Hi there,
Wonder how many of you are shooting with, or interested in Range Finder cameras, there is one good thing about RF is the focusing system. RF does not see thru' the shooting lens, instead it focus via a seperate window, and it is clear and bright, range finder design make it easy to shoot in any lighting condition if you can get use to it, here I want to share my limited experience with you, in particular Russian copies of Leica and Contax.
I did own an used Leica M2 for a short while, but I can not afford the system so I sold it and bought couples of Russian copies instead. In comparsion the Russian copies have much louder and heavier shutter, smaller and dimmer view finder, but in exchange of much easier film loading system design. There are 2 Russian made copies I particually like, namely the Fed 2 and the rare Leningrad auto winder, they are not simply copies, but have improvement over the original design.
Fed 2 was produced around the 50s, it still is the most pretty and reliable Russian RF I've ever used. I also got the newer models such as the Zorki 4 which regarded as the best Russian RF ever made, and the Fed 5 with built in meter, both were made in the 70s, but both shutter curtain broke after a short while, that's the weakest part of Russian RF, but my Fed 2 still ticking today that's amazing !
On the otherhand I also owned a Kiev 4, a Russian copy of Contax, it has a very complex design compared with the Leica copies, and very hard to repair, quite hard to find one with working shutter today, and there are very few lenses made for it, to find one in good condition even harder, I did not enjoy using it and sold the whole set after a short while.
Here I attached some photos of my 2 working Russian RF, the Fed 2 and the Leningrad. Please note I paired the Fed 2 with the Industar 61 instead of the Jupiter 8 normally came with it, the Industar is known to be very sharp but slightly radioactive like the Takuma.
There are 2 special design on the Leningrad that still innovative today.
The Leningrad has a spring loaded auto film advancing system for rapid shooting, it wasn't the first model with this design but still very rare to see.
Another unique feature is the split screen RF focusing, it works much better than the commonly used yellow superimposing image design, my copy has a mis-aligned veritical RF that easy to fix by adjusting a screw. This is my 2nd Leningrad, my first one has a broken film pressure plate due to shipping, it was made with ceramic instead of metal for smooth high speed film loading but quite fragile.
If you are new to Rusian RF, here are some tips for you.
1. Don't look for the most current models, some of them has simpified design to save cost that won't last.
2. Russian RF does not have parallax correction built in, you need to repostition the camera slightly to the left after focus.
3. NEVER change the shutter speed before the shutter clocked or you will break it, some said newer models has fix that problem, but better don't do that !
4. Some but not all Russian RF has diopter built it, on the Fed it is the lever on the rewinding knob, on other models is the collar of the eyepiece if it does have the feature.
5. Early models has large screw thread on the tripod mount I believe is for media format, you will need an adapter to mount it on standard tripod.
6. Use a seperate meter or Sunny 16 even the camera has one built it, never trust the old Selenium meter it won't last after so many years.
That's about it, please feel free to add your bits !
Last edited by lotech; 02-07-2022 at 10:57 PM.