FED
F. E. Dzerzhinsky Labour Commune (1927 - )
(Trudkommuna imeni F.E. Dzerzhinskogo)
Kharkov - Ukraine - USSR

FED was established in 1927 as a combined school and home for some of the many children and youngsters that lived on the streets under appauling conditions, many of whom were orphans. The aim was to provide them with practical skills and thus making them capable of both making a new life for themselves, and of course also to contribute to the building of a strong new USSR. In the beginning, under the leadership of Anton Makarenko, they produced furniture and electrical drills. The first "0-series" FED cameras came in 1932-33 and mass-production followed in 1934. The FED's of that time were all copies of the Leica's.  The factory was destroyed by german forces in 1941, and production wasn't resumed until 1950. FED produced a long series of cameras from the 50's to the mid 90's, ending with the FED 5 model. The factory still excists today, allthough they are not manufacturing cameras anymore. The very interesting story of FED has been wonderfully told by Mr. Oscar Fricke, and can be read by following this link:

   Oscar Fricke: The Dzerzhinsky Commune: Birth of the Soviet 35 mm Camera Industry

FED 3b (1966 -1971) RF
Serial nr.: 122917
Format:  24 x 36 on 35 mm film (135)
Optics: Industar 61 LD 1:2,8 - 53mm LTM M39
Shutter: Focal plane B + 1 sec. => 1/500 sec. and selftimer
Mics.: Coupled rangefinder, diopter adjustment

To be quite honest I hadn't even considered to get a FED before I saw this FED 3 in the window of a local photoshop. The price was 45,- Euro and it had just been CLA'ed and came with a 1 year full warranty. Thats an offer that is hard to resist !. I must admit, that in addition to the very fair price, it has been a really pleasant experience to use the FED 3. I often simply carry a camera in my right hand when walking the streets and the FED 3 fits comfortably in my big hands. As it is the case with other russian cameras, the FED 3 are often compared to Leica, and even Leica M. Well, it's NOT a Leica, it's a FED. What can you expect when paying only a small fraction of the cost for a Leica ?. Get my drift ?. But what you DO get when buying a FED 3 is a coupled rangefinder, allthough the viewfinder is not the greatest seen on russian cameras. The viewfinder has an diopter adjustment though. There are all the usual slow shutter speed, but the fastest speed are limited to 1/500 sec. The FED 3 has an rapid advance lever that feels OK, selftimer, manual reset frame counter and of course interchangeable lenses with the standard M39 thread mount. The entire camera back slides off for film loading.
If bought in the same condition as my FED 3, I would gladly recommend the FED 3 to any newcomer as a suitable entry level camera for those who want's to try out rangefinder photography before investing a lot of money in f.e. a Leica or similar high end camera. Just remember: NEVER change the shutter speed setting without cocking the shutter/advancing the film first!. If you do, it will almost certainly damage the shutter mecanism!

FED 2c (1957) RF
Serial nr.: 711105
Format:  24 x 36 on 35 mm film (135)
Optics: Industar 22 1:3,5 - 50mm (separate on right: Industar 26M 1:2,8  50mm) LTM M39
Shutter: Focal plane B + 1/25 sec. => 1/500 sec. and selftimer
Mics.: Coupled rangefinder, diopter adjustment

Yes I know that the Industar 26M ought to have been mounted on the FED 2c instead of the Industar 22, because the 26M is considered to be the standard lens for this camera, but what the heck. I just wanted to "promote" the old collapsible Elmar copy also. It isn't bad at all you know, and it makes the FED 2 a compact unit that easily fits into a roomy coat pocket too. These Industar 22's (dead copy of the Leica Elmar) can be found on eBay for around 10,- Euros if you're lucky, so get a couple of them while your're at it. The FED 2c hasn't got a wide range of speed settings and no rapid wind lever, but I have always liked the "feel" of it. It's a plain no fuzz, no frills Russian workhorse that can take a hell of a lot of beating just as long asyou remember: (yes you've guessed it ?) NEVER change the shutter speed setting without cocking the shutter/advancing the film first!. If you do, it will almost certainly damage the shutter mecanism!.