FED 1 & 2 and Jupiter-3 Translated from Russian

[David Hughes]

The title says it all; I often search for information in other languages and found these articles about the FED-1 and 2 and the Jupiter-3.

These links are in Russian followed by the Google translation just as it came:-

FED-1

http://ussrlens.com/camera/rangefinder/fed-1

https://translate.google.com/transl.../camera/rangefinder/fed-1&prev=search&pto=aue


FED-2

http://ussrlens.com/camera/rangefinder/fed-2

https://translate.googleusercontent.../fed-2&usg=ALkJrhjVQA1JmGD7mP8x3EN0Zw8RQvIeEg


And here's a review of the Jupiter-3, as above:-

http://ussrlens.com/optika/50-mm-full-time/jupiter-3

https://translate.google.com/transl...50-mm-full-time/jupiter-3&prev=search&pto=aue

And this is official about the Jupiter-3}-

http://www.zenitcamera.com/archive/lenses/jupiter-3.html

https://translate.google.com/transl...ive/lenses/jupiter-3.html&prev=search&pto=aue

FWIW I often find in my searches advert's for cameras. The price for a FED-1 and the Industar 10 etc seems to be about twenty pounds but I did come across this very, very expensive FED-1:-

https://translate.googleusercontent...-12157&usg=ALkJrhj2Q9vU5jU8jsV-YjxFQlyKwWSCNw


Regards, David

 

[valdas]

Yea, FED is the abbreviation of the name of this well known person:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Dzerzhinsky

Well, at the end now it’s just a camera. Nevertheless - no love lost...

 

[David Hughes]

Yes, the orphanage was named after him many years after he had died. And the orphans were given a decent education and an apprenticeship in the FED factory. The NKVD closed it down when they got the chance and the Nazis destroyed it when they invaded Ukraine but what has that got to do with the articles?

Of course, the NKVD were not the only ones who wanted to do away with FED... I'm always surprised by the number of people who hate it so much; some seem to have made a career out of it and for others its a hobby; even on Christmas Day. They are called trolls, I believe.



Regards, David

 

[valdas]

Yes, the orphanage was named after him many years after he had died. And the orphans were given a decent education and an apprenticeship in the FED factory. The NKVD closed it down when they got the chance and the Nazis destroyed it when they invaded Ukraine but what has that got to do with the articles?

Of course, the NKVD were not the only ones who wanted to do away with FED... I'm always surprised by the number of people who hate it so much; some seem to have made a career out of it and for others its a hobby; even on Christmas Day. They are called trolls, I believe.



Regards, David

Where do you see the hate? Just facts. The huge number of orphans, by the way, was the outcome of their own (NKVD) purges. You give the history of the camera. Dzerzhinsky (FED) is the part of the same history. Just imagine the Leica would be called Himmler. What is better - Himmler I or II. Sounds absurd? Believe me - millions of people perceive FED name in some not very bright context. So when we talk about the history of the camera and the name that is on it - it’s better to tell everything (including who was FED) rather than just de-politicized side of the story, otherwise it is very hypocritical.

 

[newst]

Thank you David for sharing this information. I own both a Fedka and a FED-2. While neither are my preferred shooters, I enjoy using them both occasionally. It's always nice to learn more about the equipment one owns.

Merry Christmas

 

[David Hughes]

Where do you see the hate? Just facts. The huge number of orphans, by the way, was the outcome of their own (NKVD) purges. You give the history of the camera. Dzerzhinsky (FED) is the part of the same history. Just imagine the Leica would be called Himmler. What is better - Himmler I or II. Sounds absurd? Believe me - millions of people perceive FED name in some not very bright context. So when we talk about the history of the camera and the name that is on it - it’s better to tell everything (including who was FED) rather than just de-politicized side of the story, otherwise it is very hypocritical.

This is about cameras not politics; facts are facts but should be relevant. So the decision to name the factory after Dzerzhinsky seems to be a red herring to me and probably to a lot of other people.

So what was your motive for changing the subject and suggesting Dzerzhinsky had something to do with the camera made in a factory that was built years after he died?

Regards, David

 

[valdas]

This is about cameras not politics; facts are facts but should be relevant. So the decision to name the factory after Dzerzhinsky seems to be a red herring to me and probably to a lot of other people.

So what was your motive for changing the subject and suggesting Dzerzhinsky had something to do with the camera made in a factory that was built years after he died?

Regards, David

Not years. The orphanage was actually set up in 1927 (named after FED from the beginning). After Dzerzhinsky died in 1926. Let’s talk about the camera history but let’s not mention who was the guy whose name is on the camera? And you see trolls everywhere? 🙂

 

[Sonnar Brian]

There is still mystery left to the Jupiter-3 evolution. It is known that KMZ recomputed the optical formula to use Russian glass. I wonder if the actual switch to the new Russian glass occurred when manufacturing was moved to ZOMZ in 1956. This is when the shape of the rear triplet and fixture changed. You would not wait to recompute the formula after running out of glass, you would do it ahead of time to not interrupt production. I also believe that many of the KMZ J-3's used Zeiss cut elements in them, later switched to using Schott glass cut and coated by KMZ. Once production switch to ZOMZ, was Russian glass, cut, polished, and coated. I have 3 KMZ J-3's with higher SN's than my oldest ZOMZ J-3.

The Aperture ring lost the wings early on, 1951. ~1964 it was changed and lost the threads to screw in, relied completely on the three set screws for alignment and position. I just looked at a 1953 KMZ J-3 and a late 1956 KMZ J-3. I don't see any significant change. The design of the barrel, focus mount, and shape of the rear triplet all changed when moving to ZOMZ in 1956.

 

[tbhv55]

These links are in Russian followed by the Google translation just as it came

Leaving the politics to one side 😉, I'll simply say 'Thanks' for these links, David. As the owner of a FED 2, I'm always glad to find additional information. 🙂

 

[hap]

Where do you see the hate? Just facts. The huge number of orphans, by the way, was the outcome of their own (NKVD) purges. You give the history of the camera. Dzerzhinsky (FED) is the part of the same history. Just imagine the Leica would be called Himmler. What is better - Himmler I or II. Sounds absurd? Believe me - millions of people perceive FED name in some not very bright context. So when we talk about the history of the camera and the name that is on it - it’s better to tell everything (including who was FED) rather than just de-politicized side of the story, otherwise it is very hypocritical.

History is filtered enough. Gathering facts and providing perspective can be useful.

 

[David Hughes]

There is still mystery left to the Jupiter-3 evolution. It is known that KMZ recomputed the optical formula to use Russian glass. I wonder if the actual switch to the new Russian glass occurred when manufacturing was moved to ZOMZ in 1956. This is when the shape of the rear triplet and fixture changed. You would not wait to recompute the formula after running out of glass, you would do it ahead of time to not interrupt production. I also believe that many of the KMZ J-3's used Zeiss cut elements in them, later switched to using Schott glass cut and coated by KMZ. Once production switch to ZOMZ, was Russian glass, cut, polished, and coated. I have 3 KMZ J-3's with higher SN's than my oldest ZOMZ J-3.

The Aperture ring lost the wings early on, 1951. ~1964 it was changed and lost the threads to screw in, relied completely on the three set screws for alignment and position. I just looked at a 1953 KMZ J-3 and a late 1956 KMZ J-3. I don't see any significant change. The design of the barrel, focus mount, and shape of the rear triplet all changed when moving to ZOMZ in 1956.

Yes, I assumed it was Schott blanks taken just after the war ended, obviously based on the long running Jena connection. And then I guessed/wondered if the USSR were going ahead to develop their own "new" optical glass. I also assumed that like the UK and USA, they would be looking closely at what Schotts were doing and taking things from there.

FWIW, your recent notes about the J-3 made me add it to the Russian search list and that's how I picked up the Zenit stuff etc.

I presume you have the 1970 Lens catalogue by Yakovley? There's a pdf of it somewhere but the J-3 pages are not some of the best scans in it.

Regards, David

 

[David Hughes]

History is filtered enough. Gathering facts and providing perspective can be useful.

Agreed but there are facts and rumours and a lot of half truths that have been carefully put together to confuse the issue so it can take off in another direction. And then there's that part of the internet where everyone knows that the moon is made of green cheese and that iron ship won't float or sink and so on...

Anyway, I put these up as they came because I thought people might be interested in a Russian view of the cameras and lenses. I only bother with the FED and FED-2 so have ignored a lot about all the other models. And I thought the prices in Rubles interesting.

Regards, David

 

[David Hughes]

newst and tbhy55; thanks, it's all part of the service.

Have you seen this thread I started a while ago?
https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2850066#post2850066

Regards, David

 

[tbhv55]

Have you seen this thread I started a while ago?

https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2850066#post2850066

No... I must have missed that one. 😕

I see in post #20 of that thread, that you are (or were) looking for a way to get a pdf converted to text, and then translated from Russian into English. There are some OCR programs which do this in one fell swoop (or claim to do so, at least 😉), and I believe that some of them are freeware.

I've never used any of them, so I can't comment on their efficacy, but if you're still trying to achieve this, and were to find a freeware version, it might be worth a try.

 

[David Hughes]

No... I must have missed that one. 😕

I see in post #20 of that thread, that you are (or were) looking for a way to get a pdf converted to text, and then translated from Russian into English. There are some OCR programs which do this in one fell swoop (or claim to do so, at least 😉), and I believe that some of them are freeware.

I've never used any of them, so I can't comment on their efficacy, but if you're still trying to achieve this, and were to find a freeware version, it might be worth a try.

Thanks, I managed - thanks to being confined to barracks by the pandemic - to sort out the translations I wanted and learnt to type in Cyrillic on a UK keyboard as a bonus.

About 40 years ago we had at work one of the few computerised translation machines, there were a handful in the entire world. You put the original text into it via a scanner and left it for a day or so and then it would print and spew out the translation. The problem was that a human translator then had to go through it and correct it - in between ROFL sessions.

It still happens with today's software; getting "kidnapped" as the translation of "removed" the other day reminded me of some of the horrors we laughed at then.


Regards, David

 

[Ko.Fe.]

There is still mystery left to the Jupiter-3 evolution. It is known that KMZ recomputed the optical formula to use Russian glass. I wonder if the actual switch to the new Russian glass occurred when manufacturing was moved to ZOMZ in 1956. .

It happened well before.

But I don't want to provide more information. It might be used to vandalize J-3 to rebuild old German lenses.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

KMZ produced a limited number of Jupiter-3 lenses with a different serial number format, and produced a Jupiter-3 with a simplified focus mount that was similar to the Tabbed J-8.

Using parts from old J-3's and German lenses for repair has resulted in several lenses becoming useful for their intended purpose. I have no problem with that. There are more Jupiter-3's being vandalized with the front namerings being re-engraved as ZK and CZJ lenses than lenses that have been repaired.

You will find that the rear triplet from the ZOMZ lenses can be used in a CZJ Sonnar if you grind down the fixture to fit properly and cut threads in the proper location. I have 40 or so Jupiter-3's in the parts bin, completely useless for photography due to the front elements looking like someone cleaned them with ice skates. I've bought new Valdai lenses just to use the front element to repair a nice ZOMZ lens.

 

[tbhv55]

It still happens with today's software; getting "kidnapped" as the translation of "removed" the other day reminded me of some of the horrors we laughed at then.

😀 😀

(10 chars)

 

[webOSUser]

David,


Thank you for finding and posting this. Very interesting. I enjoy shooting my FED2. I noticed information about other FSU cameras and lenses that I use.


Steve W

The title says it all; I often search for information in other languages and found these articles about the FED-1 and 2 and the Jupiter-3.

These links are in Russian followed by the Google translation just as it came:-

FED-1

http://ussrlens.com/camera/rangefinder/fed-1

https://translate.google.com/transl.../camera/rangefinder/fed-1&prev=search&pto=aue


FED-2

http://ussrlens.com/camera/rangefinder/fed-2

https://translate.googleusercontent.../fed-2&usg=ALkJrhjVQA1JmGD7mP8x3EN0Zw8RQvIeEg


And here's a review of the Jupiter-3, as above:-

http://ussrlens.com/optika/50-mm-full-time/jupiter-3

https://translate.google.com/transl...50-mm-full-time/jupiter-3&prev=search&pto=aue

And this is official about the Jupiter-3}-

http://www.zenitcamera.com/archive/lenses/jupiter-3.html

https://translate.google.com/transl...ive/lenses/jupiter-3.html&prev=search&pto=aue

FWIW I often find in my searches advert's for cameras. The price for a FED-1 and the Industar 10 etc seems to be about twenty pounds but I did come across this very, very expensive FED-1:-

https://translate.googleusercontent...-12157&usg=ALkJrhj2Q9vU5jU8jsV-YjxFQlyKwWSCNw


Regards, David

 

[David Hughes]

David,

Thank you for finding and posting this. Very interesting. I enjoy shooting my FED2. I noticed information about other FSU cameras and lenses that I use.

Steve W

It's all part of the service; I thought we'd get something original if I looked outside of the mainstream posts. The prices in the old USSR shocked me; I'd love one or two cameras at those prices but can't see if they post overseas. Mostly they quote shipping etc within the federation and don't give email addresses.

Regards, David