be typed on an English keyboard!
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Oct 12, 2006 22:29:52 GMT -5
Post by kiev4a on Oct 12, 2006 22:29:52 GMT -5
If it's a FED 4 it's 35mm. Not familar with the "GOED" term. I'm guessing but I think that "GOED" is about as near to the cyrillic version of "FED" as can be typed on an English keyboard! You're right (I said, slapping myself on the forehead!) Is your FED 4 a lever or knob wind model? They came in both varieties, as did the FED 3 and FED 2. Also....The knob wind models of the FED 2, 3 and 4 have strap lugs, while the lever winds models don't.
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Nov 6, 2006 15:37:50 GMT -5
Post by John Parry on Nov 6, 2006 15:37:50 GMT -5
The package finally landed. The Kowa ('E') is a bag of spanners, because the Seikosha shutter leaves are all detached and blowing in the wind. The lens is dedicated, and seems to be totally immovable, so I couldn't get to the shutter if I wanted to.
You were right about the Halina Peter & Curt. Empire Made - which is a sure sign that it's from Hong Kong.
The Zenit E seems in better condition, but no sign of life from the meter. Past experience tells me that I probably need to spend another 5 days wrestling with the manual to be sure that it isn't me doing something wrong though.
The Fed 4 seems a better proposition. Meter works, shutter in nice condition, self timer working, lens seems fine (a mirror image 'N' - 61 if that means anything to our FSU buffs). It's a 2.8/53 which seems a strange focal length. Not an M42 (M39?). Wayne, it's a lever wind, but the rewind is a dial arrangement on the feed spool that doesn't appear to have an interlock. It also took me 20 minutes to work out how to drop the back to get in to it! Another 5 day wrestle with the manual from the looks of the dials.
Altogether, not a great success, but if the Fed 4 works I'll be able to claim something positive from the deal. And it's a looker - one for the shelf!
Regards - John
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Nov 6, 2006 17:56:39 GMT -5
Post by John Parry on Nov 6, 2006 17:56:39 GMT -5
Have been doing some Googling, and found the Fed 4 is an M39 Leica mount with an Industar lens. One interesting thing though. This model is a 4B, but all the references I've found say that the logo is either Cyrillic (for the home market) or Latin - for export. This one has both Cyrillic above the Latin, with a common 4 adjacent to both. Definitely an export model though - Made in USSR in Latin script.
Regards - John
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Nov 8, 2006 17:49:51 GMT -5
Post by John Parry on Nov 8, 2006 17:49:51 GMT -5
Any thoughts on that Fed 4 Logo anyone?
Regards - John
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Nov 8, 2006 21:02:04 GMT -5
Post by Just Plain Curt on Nov 8, 2006 21:02:04 GMT -5
Hi John, Would the Fed 4 look anything like these: Various finders including a Leidolf Wetzlar 90mm One of several store branded variants with Russian turret finder.
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Nov 9, 2006 12:00:07 GMT -5
Post by herron on Nov 9, 2006 12:00:07 GMT -5
Any thoughts on that Fed 4 Logo anyone? John: I have both McKeown's latest edition, as well as the recently updated "The Authentic Guide to Russian and Soviet Cameras" by Jean Loup Princelle. I know one of them discussed some of the logo issues. I'll look it up when I get home from work tonight.
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Nov 9, 2006 15:04:47 GMT -5
Post by jennyandernie on Nov 9, 2006 15:04:47 GMT -5
We got our FED 4 off eBay too; it came complete with the original box and case and is in mint condition. The "box" is polystyrene with a carboard sleeve; I have scanned the sleeve so you can see what is written on it. I am no expert on Russian cameras but as far as I know the ones selected for export were of better quality than those sold on the home market. Ours has the cryllic logo and a lever wind. It's an interesting camera to use though like all Russian Cameras a bit heavy. The results are quite good as you can see on the photo I have added. One point when you come to use if you have no instructions..............to rewind the film you have to press the ring around the shutter release knob down and twist it clockwise to lock it. This releases the sprockets. Ernie
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PeterW
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Nov 10, 2006 13:53:24 GMT -5
Post by PeterW on Nov 10, 2006 13:53:24 GMT -5
Hi Ernie.
I think you'll like the FED 4. I've had one for some years. I've heard it called the poor man's M3 ... well, Leica it ain't, but it's a good workmanlike camera. I didn't get a manual with mine either, and there's one point it took me some time to find. I thought it hadn't got a viewfinder diopter adjustment, but hen I found you have to turn the knirled ring round the eyepiece. Have you found this one?
With regard to USSR exports, I don't think they were specialy selected, but I know that the offical importers, the much-missed TOE (Technical and Optical Equipment) examined and tested every Russian camera before sending it out. They sent people to Russia for training, and also had Russian technicians from the factory working in their London workshop.
Their service was excellent plus. They did a complete strip and CLA including 'winterised' lubrication on a Kiev 4A I bought from them new when I had a job to cover in northern Canada in the winter. This was back in the late 1960s or early 1970s, and the camera performed perfectly in night-time temperatures down to minus 42 degrees C - that's about twice as cold as the inside of your food freezer, and bl@@dy cold!!
I used the same camera later in the heat of the Sahara desert and again it did its stuff perfectly (see my website, Picture Galleries, Morocco 1972).
It's still functioning as sweetly as ever.
PeterW
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Nov 10, 2006 23:23:50 GMT -5
Post by herron on Nov 10, 2006 23:23:50 GMT -5
I'm guessing but I think that "GOED" is about as near to the cyrillic version of "FED" as can be typed on an English keyboard! You're right (I said, slapping myself on the forehead!)..... wolves and Wayne are right, what looks like GOED are indeed the script Cyrillic letters for FED. I know the explanation of the uses of the various logos is in my Princelle book, but I be darned if I can locate what I did with it! I know it's right here...somewhere...but you've seen the organization in my camera/computer room. Now, I'm sure it's here somewhere, if I can only lift the right pile.......
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