David Silver
Contributing Member
"Will work for antique cameras..."
Posts: 20
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Post by David Silver on Feb 21, 2008 0:55:54 GMT -5
Scored this week...was given three classic USSR Leica thread mount cameras. A friend of my mother's was cleaning out her late husband's things (nothing recent...her husband passed over a decade ago, but she's moving into a smaller home now), and came across these old cameras. She showed them to me, I told her what they were worth, but she said she didn't want to sell them. She wanted to GIVE them to me because her husband always thought I was "such a nice young man". Hmmmmm...no comments from the peanut gallery! Anyway, this is the first of the three (I'm showing the other two in separate threads for separate comments and opinions). It's a FED 2 type b from around 1955, it works perfectly, and it's wearing a clean Industar 26M 50mm f/2.8 lens:  I've handled plenty of USSR Leica "clones" over the years, but have just recently become interested in actually shooting with various Leica alternatives. So, what's the verdict on this one and its lens? Pro, con, or otherwise? |
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Post by ianglean on May 14, 2009 15:35:39 GMT -5
Hi David, Fed 2 is a good FSU Rangefinder but the one with the "mushroom" knob is more desirable. You might want to change the lens to a Jupiter 8 if you want to go with 50mm or a Jupiter 12 if you want a 35mm. Here is a sample shot using a Fed2 with a industar 26 lens Ian Lucky 100 Film; PaRodinal 50+1  |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2009 16:10:06 GMT -5
I disagree. I like the earlier FED 2s without the mushroom knobs. The FED 2 was the T34 Tank of the Soviet camera world. I isn't fancy and it has some rough edges--but it almost always works.
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Post by dee on Oct 13, 2009 17:00:51 GMT -5
Me too - I like the earlier Fed 2 - I have four , in different colours - green / blue / maroon / black plus one black painted body .
It's probably one of the best Russian cameras - and easy to find working .The Industar is a good lens too .
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SidW
Lifetime Member
Posts: 1,107
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Post by SidW on Oct 14, 2009 18:12:14 GMT -5
... Scored this week...was given ... a FED 2 type b from around 1955, it works perfectly, and it's wearing a clean Industar 26M 50mm f/2.8 lens ... Let me join the chorus. You did very well - very rugged, very dependable. Here's a recent example, using FED2e with i26M, Kodachrome 200:  I've never been too happy with the screw mount, but that's what you got in those days. I now have the J9 85mm/2 on the 2e and 35mm J12 on a 1g, and keep them that way. I use a turret finder with the J9 as it corrects parallax for close-ups. Just a few ideas to help you get more fun from your gift. |
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Post by Michael Fraley on Oct 14, 2009 22:19:20 GMT -5
Great camera, I have one too. You might try an external 50mm viewfinder in the shoe mount. The viewfinder/rangefinder window is fine for focusing, but a little difficult for framing a picture. I'm in SF too -- I work at USF and we have a David Silver faculty member. Would that be you? My name is Michael Fraley and I work in the ITS department. Good light to you!
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