FED 5b Closing Thoughts
Some closing thoughts on the FED 5b that I have been experimenting with for the last week or so…
The Feds are Coming! FED 5b Street Images III
Another high-contrast contra-luz shot from the FED 5b. I am really happy with the way that these have come out – for a 20 euro camera that is 35 years old it is capable of some amazing images, and it is also quite pleasant to shoot with thanks to the quirky-but-solid construction and quiet-but-satisfying shutter. Another bonus is that people seem to react less to the sight of the camera, possibly because it does not look even vaguely professional. This film was the first that I have completely taken without a meter, using just the sunny […]
The Feds are Coming! FED 5b Street Images II
Shooting fast moving subjects wit the FED 5b. Rapid focusing with the Industar 61 lens is quite hard. The viewfinder on the FED is tiny, and it is easy to miss a focus error when working quickly. Even zone-focus is slow as the focusing ring has a very long movement, and there is no way to tell where the focus is set without looking at the lens (there is no ‘tab’ or similar found on some Leica mount lenses). The trick used here was just to preset the focus and wait for the subject to […]
The Feds are Coming! FED 5b Street Images I
The first of four posts with images shot with the (now repaired) FED 5b. These were all taken in or around the Ciutat Vella, early in the morning. Barcelona’s streets are fantastic for these contra-luz style images at this time of year, thanks to a combination of the low sun and the just-washed cobbled streets. This was shot with the FED and Ilford Delta 100. I shot almost all of this sequence with the lens at f11-f16, using zone focus (which is not hard at these f-stops!) and guestimates for […]
FED 5b: Vintage Soviet Rangefinder
This is a short look at the FED 5b rangefinder camera. We found this one at a flea market in Barcelona, for the price of two reels of film. With some care, these cameras can be just as usable today as when they were first made 35 years ago. The Ukrainian built FED 5b was a very basic all-mechanical design, evolved over many years from a copy of an early Leica design. It uses the older Leica M39 lens mount and lacks modern frivolities such as a built-in light-meter. In form and function it is not […]
Transient Eye 