Cameras fed history. Remembering the USSR. Soviet cameras and photographer's inventory. Film development

FED-2- Producer Association "FED". Year of release 1955 1970. Type Rangefinder camera. Photomaterial ... Wikipedia

FED (disambiguation)

Fed- Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky organizer and the first head of the Cheka FED (camera) Soviet camera. FED (plant) optical-mechanical association in Kharkov, which produced cameras of the same name. FED (corporation) Ukrainian corporation, ... ... Wikipedia

FED- Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky organizer and the first head of the Cheka FED (photographic equipment) a series of Soviet cameras. FED (camera) is a brand of Soviet cameras. FED (plant) optical-mechanical association in Kharkov, ... ... Wikipedia

FED-Mikron-2- Producer Association "FED" Year of manufacture 1978 1986 Type ... Wikipedia

FED-10- Manufacturer Kharkov machine-building plant "FED" Year of manufacture 1964 1967 Type Rangefinder camera Photo material Film type 135 Frame size 24 × 36 mm Shutter type Central, with shutter speeds from 1 second to 1/250 s, and "B" Lens "Industar ... Wikipedia

FED-Stereo- FED Stereo ... Wikipedia

Contrary to all the above, experts say that the progenitor of the legendary "FED" is not "Leica" at all, but another Soviet-made camera, which was created long before the German model. This camera was named "Cyclops". Its developer was Korneliy Yevtushenko, an engineer at the Kharkov Optical Society. Yevtushenko first presented "Cyclops" back in 1906. They say that the model enjoyed incredible success even abroad, where German specialists could use it and, on the basis of the Cyclops, design their Leica camera.

In 1913, the talented engineer perfected his invention. The Cyclops Lux model got a built-in optical viewfinder and gained the ability to change lenses. Several cameras were even purchased by members of the family of Emperor Nicholas II. However, the well-established production of domestic photographic equipment was prevented by the revolution and wars.

FED is a brand of the famous camera produced in Soviet time at the Kharkov machine-building plant with the same name. It is well known that the FED rangefinder camera became a copy of the German Leica camera. Allegedly, Soviet engineers disassembled a German camera and copied its device one to one. However, this statement is not true. The camera, which is known to us as FED, appeared much earlier than it is commonly believed.

In pre-revolutionary Russia, there was an enterprise of the Kharkov Optical Society, where in 1906 a small-format camera was developed and presented to it. prototype... The talented engineer Korneliy Yevtushenko was engaged in its development. Two years later, the serial production of "Cyclops" was launched - this was the name given to the camera developed by Yevtushenko, which later became the prototype of the famous FED.

Shooting was carried out on 35mm film, the camera had a 45mm lens with a 1: 3.2 aperture, a fabric rubberized focal-plane shutter, high exposure accuracy (from 1/20 to 1/500 of a second). The sturdy body of the camera was made of brass. Its cost was quite high and amounted to 120 rubles. Despite this, the camera was in demand, and not only in Russia.

Cyclops were used at the court of Emperor Nicholas II. In 1913, the model was improved - a built-in optical viewfinder appeared, and it was also possible to replace the lens. At the same time, Oscar Barnack's apparatus appeared, which would later be called the Leica. His invention did not become popular, as there was a "Cyclops", and it was more perfect than the invention of a German engineer. Even during the First World War, the production of Cyclops did not stop. A series of nickel and gold plated cameras was created. One of them was presented to Nicholas II as a gift. In 1916, the plant began to produce military products, then the years of revolution, civil war and devastation followed. Only in the 30s the production of "Cyclops-Lux" was resumed, its production was entrusted to juvenile criminals from the Kharkov Labor Commune named after Dzerzhinsky.

By this time, Barnack's invention of the second modification was already being produced at the Ernst Leitz plant. So, the well-known legend about the origin of FED is not true. The quality of the 1932 German Leica was achieved by Russian engineers back in 1913.

FED camera models

At first, the camera was manually assembled by inmates of the Dzerzhinsky children's labor colony. Hence the name of the FED apparatus, which stands for Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky. Its serial production began in 1934. The camera was constantly being improved, 18 thousand copies rolled off the assembly line per month.

A convenient, compact, very durable and inexpensive camera has become a popular favorite, replacing the bulky and heavy old cameras. There is a legend about how the FED fell from the Eiffel Tower, and to the general surprise of Parisians and tourists, it did not crash and remained operational. Only the upper flap was crumpled from the blow.

In the interval between 1934 and the mid-50s, many modernizations of the FED were produced. A feature of the models was the absence of sync contact and self-timer. From 1938 to 1941 the second model "FED-S" was produced with a wide range of shutter speeds and a 2.0 / 50 lens. In 1941, the "B" model came out with the addition of long exposures.

In 1955 - 1970 FED-2 was launched with the possibility of diopter adjustment. Later added synchrocontact, self-timer with an operating time of 9-15 seconds. In 1969, a lever cocking with under-cocking blocking, a new hull and a reduced rangefinder base appeared. The circulation of "FED-2" was 1,632,600 pieces.

"FED-3" was produced in 1961-1979 (-1983?). The exposure length was increased, a retarder for the second curtain was added, due to which long exposures with a range from a second to five hundred were obtained. The vertical size of the camera has increased. Released 2086825 copies. In the export version, the camera was called Revue-3.

In 1964-1980, the FED-4 and FED-4k models were produced with a built-in non-coupled selenium exposure meter, which added vertical dimensions. Issued 633096 pcs. The export version was called Revue-4. In 1977-1990 - improved models "FED-5" and "FED-5s".

The last model developed by the factory design bureau was the FED-6. It was reflex camera, the level of which significantly exceeded its predecessors. But it did not get into serial production, since in the 90s it could not withstand the competition with cheap and simple foreign "soap dishes". Currently, the plant where the FED was produced produces aircraft parts.

Pre-war production of FED cameras

By the end of 1934, 1,800 cameras were on sale, and in 1935 more than 15,000 cameras. The camera consisted of 80 parts that were assembled by hand. Then the commune became a production plant of the NKVD, where mechanized conveyor production was organized. The first FED cameras were necessarily engraved with the serial number and the place of assembly. But when production volumes increased, the numbering was abandoned. Before the war, the volume of production was about 160650 units.

The first test for the future camera "FED" was the release of 30 hand-assembled devices with an attached rangefinder without numbering. But they did not switch to serial production of this model. The first 7000 cameras were produced without a clamp for fixtures. Collectors precisely on this basis distinguish the first issue of "FED". Parts of the cameras were plated with nickel, and later switched to chrome plating. The next batch of the second issue (up to 22000 serial numbers) is characterized by a large diameter of the exposure head.

Having slightly improved the shutter speed and the lens, in 1938 they began to produce "FED-S". A high-class model "FED-B" was being prepared for production. The design resembled the German Leica III. But mass production stopped due to the outbreak of war. Also, the Komandirsky FED was assembled in small batches for military purposes.

Post-war production of FED cameras

After the end of the war, the production of FED cameras resumed in Kharkov. The German camera was no longer copied. The FED-2 camera was completely developed by Soviet designers in 1955. Therefore, this model is of particular interest to collectors. The last representative of the legendary camera was the FED-5, which was launched in 1977. By the beginning of the 90s, the total number of all FED cameras amounted to more than 765 million units!

But in the early 90s, cheaper cameras appeared in the USSR. Outdated FED models could not stand the competition and on the day of the sixtieth anniversary of the plant, production was stopped.

Folk legends or a true story about the Soviet favorite camera

Photo enthusiasts recall with pleasure the story that happened in France. The Soviet delegation admired Paris from the height of the Eiffel Tower and one woman accidentally dropped her FED camera. The French, trying to console her, promised to donate a new camera to compensate for the damage. But the woman, smiling, asked to go downstairs and bring her "FED". The amazed French could not understand how the camera remained intact after falling from a great height. For a long time they tried to persuade them to sell them the legendary camera. A box of French perfume "Chanel No. 5" broke the woman's resistance. The exchange took place.

They say that our climbers, having argued with the Americans, threw a camera off a cliff. Having gone downstairs, we found a FED without damage at the foot of the mountain. Since then, the "FED" camera is proudly called "impenetrable".

For an ordinary person old cameras "FED" will seem unnecessary thing... The era has come digital cameras, they are preferred. But for a real amateur photographer, the legendary "FED" is a whole treasure. In the hands of a professional, using an old camera, you can create a photo masterpiece.