Interesting Article on Fed and Kiev Factories Now

[Jocko]

I expect many people have already seen this - but I hadn't!

There is a very interesting article (dated April 2006) from a Ukrainian newspaper translated on the DVD website, here - http://www.dvdtechcameras.com/info/4.htm - dealing with the Ukrainian photographic industry and its collapse in the post communist world. There are some real surprises - FED has 5 years of cameras stockpiled!

Cheers, Ian

 

[lushd]

Thanks Ian - I enjoyed that and it made a point I have always believed in. If the post-Soviet world can make a T90 and export it then it could do anything in the industrial line. It's a question of vision and value.

If Comrade Stalin orders a digital soap tray you can be damn sure he'll get one.

 

[Jocko]

That's so right Donald - and its a bewildering failure that goes back way beyond the USSR. The world is the poorer for it.

Ian

 

[Trius]

So which brand new Fed models and lenses can we order? Do they have a website with secure ordering? 😀

 

[xayraa33]

So which brand new Fed models and lenses can we order? Do they have a website with secure ordering? 😀

probably the Fed 5c and 5b with the I- 61L/d lens

a lot of these were made and they do not seem to have been very popular.
some new ones can be had for cheap on that auction site.

 

[darkkavenger]

if they had 5 years of Fed-6 TTL that would be much more interesting ... OTOH xayraa33 is probably correct... I got a Fed-5 and it's a very decent performer, but I think they lack "character".

 

[xayraa33]

they are certainly not as sleek and compact as a Fed 1.

 

[PetarDima]

I think that good move will be to produce Fed I or Zorki I again, with faster lenses, of course.
1000 - 2000 pieces, like Cosina did.I think that for some fine price( 200$ or less) they can do business with rangefinder fans from this site.

 

[lushd]

Petar - I think you are so right. I would buy one or even two at that price. I don't think the chances are very good though.

 

[rxmd]

It's a question of vision and value.

And one of demand, quality, large numbers of critical customers, and an industry that is fairly good at producing investment goods, especially anything weapon-related, and considerably worse at producing consumer goods and electronics.

Philipp

 

[PetarDima]

Petar - I think you are so right. I would buy one or even two at that price. I don't think the chances are very good though.

Well, I work for a 200$ for month, but buying a good mechanical camera for that money, that can be permanent solution for me... buy once, and next 10 years think about photography, not about equipment... * Strong metal body + 50mm f>2 lenses can be a good kit.But that's only a daydreaming ...

 

[ZorkiKat]

There are some real surprises - FED has 5 years of cameras stockpiled!

Cheers, Ian

Ian

Someone ought to suggest "Corporation FED" to offer their surplus stocks to some digital company in China or India. The FED-5 may be a suitable platform to build a cheap LTM rangefinder on. There's a guy from the photo.net board who
was building his own digital M on a Leica M2 body. Those FED-5 will make plenty of cheap digital RF cameras which will make us FED and Zorki fanatics very happy.
😀

Jay

 

[Jocko]

Ian

Someone ought to suggest "Corporation FED" to offer their surplus stocks to some digital company in China or India. The FED-5 may be a suitable platform to build a cheap LTM rangefinder on. There's a guy from the photo.net board who
was building his own digital M on a Leica M2 body. Those FED-5 will make plenty of cheap digital RF cameras which will make us FED and Zorki fanatics very happy.
😀

Jay

It's funny you should say that Jay! A while back I posted a half-serious thought about the potential for Arax style remanufacturing of Zorki 4s - I read that a Russian magazine had published plans for installing a TTL meter... When I read Max's FED TTL 6 lament I did just wonder if somehow, someone, somewhere...

But your digital idea is wonderful! I think we know it won't happen, but it certainly should - and if our Chinese friends can turn a Ukrainianm aircraft carrier into a theme park, they could surely do this ! 😀


Cheers! Ian

 

[Ash]

wow... that's got me thinking.

So how difficult would it be to rewire an old digi cam onto the back of a cheap russian rangefinder? Aside from the advanced know-how needed.

I wonder how easy it would be to set up the sensor to the film plane first, and set it up directly to the LCD monitor, so no actual picture taking, then adjust some firmware for photo taking.

I think we should have a group RFF project on this!!

 

[Jocko]

wow... that's got me thinking.

So how difficult would it be to rewire an old digi cam onto the back of a cheap russian rangefinder? Aside from the advanced know-how needed.

I wonder how easy it would be to set up the sensor to the film plane first, and set it up directly to the LCD monitor, so no actual picture taking, then adjust some firmware for photo taking.

I think we should have a group RFF project on this!!

Ash - just look at what this fellow's done! - http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/m39var1/

Half way there!

Cheers, Ian!

 

[Ash]

wow... I'll give that a proper read later on tonight

 

[ZorkiKat]

wow... that's got me thinking.

So how difficult would it be to rewire an old digi cam onto the back of a cheap russian rangefinder? Aside from the advanced know-how needed.

I wonder how easy it would be to set up the sensor to the film plane first, and set it up directly to the LCD monitor, so no actual picture taking, then adjust some firmware for photo taking.

I think we should have a group RFF project on this!!

The sensor area in many of the P&S digicams are rather small. Those thumb-nail sized sensors would make the standard 50mm seem like a very very very long lens! 😀

Jay

 

[ZorkiKat]

Ash - just look at what this fellow's done! - http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/m39var1/

Half way there!

Cheers, Ian!

Vladimir Rodionov is on the right path. He should give corporation FED a nudge...or he can be a good capitalist and buy all the remaining FED-5 stocks (before those crazy LOMO Society people get them) and start converting them to digiFEDs. 😀



Jay

 

[Ash]

I was playing around last night, and you're right zorkikat, my 50mm was acting like a 150mm! Time to destroy some cheap binoculars or something for a lens to make the image smaller i thinks!


I still think fed/zorki/etc digicams would be a great idea. RFF could have a group of people here making them, and the profits could help run RFF 😛

Plan:
Source very cheap digicams with a suitable megapixel count - cheaper the better, as their build quality would mean ease of disassembly.
Invest in a large amount of Fed/etc bodies, to get a huge bulk discount
Lay out a little "RFF" engraved on the top plate, with a limited edition number

😀

 

[dll927]

Interesting, although the translation leaves a little to be desired. (Maybe he also writes camera instruction books!)

No doubt the FSU (anyone in these threads should know what that means) is experiencing some 'teething problems'. But what do you expect of a country that has virtually no history of democratic functioning? Catherine the Great would probably not find things too strange even today. So it probably will take them a while, even to come up with Stalin's digital soap tray.