Rangefinder curative project

[yinyangbt]

Hi, all !
My father had a Zorki (I belive it was 2C ) that was broken and lost.dindn't had the chance to proper use it ( but I think it's possible that I've broken it when I was 9 or 10 )Since then I learned photography on SLR (Zenit E) and didn't had the chance to try a rangefinder .
So , I decided to go back to the basics and aquired a Weimar Lux CdS light meter , a WeinCell 625 air zink battery and a Fed 5B
If the things are going to go well with the auction , I'll get also the Contax side , a Kiev 4 used regularily (at least the seller says so) , a camera that I allways liked the design .
If I like them and get used with the rangefinders , maybe I'll go also for some other .a bad thing is that I don't know somebody who can do a cleaning and reparation here in Romania .Maybe I have to seek more now . Or maybe I can get some help from some of you , my friends ,if it's going to be needed .

[Katastrofo]

Your next door neighbor (Attila in Budapest ) has a guy that is very good with
CLAs. You might check with him.

BTW, congrats, Teo, there is no end to the madness!

[yinyangbt]

[fish4570]

if you are not careful you will go on the bessa R series, then leica m-mount ...

[yinyangbt]

[yinyangbt]

Here it is :










I am totally in love with this piece of technology .It seems that it works .I'll load a 24 position kodak color plus to learn it .

[Attila]

Congrats Theo! One of the most loved camera by me, I bought numerous one in all type , all works, but money of them slow. In advance at first roll safer to count 1/250 to 1/100 than correct speed. May you will lucky and works on right speed, but most of them not.
Hearing aid battery lost power quickly less than 1-2 month and cheat in light meter, I not recommend it. If still want to use it , use fresh one on each trips. I have a couple of battery free light meters, they are accurate enough for color and b&w films. My favourite ones are Gössen Pilot, Gössen Sixtino, Zeiss Ikon many Leningrads works well too. If you not find camera man locally, I can give my repair man email to you.

[yinyangbt]

Thanks a lot , Attila ! Very good tips . The shutter seem to work well ,but I have not enough experience to judge it. I am still waiting for the Weimar Lux CdS lightmeter , we'll see how it works . I am aware that the zinc air cells have a shorter life , but I aquired one just to see .It's a WeinCell original ,It's said that they have a longer life.
Thanks for your offer , I think that I'll jump on it ! I just want to gather some more gear to sent at Budapest for repair

[Attila]

2kg is limit for cheap shipping keep in mind.

[yinyangbt]

Thanks for the info !
Just loaded the film . A little strange when loading (because the mobile taking spool), but I think better than the bottom loading Zorky of my father .
Tomorrow I'll give it a little try, even without lightmeter

[yinyangbt]

does the shutter need to stay cocked after a photo session ?

[Attila]

[yinyangbt]

First tests with 16 sunny :


crop :



I had some superposed images (I supposed I didn't fixed wellenough the film )



and , of course some unexposed frames (forgot to uncap the lens , it seems)
Not that bad .
Wearing glasses myself ( -1.75) , I feel rather difficult to focus in dim light . But I don't feel like giving up tomorrow I'll get the Fed 5B
A nd loaded a new roll of Kodak ultra color 200 in the Kiev

[yinyangbt]

And a guess-metered portrait (still waiting for my lightmeter) from my new Kiev 4a /Jupiter 8 at f2 and shutter 1/25 s , if I remember well

[Attila]

Not bad at all Teo at first attempt, most RF camera has diopter correction , perhaps you can adjust well. I remember for FED-2 for sure due always need to adjust , little arm always leave original position in storage.

[yinyangbt]

Thanks Attila !
today I received the Fed5B .It has an important clogging on the side under the winding lever . It's obvious , it was dropped . The leather enveloppe couldn't protect enough. This clogging blocks partially the winding at halfway , so I have to wind twice to cock the shutter . It also feels in the winding lever a resistence. The fed camefrom Ukraine in an enveloppe with air bubbles and that's all !!! I think I'm going to give a negative to this guy !
The body is in perfect as new condition apart this clogging. I put a film in it and I am curious if it's working OK (especially the rangefinder accuracy)
I'll post some pics.

[yinyangbt]

How difficult or costly is to fix this ?

[yinyangbt]

Ok , this fed produces this snapshots . First time using sunny16 since I try these two rangefinders.Not bad .Very interesting to think more and try to analize the light in the frame. sorry for posting these without correcting the scratches (I don't have ICE2 on Dimage III) the colors exposure and contrast not PP .only sharpening.

[Katastrofo]

Well done, Teo, pleasant cheerful series! I like the texture of the pavers in the road of the first and the lady
peering into the car. Could I ask a favor? Could you clone out those distracting power/telephone lines? Thank
you so much!

[yinyangbt]

[Orio]

Cable TV, optic fiber wires?
Here in Italy we're really in the Middle Age still.

[yinyangbt]

[philslizzy]

Nice sharp photos, I had a Kiev, the one with the meter on top. Used Zeiss lenses on it. I was too young to know what I sold off cheap when I got rid of it. Ah, the regrets of middle age!

Do I detect a couple of bluish 'hotspots' in the centre of the image? pics 2, 3 and 6
? whats causing this? scanner, flare, the lens?

[martinsmith99]

I'd say lens flare. This is based on my experience with FSU lenses.

[yinyangbt]

Yes, I could use a hood .
I can say that I am really impressed by the two rangefinders that I like to use . It's a pleasure to handle , especially the Kiev IIa .
I've got a brand new old stock Helios 50/1.8 for it , that I didn't tried yet.