My Journey Into Photography: FED 2 - I finally got a Soviet rangefinder to play with

Since deciding to come back to film I have had a desire to discover the joys of Soviet rangefinder cameras. I spoke with my friend Owen about the history of the FED and Zorki brands and I almost went with one before I chose my Pentax SP500. This was a decision based upon reliability and price and I haven't regretted it. Recently I began to think about getting one again after discovering the #CrappyCommieCameraParty on Twitter. I did pledge that one day I would have one so I had a look on the bay of evil and I managed to find a FED 2 on the British Heart Foundation ebay store for not a lot of cash.

The FED 2 looked pretty decent in the photographs on the listing so I took a chance and bid on it. A few days later I received the email telling me my bid was successful. I have bought some camera equipment from the British Heart Foundation in the past and found their descriptions are accurate and when the FED arrived I was happy to see a camera that I reckoned was good to go. I found a manual online and did some reading on how to use the camera without breaking it before I had a chance to use it properly. I did a few simple checks, does the shutter fire at all speeds, are the curtains in good shape, is the lens clean etc. It wasn't long before I was happy to put a roll of Fomapan 200 in it to give it a try.

My first roll was around the local farm roads and I concentrated on the power lines that cross one of the fields near my home. They are also spread far enough apart to make using the diopter adjustment on the FED 2 a simple process. I set my lens to infinity and brought the furthest one into focus with the diopter. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! I also learned to advance the film before changing the shutter speed, a simple yet important part of using this camera. It didn't take me long to finish that roll and I developed it later that evening.

A few days later I shot a roll of Fomapan 100 around Mesnes Park and Wigan town centre during a glorious weekend in mid July when the sun was bright and the skies clear and blue. I took a light reading using the Light Meter Free app on my phone that I found on Google Play, it's a decent app and easy to use, and I got down to some serious photography. I was also shooting my first roll of Kodak ColorPlus 200 for the Frugal Film Project with my Olympus 35RC and some digital shots with my Nikon D90, the readings I was getting on those corroborated the readings I was getting from the app for my FED 2 and helped me get my eye in.

I have to say I am delighted with how my FED 2 performed. Yes it's a chunk of steel crafted in a factory in Kharkov Ukraine, but don't let that put you off. It is a well built camera that has no electronics nor exotic materials. Everything can be repaired, adjusted and fine tuned to give you a reliable rangefinder. Then there is the optics, All copied from Leica and Carl Zeiss designs taken in reparations after WW2. In fact the early Fed and Zorki rangefinders are direct Barnack Leica clones. The lenses are also the same design, but perhaps not quite as polished. Mine came with an Industar 26m, a 50mm f/2.8 which is a decent lens. I now need a wide angle lens for it. A Jupiter 12 35mm f2.8 is on my radar and maybe a Jupiter 8 50mm f/2 and... and... GAS!

Here's a few images from my first couple of rolls of Fomapan film shot using my FED 2 and I have also put them on Filckr. There's also a link to the history of FED from it's beginnings as an Orphange to the end of the Soviet Union courtesy of Fedka.com. It's a fascinating tale of how the luxury Leica became the Fed and Zorki cameras we see today.

Fed 2 Fomapan 100 and 200
FED Camera History