Questions about Fed 3

[swordfishninja]

I just bought a Fed 3 on eBay and it just arrived today. I have several questions on how to work this camera. How do you set the shutter speed? When I take out the back to see how it works, when i press the shutter the curtain just shifts to the left but not does not close. It only closes when i wind to the next frame.

Also, my dad was just warning me about radiation. This camera was shipped from Ukraine and the person before me could be exposed to radiation and so did the camera, etc etc. So I was wondering if any of you have any experiences relating to the camera with radiation and how it might affect the user.

Thanks!

 

[whoelse]

I have few of them but never use for long time.

First, these are old design RF and please remember only to set the shutter speed after cocking the shutter by pulling up the speed dial to set the desire speed. Otherwise it will break the mechanism if you do it a few time. About the curtain thing, it might already be mis-aligned due to setting the shutter speed prior to cocking the shutter - just guessing.

About radiation, I don't think so. However, Industar-61 which is available with FED uses some kind of rare earth minerial for the glass and have mild radiation. But it is very mild and doesnt cause any health issue. Many old optics have this element even the old Pentax Tarkumar 50mm.

 

[Octarine]

Also, my dad was just warning me about radiation. This camera was shipped from Ukraine and the person before me could be exposed to radiation and so did the camera, etc etc. So I was wondering if any of you have any experiences relating to the camera with radiation and how it might affect the user.

This is too generic and not really helpful. Ukraine has an area of about 603,000 sq km, that's nearly twice as big as Malaysia (including Malay Peninsula and the states at Borneo). The city of Chernobyl is located in the North, close the the neighbor country. Most of the radiation during the Chernobyl disaster was blown to other countries around. As long as the previous owner hasn't spend some time very near to the disaster area chances are quite low that the camera has acquired any radiation from that. If unsure, contact NEA for radiation tests. But as mentioned by whoelse, some lenses are mildly radioactive (Alpha radiation) due to the material used. The Gamma radiation of a nuclear power plant is a totally different thing and can be easily identified.

 

[azzurri]

I wouldn't be overly concern about the Chernobyl disaster having radiation on the camera. Any effect, if any, would be minimum. Moreover, the Fed 3 ended production a few years before the disaster.

The radiation on the lens should not have that much effect on human health too, so not much to worry about in that respect too.

Just note for most of the FSU cameras including the Fed 3, you need to wind the shutter before setting the speed.

 

[swordfishninja]

Thanks guys. My dad and I were fiddling around with it. When i first got it the curtain seemed to be jammed or something. Like one part of it will move to the left and just get the think exposed. But nothing seems to close it. like the shutter opens but doesn't close. Anyway after fiddling it here and there we found the 2nd curtain which was supposed to come out from the right. and then it got jammed again and couldn't wind to the next frame (i think my dad did something to the shutter before cocking the shutter maybe). But anyway he fiddled with it and it now works properly

only thing now is that when i adjust to a shutter speed of 1/15 or slower, turning it is a little stiff. Still works though.

 

[mvong]

only thing now is that when i adjust to a shutter speed of 1/15 or slower, turning it is a little stiff. Still works though.

That's normal. Most of FSU rangefinder cameras act this way. Some would even start to stiff at 1/30. The mechanism of the spring for prolonged exposure is doing its job.