FED with flash modification

[hamologist]

Hi all,

I recently picked up a FED with a PC socket drilled into the front and what appears to be a circuit connection added for it at the bottom on the shutter lever. The leather case has also been modified to accommodate the nipple.







The shutter arrived busted, so I can't test if the whole deal syncs or not.

Does anyone else have a FED with this sort of modification? Was adding flash capability a common thing to have done in the Soviet Union?

Any information about aftermarket flash sync mods on Soviet cameras would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[seany65]

Hello and welcome to the forum, hamologist.

I'm surprised you've not had any replies yet. I can't help, but I hope someone who can will see the thread soon.

 

[hamologist]

Thanks for the welcome, seany65.

My guess is this is a pretty niche or one-off modification where very few people would be able to answer, and also with the virus going around we all have more than cameras on our plates, so I'm not in a rush.

 

[Brambling]

Good day!
it's homemade.

 

[dee]

In USSR , cameras had to LAST , you could not go out and just buy the latest .
An entire table top industry built up of post factory [ many new cameras did not work ] , repairs and improvements .
This Fed would be a typical updating .
Since the flash sync cameras were introduced , parts would have been acquired from the factory by the poorly paid techs who would set up a cottage industry .

A neat modification would be the top heavy Kiev III fitted with the K4 to plate , meter and controls .From a photo of a KievIII to Kiev 4,
I had one made by ex-Arsenal Techs from a Contax iii scrap body , plus that KIII to K4 - both with new meter cells !!

 

[Dralowid]

It was quite common for older Leicas to have a flash socket added, often by local camera shops and repair men in many countries.

Some of these had the socket in the top right through the lettering so think yourself lucky that yours is in a reasonable location!

So to see a Fed with the modification should be no surprise.

 

[hamologist]

Brambling, dee and Dralowid,

Thank you all for you responses!

I feel okay now about taking the camera apart to replace the shutter myself without destroying a "priceless artifact." In the spirit of home/small shop repair, I'm for sure going to preserve this bottom plate with the flash modification, and re-solder it and try to get the flash to sync after I put the camera back together.

I did a bit more research, and is it correct that those orange squares isolating parts of the circuit are made of a Bakelite sort of material that was typically used as electrical insulation? I read something about how scrap material of that kind would be used by electronics repair shops, but nothing specifically regarding cameras.

Do you know of any books or articles about camera modification in the Soviet Union I that could read? It seems like a fascinating topic that doesn't come up in the usual histories of these cameras.

 

[David Hughes]

There are a lot of books about the old USSR made cameras but all of them seem to be in Russian. I started a thread about them here:-
https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2850066#post2850066

There are also one of two scans of magazine articles (in Russian) about repairing them and, of course, the translations of instruction books by Andrey Ostapenko on eBay.

Regards, David

 

[Joao]

I am not aware of articles or books specifically adressing the home-made mods in FSU cameras.

Not intending to divert you from RFF (this is THE forum!) you may try to look here
http://ussrphoto.com/forum/
The Open Forum has many references of rare variations and DIY changes in FSU cameras

Regards
Joao