Following up our photo walk last year Tim Wainwright, Bob Janes and I met up at the end of May for another one. This time it was in Greenwich, familiar stomping ground for Bob and me but new to Tim.
It may be a symptom of getting older and being retired with the time to do it that I derive a lot of satisfaction in visiting places that I think I know well just to try and see a new aspect of them from a photographic point of view. The way that light falls at different times of the day (or night), the changing seasons and busy or quiet times if human interest is wanted; all these factors have a bearing on how I view subjects and react to them. As such another visit to Greenwich was fine with me.
Two other factors also come into play on this occasion. Firstly, for those of us with a perhaps just a few too many cameras using one in a familiar location is much more fun than a boring test card for testing and comparison purposes. With that in mind, on this occasion I had with me a Fed-2 which I hadn’t used for over ten years and the Pentax SP1000 which was the subject of my first 35mmc post. The Pentax was fronted by a Takumar bearing evidence of an equally interesting provenance. In the end it hardly came out of the bag so will have to wait for another time. Secondly, as Greenwich was new to Tim I felt as if I was put on my mettle and, to a certain extent, seeing it afresh and vicariously through his eyes.
The Fed-2
Summarising because it’s probably common knowledge, the Fed-2 was made in Kharkiv, Ukraine which was then part of the erstwhile Soviet Union. It was in production from 1955 to 1970 during which time it ran through six variants, with further variants within the variants, and a confusing serial numbering system. Julian Higgs gives it review here on 35mmc and a Google search will pull up more information some of which is contradictory.
Sifting through the evidence until I’d had enough mine appears to be a late 2d and with its rather attractive serial number of 6700700 may date to 1967. Then again it may not and is purely academic anyway. As with any camera the images that it is capable of producing matter more than its pedigree, interesting though that may be.
The Five Frames
Don’t be misled by the featured image which was taken after the event. I haven’t been doing very well as regards the weather lately whenever I’ve been in Greenwich. That day in May was no exception. It was cold, damp and overcast so I was glad that I had opted to load both cameras with Kentmere 400.
I’m rather partial to incongruous signs. I hadn’t noticed these before and was amused by the ambiguity and irony of them.
Apparently the hedonist sign was part of an art installation project some years ago and there are several others scattered around London. Also scattered around London these days, although not for any artistic purpose, are abandoned electric hire bikes. They’re usually to be found in the most inconvenient of places but this one wasn’t too bad.
One of the advantages of Greenwich is that there is much to see no matter what the weather. Here we are in The Queen’s House which I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t visited for a long time.
By Way of Conclusion
I recall that my first impression of the Fed-2 was that it was fiddly to operate. Dusting it off and putting it through its paces after a period of time I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed using it. Of course its controls are still fiddly and the lens, a rigid Industar 50, is awkward to focus without inadvertently changing the aperture but at least on my copy the rings turn freely and smoothly, the aperture ring perhaps too much so. The images produced appear to my eye to have nice tones and while not razor sharp have an attractive period look to them which I’d like to think is apparent in the shots I’ve chosen to include here.
It’s a camera I really ought to get to know better, if only for the challenge and fun of it.
Thank you for reading.
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Richard de Bulat on 5 Frames with a Fed-2 – New aspects, old subject
Comment posted: 06/08/2024
Comment posted: 06/08/2024
Michael Zwicky-Ross on 5 Frames with a Fed-2 – New aspects, old subject
Comment posted: 06/08/2024
Comment posted: 06/08/2024
Miguel Mendez on 5 Frames with a Fed-2 – New aspects, old subject
Comment posted: 06/08/2024
Comment posted: 06/08/2024
Russ Rosener on 5 Frames with a Fed-2 – New aspects, old subject
Comment posted: 06/08/2024
Great photos and thanks for reminding me to shoot this cool little camera.
Comment posted: 06/08/2024
Gary Smith on 5 Frames with a Fed-2 – New aspects, old subject
Comment posted: 06/08/2024
Comment posted: 06/08/2024
Fred Nelson on 5 Frames with a Fed-2 – New aspects, old subject
Comment posted: 08/08/2024
Any words of wisdom as I shop for one!
Comment posted: 08/08/2024