The Dollar Store Leica [Fed 2 Review]
Rangefinder cameras are the go-to camera for street photographers alike. The Leica M series being the holy grail of rangefinders used by all the best street photographers. Obtaining a Leica for yourself isn’t impossible, you just have to be willing to pay. If you are like me the Leica system is something only to be admired from afar. But what if I told you there’s a camera out there that can offer you roughly 1/10th the experience of shooting a Leica for 1/50th the price? Allow me to introduce the FED 2.
The FED 2 was produced in the USSR from 1955 to 1970 with over 1,600,000 units produced. The FED 2 was a clone of the Leica M series camera of the time. It features a LTM system and this camera was most commonly paired with the Industrar 26m, a 52mm F2.8. I scored my copy of this camera/lens combo for exactly $30 with shipping included from Kiev. It’s shutter features Bulb, 1/30-1/500th has a manual film counter. To test my FED 2 I took it out a grass roots drift event near Flint, Michigan. The event was hosted by MI-DRIFT, who provided me with media credentials to shoot from on track and in the pit areas of the speedway. At the speedway I exclusively shot Kodak Pro Image 100 metered for iso 64 and dev’d normal.
FED 2 + Industrar 26m | Kodak Pro Image 100
FED 2 + Industrar 26m | Kodak Pro Image 100
FED 2 + Industrar 26m | Kodak Pro Image 100
These photo’s were all taken in the pits before the event started. You can notice in the bottom of the frames that there is a light leak. Now I have noticed this is not apparent on the negative itself so I believe it was from the scanning process. These photos were all shot at F8 and 1/250 and you can see the Industrar 26m is not the sharpest lens and produces very soft results. Once the event began I took the camera to the track to really put it to the test in some action scenarios.
FED 2 + Industrar 26m | Kodak Pro Image 100
FED 2 + Industrar 26m | Kodak Pro Image 100
FED 2 + Industrar 26m | Kodak Pro Image 100
FED 2 + Industrar 26m | Kodak Pro Image 100
Normally when shooting drifting on my DSLR I keep my shutter speed between 1/40-1/60. If I were to try and copy that onto the soviet rangefinder I would have a very small hit ratio. I shot the majority of these at 1/125 with the exception of the 2nd photo which was 1/60. The results were not as bad as I was expecting. I got many more keepers than I would have guessed. with a different lens I feel I would have had some very good sharp shots.
Handling the FED 2
Overall handling of the camera is nice. It is very sturdy as its of mostly metal construction, It feels very solid in the hands. It doesn’t feel as cheaply made as some other soviet era cameras even though it 100% is. My biggest gripe with this camera is the viewfinder. The viewfinder window is very small and dimly lit making it harder to nail focus when shooting wide open. Though with a camera like this you wouldn’t want to be shooting wide open anyways.
Trying the Canon 50mm 1.8 LTM
I tested the FED 2 now with a different lens to see if id get better results. I chose the canon 50mm 1.8 LTM lens which can be found for roughly $100 on ebay if you look hard enough. I ran a quick roll of TMAX 400 through it on a afternoon walk through Plymouth, Michigan and was actually very surprised by the results. I shot all of these photos at F11 1/250.
FED 2 + Canon 50mm 1.8 LTM | Kodak TMAX 400
Slightly missed focus on this one trying to shoot wide open.
FED 2 + Canon 50mm 1.8 LTM | Kodak TMAX 400
FED 2 + Canon 50mm 1.8 LTM | Kodak TMAX 400
The Verdict
The FED 2 is in my personal opinion a great camera for what it is. Being that you can find these cameras for $20-$40 with a lens very easily on ebay you can’t expect the world out of these. Being that I only paid $30 for this camera I am beyond impressed with its performance. Matching this camera with a higher quality LTM lens if you have one would be highly recommended as you’ll get much better results. My only gripes with this camera are the focusing screen being very dim making it hard to focus when you need to nail focus shooting at a lower F stop. Also winding the film back up using the knob rather than a wind up lever is very time consuming when you need to get another roll in the cameras fast. Id recommend this camera for a slow stroll through town, I’d recommend shooting using the sunny 16 rule along with zone focusing so you can take your time composing nice street scenes. In this scenario this camera will surely perform to your expectations.
