[Benz3ne]

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I would also look at included lens, I prefer Jupiter which is a Sonnar design to Industar, though the Industar is more compact.
I personally prefer Zorki 4K with lever advanced, not much personal experience with Zorki 6 but this is what I read.:
Fed is more compact but generally came with Industar, a Tessar type design instead of Jupiter.
You might also want to look at Kiev 4AM if you are willing to spend a but more as some of these came with the even superior Helios lens, but make sure it is working of course, the shutter ribbon is their weak point, most consider the Kiev to be a finer camera than either Zorki or Fed.

Oh my, more confusion!
I think the FED-2 (D type) seems to be a nice combination of ease of use, general ability and aesthetics.
I don't think the seller has a Zorki 4K, but definitely has a Zorki 4 and Zorki 6. The 6 looks nice but seems to be inferior to the 4K.
The seller also doesn't have a Kiev 4A, but instead a 4M with the Helios 103 lens, but unfortunately that doesn't look in as good a condition and is also not as pleasing on the eye!
I'll have to sleep on this one (again) I think!
I can always pick up a Jupiter after the fact - actually, given I use mirrorless, all I need to do is acquire a M39 adapter and I can try out a few lenses on both film and digital.

[stevebrot]

Fed is more compact but generally came with Industar, a Tessar type design instead of Jupiter.

I have a couple of J-8 50/2.0 and an Industar-61 (Zebra) 50/2.8. Both are good, the Industar being the famous lanthanum doped model that in M42 has somewhat cult status. The J-8 is Sonnar-type and the I-61 is indeed a Tessar. Of the two, the J-8 is quite a bit more compact; I don't own the Jupiter-3 50/1.5*, but photos show it to be on the chunky side. Note that the I-61 is a much better lens than its I-26 predecessor.

You might also want to look at Kiev 4AM if you are willing to spend a but more as some of these came with the even superior Helios lens,

As a former owner, I cannot recommend the Kiev 4AM or any other Kiev 4 made after 1974 as a shooter (first two digits of ser# are year of manufacture). Quality took a steep dive at the time and by 1980 was unacceptable overall. My 1982-vintage Kiev 4AM was pretty, but the film advance made grinding noises and the shutter would jam after about five exposure attempts. The rewind crank simply felt flimsy such that even rewinding the film was difficult. I returned to seller and bought a 1961 Kiev 4A from Fedka as a replacement. The difference between the two was night and day. The article linked below has a nice history of the Kiev rangefinder cameras and a rather sad description of the steep quality decline in the mid-1970s.

As for the Helios 103 53/1.5, it is a very sweet lens and probably better than even the red "П" Jupiter-8M. Copies are usually available for under $50 USD.


Steve

* The J-3 50/1.5 sort of has cult status and is hard to come by as a result, at least for reasonable money.

[Angelic Layer]

Oh my, more confusion!
I think the FED-2 (D type) seems to be a nice combination of ease of use, general ability and aesthetics.
I don't think the seller has a Zorki 4K, but definitely has a Zorki 4 and Zorki 6. The 6 looks nice but seems to be inferior to the 4K.
The seller also doesn't have a Kiev 4A, but instead a 4M with the Helios 103 lens, but unfortunately that doesn't look in as good a condition and is also not as pleasing on the eye!
I'll have to sleep on this one (again) I think!
I can always pick up a Jupiter after the fact - actually, given I use mirrorless, all I need to do is acquire a M39 adapter and I can try out a few lenses on both film and digital.

Maybe you can ask him if he can cut you a deal with a Zorki 6 body with a Jupiter.
The Helios is only available for Contax/Kiev mount though.

---------- Post added 25-11-20 at 10:35 AM ----------

I have a couple of J-8 50/2.0 and an Industar-61 (Zebra) 50/2.8. Both are good, the Industar being the famous lanthanum doped model that in M42 has somewhat cult status. The J-8 is Sonnar-type and the I-61 is indeed a Tessar. Of the two, the J-8 is quite a bit more compact; I don't own the Jupiter-3 50/1.5*, but photos show it to be on the chunky side. Note that the I-61 is a much better lens than its I-26 predecessor.



As a former owner, I cannot recommend the Kiev 4AM or any other Kiev 4 made after 1974 as a shooter (first two digits of ser# are year of manufacture). Quality took a steep dive at the time and by 1980 was unacceptable overall. My 1982-vintage Kiev 4AM was pretty, but the film advance made grinding noises and the shutter would jam after about five exposure attempts. The rewind crank simply felt flimsy such that even rewinding the film was difficult. I returned to seller and bought a 1961 Kiev 4A from Fedka as a replacement. The difference between the two was night and day. The article linked below has a nice history of the Kiev rangefinder cameras and a rather sad description of the steep quality decline in the mid-1970s.

As for the Helios 103 53/1.5, it is a very sweet lens and probably better than even the red "П" Jupiter-8M. Copies are usually available for under $50 USD.


Steve

* The J-3 50/1.5 sort of has cult status and is hard to come by as a result, at least for reasonable money.

It is a personal choice, I agree that Tessars are capable of good image quality (I have a Rolleiflex T and Minolta Autocord) but for me personally, unless it is a post-war camera, folder or TLR, I would aim for something better than a Tessar, a Huaxia 821 with Planar type lens can be get for under $50 here, and many of the Japanese rangefinders - Minolta, Yashica, Canon, Olympus all have better lens and can be get within the region of $100.

To TS: Good luck to your purchase.

[Astro-Baby]

Zorki 4 for coolness as its like shooting an antique but its terribly fiddly to use. Minolta HiMatics are highly rated. I have read Olympus trips can suffer suoer bad haze in their lens rear elements. From the pics ai have seen that might be down to coatings degrading...whatever it is it aint good.

I used a Konica SII for a while which was sweet enough. Biggest hazard when you cut over to a rangefinder is remembering to take the cap off the lens. My advice put a skylightbon and accept damage to the skylight and leave the cap off.

[Benz3ne]

Drat, just when I think I'm coming to a decision there are curveballs thrown my way!
Astro-Baby - great idea about adopting a skylight-only method.

[stevebrot]

Zorki 4 for coolness as its like shooting an antique but its terribly fiddly to use.

Thanks for adding this. I have three Soviet-made rangefinders (Zorki 4K, FED-2, and Kiev 4A) and the Zorki 4K is the least usable due to its fussy shutter dial and tiny numbers. Oh, and there is the problem that the number are printed on the dial, rather than engraved, and rub off over time. The FED-2 is the most useful in the field with the Kiev not far behind. (I never miss the slow speeds on the FED...)


Steve

[AgentL]

Did you decide on a camera yet?

[Benz3ne]

Did you decide on a camera yet?

Thanks for asking but no, not yet! I'm still strongly veering towards a FED-2 but with Christmas coming up I'm putting others' gifts ahead of my own.

Still keeping eyes out for good prices on some of the little Olympus Rangefinders in the meantime, but really I should be shooting more with my 2x recently-serviced MX's..

This has been, and continues to be, a great discussion though!

[Astro-Baby]

Gah - I have only today stumbled across an eBay UK seller with a swathe of FED-2's and FED-3's (as well as a FED-4 or two, some FED-5's, Zorki x's, Zenit SLR, a few lenses).
They're apparently serviced, all come with lenses, typically Industar 61's and more often than not cases too, all for around the price I stipulated above for the poorer examples, sans lenses...
The game is back on.
Question I'm asking myself now is FED-2 or FED-3?

If he is based in Scotland its probably where my Zorki came from. He does do a good job, mine was near mint and has worked a charm within the limits of how it was made in the first place.

[Benz3ne]

If he is based in Scotland its probably where my Zorki came from. He does do a good job, mine was near mint and has worked a charm within the limits of how it was made in the first place.

Interestingly he/she are not based in Scotland, but instead Cambridgeshire.
If you happen to have the eBay username of the chap you bought your Zorki from that'd be much appreciated! By all means wing it in an pm if so.

[Astro-Baby]

Interestingly he/she are not based in Scotland, but instead Cambridgeshire.
If you happen to have the eBay username of the chap you bought your Zorki from that'd be much appreciated! By all means wing it in an pm if so.

Hi, this is a listing from the guy I bought from. He was as good as his word. His listings used to show the camera during stages of CLA as proof he had done the work. The Zorki I got from him was near mint, everything worked as it should. Obviously its a bit cranky but they were like that when they were made. He does various Soviet cameras.

Rangefinder ZORKI 4 camera Jupiter 8, based on Leica, after CLA from 1970 | eBay

[Benz3ne]

Hi, this is a listing from the guy I bought from. He was as good as his word. His listings used to show the camera during stages of CLA as proof he had done the work. The Zorki I got from him was near mint, everything worked as it should. Obviously its a bit cranky but they were like that when they were made. He does various Soviet cameras.

Rangefinder ZORKI 4 camera Jupiter 8, based on Leica, after CLA from 1970 | eBay

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