Fed 2 rangefinder adjustment

This is going to seem like a silly question, but if the rangefinder's image is a tiny little bit below the viewfinder image, that's horizontal misalignment, right?

But what's confusing the 2 or 3 braincells that I have, is the idea that to adjust that back to being correct, what I have to do is move the rangefinder image upwards, ie. vertically, so that the horizontal lines coincide. Is that correct?

So to get the two images to line up should I be unscrewing the screw just under the name 'fed2' and adjusting the little screw that is uncovered, or removing the ring around the rangefinder window and adjusting the inner of the two rings that are uncovered?

I've read that adjusting the vertical alignment also affects the horizontal alignment and veice versa.

So if I did adjust the rangefinder to make the horizontal lines coincide, would this then cause the vertical lines to need adjusting?

Or should I just get a repairer to do it for me?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi, its vertical adjustment that is adrift, take a look at http://jay.fedka.com/index_files/Page422.htm for instructions. Basically the left hand front RF bezel needs removing, then the optical wedge can be rotated to get the images to align vertically. You may then need to adjust the horizontal alignment with the little screw under the adjusting screw cover.

Cheers,

Steve

@SteveA, thanks for your quick reply and the info.

Hmmm. It may be best if I get a 'technician' to do it as I haven't got a tripod and there's a good chance it'll need the close focus adjusting.

On the other hand, with my camera being a 1965 fed 2, it wont need disassembling like a zorki 4 would, so maybe it won't cost too much?

Thanks again Steve.

Should not be too expensive. I do these almost every week, time spent is usually just a couple of minutes. If something is wrong inside the rangefinder, then more, but this is very rarely the case.

Thanks for the info onre.

Trouble is, I'm not sure the staff in the shop I'd be taking it to would do it themselves, (although I think theoretically they could), They may send it to a 'technician'. This 'technician' may have an overblown sense of skill and self-worth, so He/She may charge more than they actually should. I'm going to have to be prepared for a fairly high cost.

Well, I decided to have a go at adjusting the rangefinder myself. I thought that if the staff a t the shop probably wouldn't do it, and the technician is going to charge more than the camera, I may as well give it a try myself. Might as well pay Ј40-60 for a big adjustment as Ј40-60 for a small adjustment.

I had a little trouble getting the metal ring off, and when it did come off, it seemed to 'snap' off! Arrgghh! but from what I could see, there was still a thread on it so I didn't panic. I tried to hold the camera up to my eye while adjusting it so that I wouldn't adjust it too much. That didn't work as I couldn't keep the small screwdriver in place while moving the camera to my eye. So I decided on a bit of 'trial and error' while the camera was held in a way so I could see what I was doing to it. At first there was quite a lot of 'error' as the rangefinder image moved quite a bit off the real image. I moved the inner ring back to where I thought it had been and looked through the viewfinder and focussed. It seems to be alright!

Shockingly, I may have actually put the rangefinder 'right' almost by 'accident'.

I shouldn't really say 'shockingly', as it was always more likely that I'd manage it by 'accident' than managed it on 'purpose'.

After carefully looking through the finder and focusing at different distances over a couple of days, I decided that the rangefinder image was marginally above the real image. Actually, I decided it was a bit less than about half the height above as it had been below. In both cases it was sometimes quite difficult to tell if it was slightly 'out', but I'm far too 'fussy' for my own good, so I had another 'fiddle'. It's now even closer to 'correct' than it was before.

If I keep thois up, I'll soon be able to do it with my eyes closed. Lol.