PKKA Fed

[Range Loser]

Hi, there was a thread a few weeks ago about a PKKA Fed on ebay. I bought it and am pleased with the camera, but still don't know much about the camera, or if it's genuine. Not too bothered about whether it's authentic or not, but would be interested if anyone had any further info about cameras used by the Red Army. It has some patina on the paintwork, but if it is old it has not been used much, though it doesn't look like a recent makeover either.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
All the best..

 

[laptoprob]

Welcome Range Loser! Original name... 🙂

photo's of the camera perhaps?

cheers, Rob.

 

[RML]

IIRC the camera was simply a repainted Zorki, not a Red Army original.

Show us some pics and I'm sure someone can tell you a lot of details about the Zorki or FED that it is. 🙂

 

[Range Loser]

Fed PKKA

Fed PKKA

HI,

Thanks for the interest, here are a couple of photos.

Andy.

 

[Jocko]

I remain wholly certain that the camera is a fake. The accessory shoe is an obvious give away, for early FEDs lacked such a feature. The shutter speed dial looks prewar, but the lens is indisputably not: it bears the Krasnogorsk "tombstone" logo, introduced c.1949-50. That was why the e-bay pictures made sure you couldn't see the front of the lens. The seller must have known that the camera was not genuine.

I believe the Soviet armed forces used ordinary civilian cameras, although apparently some Zorki 3s were produced in olive green.

 

[reagan]

I know little about anything and less about FEDs. IMO, it's sort of shaky at best to learn very much about a camera body based on the lens... lenses get changed/lost. Many bodies haven't seen their original lenses in years. Jocko, when did FEDs add the accesory shoe? Guesstimate? Just curious. Think I've read that NKVD models had them in 1935(ish)? Any before that? Okay, now I'm rambling.

But anyway, Range Loser, I had to post just to say that is a very neat looking camera. I hope it turns out to be a good performer as well. I like my Zorki.1s for their size and smooth operation. Fake or not wouldn't deter me from enjoying such a unique FED. Congrats. Hope you'll post here any info you might gather. And good luck!

 

[Evgeny S]

Regarding the signs of this camera I suppose it's a fake, because:
1. FEDs (and all Soviet cameras on the whole) were never produced in the black finish.
2. There were never such signs as "FED Komandirsky" on the FEDs.
3. Real "Commander's FED" has additional 1/1000 sec. speed and is VERY rare.

I think this is the real repainted "common" FED with "new" signs and with lens from Zorki. If you didn't bought it as collectible, you can freely make pictures with it. But I'd like to give an advice to check the rangefinder first. The lenses for early FEDs selected individually, and your lens is not original from this FED.

 

[Jocko]

Hallo g.o.k!

I quite agree about the lens.... but the trouble is, if we believe the serial number, this is the 29th FED ever made. Unfortunately we know that FED No.29 was a copy of the Leica 1a - the original rangefinderless Leica. The first "ordinary" Feds, produced in January 1934, were numbered from 31 upwards.

Now, as Evgeny rightly notes, if the camera was genuine, it would not accept a postwar Leica screw lens - or at very least be unlikely to focus properly. According to Princelle, accessory shoes appeared from No. 8000-9000.

I agree it looks striking, but I personally dislike repainted cameras and love FED 1s! As a result I really object to innocent buyers being sold expensive fakes which are frequently unsound and sure to disappoint. The good news is that the number suggests that the "re-maker" actually knew about FEDs - in which case, we might call it a homage, not a fake. Hopefully Range Loser has a sound working camera, which should be good to use. That will be the real test. 🙂

 

[Range Loser]

Hi, Thanks for all your advice folks, I guessed it was probably a "homage", but that doesn't worry me, I still think it's a great camera. It wasn't advertised as definitely genuine, and only cost £37. I'll let you know how it fares when I've put a film through it.
Andy..

 

[varjag]

I concur with the opinions above.

For the reference, RKKA was renamed to Soviet Army (SA) in 1943, so no genuine item made past that year can bear RKKA markings.

 

[Jocko]

Hi, Thanks for all your advice folks, I guessed it was probably a "homage", but that doesn't worry me, I still think it's a great camera. It wasn't advertised as definitely genuine, and only cost £37. I'll let you know how it fares when I've put a film through it.
Andy..

£37.00 is great! I thought it had gone for lots more! They are lovely cameras and you'll have terrific fun - loading may take a bit of getting used to, but is not half as bad as you think before you try 😉

 

[ZorkiKat]

I remain wholly certain that the camera is a fake. The accessory shoe is an obvious give away, for early FEDs lacked such a feature. The shutter speed dial looks prewar, but the lens is indisputably not: it bears the Krasnogorsk "tombstone" logo, introduced c.1949-50. That was why the e-bay pictures made sure you couldn't see the front of the lens. The seller must have known that the camera was not genuine.

I believe the Soviet armed forces used ordinary civilian cameras, although apparently some Zorki 3s were produced in olive green.

Jocko

Its a nice re-finished FED.

The lens alone is not an accurate indicator if the lens is fake or not. The lens is removable and can be changed. A really old FED could have been modified to accomodate a later Industar-22- this would prove that it had been in use.

All but the earliest FED had accessory shoes. The number on the camera may suggest that it belonged to the earliest production; however it could also mean that a set of serial numbers were alloted to a special batch production.

The raised platform under the speed dial is also angled. The early FED (including many with accessory shoes) had this oval shaped- or sometimes known in some circles as 'toilet/lavatory seat' style. The camera in question shows features found in many middle to late 1940's FED cameras. The shutter button with cocentric grooves was the style which preceeded the flared mushroom shaped collar. At GBP 37, the camera may be a reproduction indeed- reengraved for the low S/N and "Komandirski" logo.

Jay

Jay

 

[ZorkiKat]

Hi, there was a thread a few weeks ago about a PKKA Fed on ebay. I bought it and am pleased with the camera, but still don't know much about the camera, or if it's genuine. Not too bothered about whether it's authentic or not, but would be interested if anyone had any further info about cameras used by the Red Army. It has some patina on the paintwork, but if it is old it has not been used much, though it doesn't look like a recent makeover either.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
All the best..

I was watching a photography documentary series "The Adventure of Photography"- and in the 'war photography' episode, a Soviet Army photographer was featured. The photographer, Yevgeni Khaldej, , was the one who made the photo of a Red Army Soldier hoisting the Soviet Flag over the burnt out Reichstag. In his interviews, he was shown with a Leica. Maybe he had shot with one during the war?

Jay

 

[varjag]

I believe Khaldei (as most high-profile Soviet photogs) used Leica. FEDs were far more common though among the lesser mortals.

 

[Jocko]

Jay, I completely agree - If you refer to the original thread, you'll see that I also identified the camera as a mid-late 40s FED.

However, the original e-bay seller stated that the camera had been bought from a London dealer in 1992, as if that suggested some sort of authenticity. In fact, at that time the British market was awash with fakes, complete with spurious provenances and imaginative paint-jobs. Jessops photographica was full of them - and I strongly suspect that's where this one came from.

I simply think these cameras - and Soviet photography - deserve more respect than repackaging as "commie kitsch". For me the FED 1 is a unique product of an era of hope and unthinkable horror. It needs no myths or fakery. It is history in the hand.

Ian

 

[claidemore]

In Anthony Beevors book 'Stalindrad', there is a photograph of General Rokossovsky made on Nov 19, 1942, at the start of Operation Ring which surrounded the German 6th Army. In that photo another photographer is in a trench taking a shot of Rokossovsky posing. He is using a 'chrome' finished FED or Leica, (most likely a FED).
Why a FED? Because using a German camera would have been construed as unpatriotic, and bad things happened to you if you were unpatriotic. I suppose if it was a Leica he could of cursed it every few minutes as a worthless piece of Fascist trash. 🙂
Anyways, that particular camera was definately chrome finished.

 

[reagan]

Interesting thread, guys. Fedka has on his sight an article I enjoy, "The Dzerzhinsky Commune: Birth of the Soviet 35mm Camera Industry" I'm sure most have seen. It has in it a picture of a 1934 FED ("Fig. 14") and speaks of "difficulty finding a suitable finish." Apparently, someone at FED had a can of black spray paint. 😉 Below is the pic. Wonder if this is the effect the "homage creator" of Range Loser's FED was going for. If so, IMHO, he did good. 😎

http://www.fedka.com/Useful_info/Commune_by_Fricke/Pictures_Screen/f14_s.jpg

 

[ZorkiKat]

1

I simply think these cameras - and Soviet photography - deserve more respect than repackaging as "commie kitsch". For me the FED 1 is a unique product of an era of hope and unthinkable horror. It needs no myths or fakery. It is history in the hand.

Ian

That's how I see it too! The refinishing and 'Leitzification' and 'Nazification' are doing all these grand dames a great shame....I have a 'retirement home' for the babushki FED and Zorki...I will welcome them anytime 😀

Jay

 

[grifon]

The chrome finished trench photographer's FED that is mentioned above is really not surprising at all, from what I've read, many war journalists went to the front with their own equipment... short a few exceptions. Journalists working for major papers were issued leicas, that were imported before the war. During that time though, there was little distinction made between real, and copy leicas, they were all commonly referred to as "leicas" (real leica was called "german leica") Also, a fed made during that time would come with a Fed 50/2 lens.

 

[Jocko]

g.o.k. - Mea culpa, absolutely right. I'd forgotten about the black ones. Now I',m starting to think it's real! 😀 To be honest, it was just the badge that irked me. I write about history as part of my work - and the history of Soviet art and photography has been real passion for 20 years. So - from one side I have a fanatical desire to find "truth" and on the other - well, I can't see the Soviet star without thinking of the unbelievable suffering and sacrifices of the war years. So I tend to over-react to "fakes". And the earlier ones, as I think Princelle notes, were often very good indeed.

Jay - no-one has done more than you to encourage the appreciation and use of these fabulous cameras, and I'd like to thank you for all the help you've unknowingly given me! Thank you! 😀

Range Loser - with a Fed 1 you're Range Winner! Use that baby! 😀