Which Fed is this?

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I bought this several years ago, and it's obviously had a make-over.
I've been told Fed never made a black model, so it must have had a paint job, but it doesn't look recent. The lettering and logo must have also been added, but which model Fed is it and what year was it made?
 

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I can see that the top of the shutter button is engraved. I don't recall the exact years but I believe this was first used from 1939-40 and on some early post war FED 1's.
 
It may well be impossible to say what type of FED and from what year it is: a lot of these reworks, and a lot of 'standard' ones for that matter, after so many years, are Frankensteins. The Sovietcams website does give excellent pointers though; if you want to know what's what among FSU cameras it's the place to go.

Finding out exactly what model/year camera yours is or, worst case, what it's made up of, is certainly going to be a lot of fun (well, I like those puzzles anyway). If you find the model, you may be able to spot the repairs as well! And mind that if it works well its exact provenance becomes less important 😎

Derk
 
Sorry folks but in my opinion it is a flight of fantasy, quite nice though...

Serial number? No way. Although number 29 might have been black (there were some) everything else is wrong. Very early cameras have no accessory shoe and their viewfinder window is hipped a la Leica. Also they have a lavatory bowl shape around the shutter dial...I could go on and on. It should be possible to give a reasonable date based on the shutter release and the rewind lever. Lens is, I think, much later Zorki and not Fed.

I'm nowhere near my books so can't give a suggested date...if pressed I'd suggest a Fed 1 d from around 1939 - 1941...but from memory only.

Having said all that it really looks like quite a nice camera!!!
 
Many thanks for the feedback, that Sovietcams link is very useful. I had a quick look at the different models, and it looks like mine is a Fed 1c or 1d made between 1937 and 1941. Very interesting. It does have problems I'm afraid, quite bad film slipping, frame overlapping trouble. I sent it to Oleg soon after I discovered this a few years ago, but it doesn't seem to be a lot better, though I haven't used it now for some time.
 
Frame overlap is most likely a problem with the take-up spool being too loose. That way, the spindle slips through more than it should, causing the film not to move a full frame, which in turn means that your next frame will overlap the previous.

Take off the bottom plate and check if the take-up spool is loose. When taking it off, you should have to give it a positive bit of pull. It's difficult to explain at distance what it should feel like 😀

However, if you suspect the spool is loose, there are four 'fingers' in the spindle that you could pry open just a bit. Don't overdo it, and preferably check your progress with a scrap film: if the spool is on too tight you might break the film!

This repair is quite easy to DIY, but it may take a few tries to get it right...

Derk
 
Just a thought...if the lens is post war Zorki and the camera is pre war Fed the lens shouldn't fit properly. The pitch of the thread on the pre war cameras is not 'standard' and the lens would bind.

But presumably the mount has been changed, Oleg would have been aware of this.
 
Frankenstein?

Frankenstein?

Hi,

Isn't it wonderful?

FEDs and Zorkis are "Frankenstein" cameras and Leicas are "a la carte" or "specially modified" - or is it the other way round? Or does it matter?

Just my 2d worth in an effort to bring a little light into a dark corner of the world and to stop frightening the newcomers...

Regards, David
 
Hi,

Just think, in 50 years time on some forum they'll be asking if the M4 is some kind of Frankenstein camera as it hasn't got a 28mm frame-line...

Regards, David
 
Dralowid said:
Sorry folks but in my opinion it is a flight of fantasy, quite nice though...

Serial number? No way. Although number 29 might have been black (there were some) everything else is wrong. Very early cameras have no accessory shoe and their viewfinder window is hipped a la Leica. Also they have a lavatory bowl shape around the shutter dial...I could go on and on. It should be possible to give a reasonable date based on the shutter release and the rewind lever. Lens is, I think, much later Zorki and not Fed.

I'm nowhere near my books so can't give a suggested date...if pressed I'd suggest a Fed 1 d from around 1939 - 1941...but from memory only.

Having said all that it really looks like quite a nice camera!!!
Click to expand...
Seems a reasonable assessment to me, probably a pre-war body/crate. The lens is an Industar 22, most likely stolen from a Zorki and no, it mightn't fit the FED so the mount has probably been changed. As for the serial number it's probably one of those "no. 29 from a limited edition of 100" creations (or even 9999, since it's 4-digit). The top cover might be from any one of a few models. Each to their own, I prefer the original (ish) look.
 
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I think the I(d) comes in two versions, one with a steel shutter crate and a later one with an aluminium one. If the OP were to check he could narrow it down further.
 
That engraving IMHO opinion says 'Komandirskii' but I cannot read Russian so I cannot be sure.

the FED 'Komandirskii' was the name that was given to the FED-S, a type of FED-1 with a 1/1000th top shutter speed and a close copy of the Summar 2.0/50mm lens fitted. Only 2500 approx. were made, from 1938 to 1941.

Seems this repainted and re-engravind camera is trying to make people think that it is an incarnation of said rare and sought-after camera...
 
David Hughes said:
Hi,
FEDs and Zorkis are "Frankenstein" cameras and Leicas are "a la carte" or "specially modified" - or is it the other way round? Or does it matter?
Click to expand...

I am so going to have to post a photo of my MDa with a Voigtlander Kontur finder and a (loaned) Jupiter 8 on an ebay M-LTM adaptor. How much more a la carte can you get than that? All I need now is a little Frankenstein sticker to stick over the black dot I'll have stuck over the red dot I had to buy because it didn't come with one...

Adrian
(not stalking you, honest!)
 
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