Fed 2 greenish viewfinder

Smokwawelski · Jul 12, 2023

Hello all. I recently purchased a FED 2 rangefinder online and while it seems to be fine mechanically (I say seems to be because I have yet to develop the roll I ran through it), the viewfinder is a little questionable. Basically, the image (except for the yellow focusing circle) is very green. I was wondering if this is just how the camera was designed or if there is something wrong with it like mold or fungus. Additionally, when I point the camera near a bright light the viewfinder gets a little hazy and it's hard to see almost anything through it.
If the green tint not just part of the design, how hard would it be for someone with no experience (me) to fix it?
Below is a few images of the viewfinder:

green viewfinder - Google Drive

drive.google.com

koraks · Jul 12, 2023

Welcome to Photrio, @Smokwawelski !

I don't know about the green hue (I suspect its normal), but:

Smokwawelski said:
when I point the camera near a bright light the viewfinder gets a little hazy and it's hard to see almost anything through it.

this sounds like the viewfinder optics are pretty dirty. Which is pretty normal for cameras this age, and usually it's not all too difficult to clean things up a bit. Be careful though; e.g. the rangefinder mirror is generally damaged easily.

I trust some people with experience with this particular camera will chime in as well.

henryvk · Jul 12, 2023

Mike Eckmann writes that the viewfinder has a "blueish" tint. This is intentional and improves contrast for the rangefinder image.

I'm guessing your camera has not been serviced in a while and that the viewfinder is dirty in addition to the tinge.

Give the viewfinder and rangefinder a good clean and the view will probably become a lot clearer. Removing the top-cover should not be too hard and it's a good excercise to get better acquainted with the camera:

https://pentax-manuals.com/repairs/fed2service.pdf

Smokwawelski · Jul 12, 2023

henryvk said:
Mike Eckmann writes that the viewfinder has a "blueish" tint. This is intentional and improves contrast for the rangefinder image.

I'm guessing your camera has not been serviced in a while and that the viewfinder is dirty in addition to the tinge.

Give the viewfinder and rangefinder a good clean and the view will probably become a lot clearer. Removing the top-cover should not be too hard and it's a good excercise to get better acquainted with the camera:

https://pentax-manuals.com/repairs/fed2service.pdf

Thank you for the response and the good resource. I'll admit I'm a little disappointed that the viewfinder is dirty as I was expecting a fully serviced camera when I bought it and payed accordingly. But, like you said, this could be a way of me learning more about my camera. All the best.

Lurker · Jul 12, 2023

My FED2 has a definite greenish tinge with an almost transparent (maybe lightly yellow) focusing circle. It was in fair condition when I got it and I took the top off and cleaned the internals and externals as best I could. It still looks green to me. The built in diopter is a bonus though.

It does flare really badly shooting into the sun. The whole thing is a bit of a squinty mess to be honest but it can be a fun shooter if you're in the mood for the experience it provides. In my opinion yours sounds completely normal, but I have a sample size of one.

henryvk · Jul 13, 2023

Well, these cameras all come from a time when the conventional wisdom was that you only take pictures with the sun either in your back or well off to the side.

The small viewfinder size is inherited from the Leica I and II which were supposed to have a really low profile. They Soviets did make the viewfinder bigger with each model, basically, so if that's an issue the solution is to get a Zorki 6 or FED 5C which comes with 50mm reflective framelines.

eli griggs · Nov 8, 2023

henryvk said:
Well, these cameras all come from a time when the conventional wisdom was that you only take pictures with the sun either in your back or well off to the side.

The small viewfinder size is inherited from the Leica I and II which were supposed to have a really low profile. They Soviets did make the viewfinder bigger with each model, basically, so if that's an issue the solution is to get a Zorki 6 or FED 5C which comes with 50mm reflective framelines.

Green-blue might indicate an algae, has is grown onto the glass surfaces, IMO.

John Wiegerink · Nov 16, 2023

eli griggs said:
Green-blue might indicate an algae, has is grown onto the glass surfaces, IMO.

Whoa! Sounds like the OP has the special Russian underwater spy FED2 complete algae growth from those long spy mission underwater. Kidding aside, the blue tint is normal, but shouldn't be overbearing. Can you see your subject in a dimly lighted room?

SilverShutter · Nov 16, 2023

This is normal. My FED 2 is an early model, 2a, and it looks green through the viewfinder. Later models may have a different tint, I am unsure, but this is just to increase contrast in the small viewfinder to make the RF patch visible.

Kino · Nov 16, 2023

SilverShutter said:
This is normal. My FED 2 is an early model, 2a, and it looks green through the viewfinder. Later models may have a different tint, I am unsure, but this is just to increase contrast in the small viewfinder to make the RF patch visible.

moggi1964 · Nov 16, 2023

SilverShutter said:
This is normal. My FED 2 is an early model, 2a, and it looks green through the viewfinder. Later models may have a different tint, I am unsure, but this is just to increase contrast in the small viewfinder to make the RF patch visible.

Mine too!

eli griggs · Nov 17, 2023

John Wiegerink said:
Whoa! Sounds like the OP has the special Russian underwater spy FED2 complete algae growth from those long spy mission underwater. Kidding aside, the blue tint is normal, but shouldn't be overbearing. Can you see your subject in a dimly lighted room?

You forget that the Lecia Barnacks were very frequently exposed, submerged into sea water, etc and, the photojournalists that used them in WWII and Korea, etc, would rinse them and drop them into buckets of desalinated water on Navy boats, to wash away any salts or sand, etc, dried and used the next day.

The Fed 2, a Leica 'copy' certainly as robust, or do you think, not?

Its always possible a wet neglected or undried camera could pick up some algae in the many uses of these as military and State cameras, over the years.

SilverShutter · Nov 17, 2023

eli griggs said:
You forget that the Lecia Barnacks were very frequently exposed, submerged into sea water, etc and, the photojournalists that used them in WWII and Korea, etc, would rinse them and drop them into buckets of desalinated water on Navy boats, to wash away any salts or sand, etc, dried and used the next day.

The Fed 2, a Leica 'copy' certainly as robust, or do you think, not?

Its always possible a wet neglected or undried camera could pick up some algae in the many uses of these as military and State cameras, over the years.

I think if any camera, Leica or "Laika",was submerged into a bucket of water for any amount of time you would have way more serious things to be concerned than algae in a viewfinder. I doubt the conditions an algae needs to survive are compatible with a camera functioning in any way. Unless you want a special edition Leica Barnacle.

Mike Lopez · Nov 17, 2023

SilverShutter said:
I think if any camera, Leica or "Laika",was submerged into a bucket of water for any amount of time you would have way more serious things to be concerned than algae in a viewfinder. I doubt the conditions an algae needs to survive are compatible with a camera functioning in any way. Unless you want a special edition Leica Barnacle.

You win the internet for today based on that comment alone. Well done.

Any chance that special edition Barnacle could be had for $10? How about free? Can I have one for free?

eli griggs · Nov 17, 2023

How about you try asking other older photographers about how photojournalists in WWII, in particular, in the Pacific, rinsed out their Barnacks in "clean water" to remove salt, etc, they were exposed to?

MattKing · Nov 17, 2023

eli griggs said:
How about you try asking other older photographers about how photojournalists in WWII, in particular, in the Pacific, rinsed out their Barnacks in "clean water" to remove salt, etc, they were exposed to?

As it has been almost 80 years since then, WWII photojournalists that are still alive are probably far less common than $10 Leicas.

eli griggs · Nov 17, 2023

But their discriptions live on in the internet, videos and printed literature, and some time searching on line and in books by WWII Veterans.

There should be plenty of older men and women photographers who will remember these writings, etc, as I do and I'm only sixty-five.

SilverShutter · Nov 18, 2023

eli griggs said:
But their discriptions live on in the internet, videos and printed literature, and some time searching on line and in books by WWII Veterans.

There should be plenty of older men and women photographers who will remember these writings, etc, as I do and I'm only sixty-five.

Of course you may wipe a camera with clean water, I have heard of such a thing before, but dunking it on a bucket, I would not think anyone has done anything similar and had their camera function reliably for long after, and if you know of any verifiable reference I'd encourage you to share it, mostly out of historical curiosity rather than anything advisable to do. I would imagine that the effect of saline air is less of a concern that submerging a camera on water, for the risk of rust developing on areas that can't be easily accessed such as the lens innards, or the shutter assembly.

Dustin McAmera · Nov 18, 2023

eli griggs said:
You forget that the Lecia Barnacks were very frequently exposed, submerged into sea water, etc

Not 'very frequently': if such a thing happened to your expensive camera, it would be a tale to tell, something that happened once or twice to people in strange circumstances. The majority of cameras were not washed in seawater, and the chance of the OP having happened to buy a camera that survived such treatment is vanishingly slim.

Meanwhile, several people have posted that their unwashed FEDs also have a blue/green tinted VF, and that it is normal.

In fact, you can see the tint in the VF of several models of FED at Flickr:
FED 2:
FED 3:
and I found FEDs 4, 5, 10 and 50 with the same colour in the camera-wiki pool there.

I wonder whether this is achieved with coloured glass in the VF, or if there's a colour filter that one could remove. I have a FED 3 and a 4; they're not immediately to hand or I'd have a look and see if I can see where the colour is. I don't think I have ever had the top off either.

Dustin McAmera · Nov 18, 2023

I had a look at my FED 3. I don't find the green too much myself, so I wouldn't remove the filter, even if it's possible.

I think the green is a filter sitting in front of the front lens of the VF. When I shine a white light at the front, I can see three obvious reflections. One is white, and I think that's the reflection off the front of the green filter. There's a second reflection pretty close to it, which is green: I think that's the reflection off either the back of the green filter, or the front of the lens that's just behind it; or the common surface of the two, if they're glued together. Then there's a third reflection, also green, and a little smaller: I think that's the reflection off the more curved rear surface of the front lens.

When I shine the white light on the rear of the VF, I only see white reflections.

So I'm confident the green is a filter at the front of the front component of the VF. But from pictures I've seen on repair sites, that's a unit that includes both the front lens of the VF and the half-silvered mirror, so I'd be reluctant to disturb it. Also, I can't tell if the filter is just sitting there or if it's glued to the VF lens.

Here's a thing: Zorkis I see at Flickr don't have the green colour.

eli griggs · Nov 19, 2023

Dustin McAmera said:
Not 'very frequently': if such a thing happened to your expensive camera, it would be a tale to tell, something that happened once or twice to people in strange circumstances. The majority of cameras were not washed in seawater, and the chance of the OP having happened to buy a camera that survived such treatment is vanishingly slim.

Meanwhile, several people have posted that their unwashed FEDs also have a blue/green tinted VF, and that it is normal.

In fact, you can see the tint in the VF of several models of FED at Flickr:
FED 2:
FED 3:
and I found FEDs 4, 5, 10 and 50 with the same colour in the camera-wiki pool there.

I wonder whether this is achieved with coloured glass in the VF, or if there's a colour filter that one could remove. I have a FED 3 and a 4; they're not immediately to hand or I'd have a look and see if I can see where the colour is. I don't think I have ever had the top off either.

Think on the many, many combat landings from landing craft that often dropped their 'doors' in the oceans, Atlantic and Pacific and all the automatic machine gun fire the people in those craft were exposed to, as they tried to disembark and get low in the water to avoid offering good targets to the various French, German, Japanese gunners.

Military and non military photographers both wore BDUs and were ducking in the water just as hard as G.I.s and Marines, especially in the Island hopping Pacific Theater.

These photographers were photographing the ride into hot combat and the deadly action all around them, so, yeah, 35mm and other cameras took a lot of soakings.

Personal speaking, knowing what the environment would be, vulcanized or asphalt skins would certainly be my choice for these conditions, not leather, sharkskin, etc.

Dustin McAmera · Nov 19, 2023

Be that as it may, this camera is a FED 2. The FED 2 wasn't made until 1955, when Stalin was dead and the Second World War was over. And it was made in Ukraine: no GI was ever issued one of these.

Mike Lopez · Nov 19, 2023

Dustin McAmera said:
Be that as it may, this camera is a FED 2. The FED 2 wasn't made until 1955, when Stalin was dead and the Second World War was over. And it was made in Ukraine: no GI was ever issued one of these.

It also seems rather unlikely that the French were firing machine guns at those GIs, but I wasn't there.

Subversive Mk II · Dec 14, 2023

I've certainly heard the advice that if you ever drop your camera into the sea, retrieve it and immediately dunk it in fresh water, then hie it off to a photographic technician. That was back in the 70s, and handy photo-technical shops were available in every town. However, it was just a method of hopefully saving the camera with no guaranteed outcome.
Regarding the green VF, I have a Petri Green-o-matic RF, and it's an attempt to raise VF contrast a bit.

Fed 2 greenish viewfinder

Smokwawelski

green viewfinder - Google Drive

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