Shoot Film: FED 4 

EduardoPavezGoye same here. last month I developped a blank roll, still don't know how it happened tho. Camera is fine, other rolls from the same batch are fine. shit happens.

My guess is you were in a hurry loading the film, and ignored what your instincts were telling you. Too many years of experience have taught me that if the film doesn't load easily, there *is* something wrong. With a warm, dry plastic spiral you can virtually push a 36 exposure film from one end of the spiral to the other without winding. If there's any moisture, even a dot of saliva from your mouth as you load, it acts as a brake which will have consequences for the rest of the roll. We know all these things, but still think it'll come out okay this time. It won't, but we hope it might because the alternative is too time consuming to contemplate.

Happened to me as well! I felt that something is wrong while winding the film. This is how I've damaged two shots out of 12. Happens. Could be worse, like pouring the bleach first and not the developer :)

I lost 5 frames last week. It just happened.

I like to think that those "nightmares" help me staying on focus. Thank you for sharing this experience.

Gary Robinson my fav FSU rangefinders are Zorki-6 and Kiev-4a.

+nukecoke87 I haven't tried a Kiev before. Thanks for the recommendation I'll try and get my hands on one.

Непочатов Станислав slow speeds aren't useless. I can shoot 50asa film indoors with my Zorki 4 and jupiter 8 at 1/8sec hand held! 1 sec shots with the camera on the ground using the self timer at night is great too!

1/8 sec handheld with 50mm is quite risky. 1/8 on Voigtlander from video also risky enough. Any longer shutter speed could be done with remote and some practice.

Непочатов Станислав no risk

Some people are rich they use Leica beyond the norms hahaha jk

That’s only half truth. You can do it if you don’t use really strong glasses (like -3 1/2 vision). In my case, the diopter is not strong enough to use it without glasses.

@@edpavez Sorry to hear that, but for some it might be a viable option that until a few days ago I wasn't aware of

Esawerr Zorki 4 for the win! I absolutely love mine, everyone who shoot a film should and could own one.

I have 2 :D haha

Esawerr I'm going round and round in circles trying to find which camera to buy as my first rangefinder. I was going to get a 4K but got outbid at £40 which is the absolute top I would pay for any FSU camera because of the variable QC. I have also been looking at the FED5, the Voitlander Vito and the Waltz Envy. I have a feeling I will get the Voitlander at £39 and a "Buy Now" 4K £39 including post, the buy now is on eBay though and I'm not a lover of buy nows off there. I have spent more time researching what could possibly the cheapest cameras out there than I have all 3 of my digital cameras that I have spent about £6k on. I thought choosing a MF gave me a headache, but the 4K is just so damned pretty and it's that that attracts me.

4k is very good camera but 4 is much more preety :) FED is terrible for me, fed have so small viewfinder and zorki have 1/1000 sec. But if u want zorki u must look for jupiter 8 because this lens is very very good, don't buy industar 50 version, voigtlander haven't interchangeably lenses and about Waltz i heard nothing

If you do get an FSU rangefinder (Fed/ Zorki/ Kiev) then my advice would be to buy one that is advertised by a dealer on eBay who has had the camera serviced (CLA'd). It might cost a little bit more (not always) but you can be sure that everything works correctly. My own experience is with a Fed 2 and a Zorki 3m, both bought because they are the prettier of the FSU cameras. The Fed 2 is nice and solid, smaller than the Zorki and although the viewfinder is small and a little dull it has a very contrasty rangefinder patch which is easy to use. The Zorki 3m on the other hand has a lovely big bright viewfinder but the patch on my copy is faint and difficult to use. I wish I had paid more for a properly serviced Zorki 3m but then it would have cost between £100 to £150 and I was only a poor student at the time. A Zorki 4 or 4K in good working order that has been serviced will cost much less because they aren't as rare. Maybe £50. Fed cameras are definitely cheaper to buy.

The Dead Immortal my favorite is the Minolta XD. A more reasonably priced alternative for a beginner would be the Minolta X-700. Try the Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 lens, its cheap and sharp as a razor. Check out my channel if you wish, I have two videos for the Minolta XD there. Cheers from Berlin.

Get your hands on an OM-1n. I can't think of a better camera to start with and it will take you all the way and beyond. As far as 35mm SLRs go it is up there with the most reliable. It doesn't have any fancy stuff but it is all mechanical and a joy to shoot. The 50mm/1.8 kit lens is surprisingly good. Add a 24/2.8 for some fun and you're pretty well sorted.

The Dead Immortal I have the Olympus 10 with the shutter speed accessory and it's easily my favourite 35mm camera. Get it without the accessory and it's only half a step up from a point and shoot but with the accessory it's as good as any SLR in the range. You can also take the camera and half a dozen lenses in a small shoulder bag. Mine was £90 with 6 lenses, the shutter speed accessory, filters (stupid 70s stuff that went in the bin) Miranda flash (batteries well out of date and are still working) and bag (which I now keep all my proper filters in). So as a guide I wouldn't spend more than £35-£40 on one with the accessory. I believe you often have to change the light seal on all Olympus cameras but mine were good. My shutter speeds seem to be bang on as well which is good for a 40 year old camera, I normally send my cameras away for a CLA when I get them but I felt I didn't need to with my OM10. I'd recommend Olympus as much as I possibly can with old cameras that have been treated differently by different owners.

oh, this is were I live right now: Hastings, a lovely small town in the UK, about an hour and a half away from London.

Thank you so much , love your work as always , watched all of your 30 days challenge and shoot film episode !

I have no ideas about fixing cameras, but it's weird that both cameras failed on you. maybe the batteries are not correct? are they LR44?

The plastic gears in the X___ series Minoltas jam up sometimes.

EduardoPavezGoye it's a Lithium 3V Battery.

eyedunno7078 that's how it feels when I try to use them, everything feels stiff and jammed.

Does the lever only move about 30 degrees when you're trying to advance the shot? If so it could be the capacitor.

Hola Alejandro! Sí, de hecho tengo dos fotómetros, uno de ellos un Minolta Flash Meter III muy bueno... y la verdad es que dan el mismo resultado. En mi opinión: si usas el celular, no compres un fotómetro, no vale la pena.

Gracias amigo

Николай Генсицкий I have the FED 5 and I love it :3

Николай Генсицкий Fed-5 sucks too :) fed-1 and 2 are the only good Feds. From 3 on it started to be dodgy.

Mi posición es que es tu foto, puedes hacer lo que quieras. No tengo videos al respecto, la verdad!

Nope. My myopia is too strong, so the diopter doesn't go that far.

muchas gracias, Guillermo! lo tendré en cuenta para la próxima vez. :) a ver si logro darme una vuelta por NYC y nos tomamos una cerveza por ahí. saludos.

desde ya cafe o cerveza si pasas por NYC! , lo mismo si yo visito UK , un abrazo!

The same as an old bike, or an old ironing table.