It cost about the same, perhaps even more, than the usual, working similar FED model from a later time.  At that cost, those FED even come with a lens.  This one doesn’t even have its lens mount.  Missing just about every exterior fastening screw, and without its pressure plate and pressure plate springs.

This FED has a 5-digit serial number which puts its production year to 1937.  Marked NKVD (НКВД), “Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs” the KGB’s predecessor in Stalin’s time.  This does not mean that the camera was  made for the Secret Police.  It only meant that the camera was made by a factory which was managed by the NKVD.  “FED” after all stood for F E Dzerzhinskij, the founder of the NKVD.

The shutter crate bottom is bent and distorted.  The crate isn’t a single cast part, like in later cameras.  In this one, it’s made of several stamped plates joined together.  The crate looks to have been hand stamped and assembled.

At least the parts involved in the shutter and range-finding operations seem to be complete.  Dirty, but intact.  No broken gear teeth.  Gear trains still meshed.

And despite its damage, the viewfinder is very bright and contrasty.  The rangefinder window is also clear, with a very clear patch showing a snappy moving image.  Better than what I’ve seen in better graded old Leicas!.   The Soviets must have used a different, more corrosion-resistant reflective coating on their RF beam-splitters.

The shutter blinds, made of highly perishable cloth and rubber are totally gone.  The fabric tapes which pulled the blinds to and fro appear to still be doing their work.  In fact the long tapes ( looped on brown coloured brass roller on the right) can be seen still tight, reeling in what remains of the long shutter blind.    The shutter blinds and tapes (ribbons) can be easily replaced.

The Rangefinder Coupling “sensor” (the silver coloured part at the top part of the shutter crate) is oblong shaped, not the small tear-dropped shape found in later FED-1 cameras.  Some references say that cameras of this type should have the tear drop-shaped focus follower.  This one still has the oblong version of the first type.

Somewhere on the shutter crate (in the part next to the film cassette) is engraved “II/11/XII” and “5.42″.  Both sets of figures appear to correspond to date marks.  “5.42″, i.e, May 1942 may refer to a later servicing date since the camera’s serial number dates it from 1937.  Russian date notations use a mixture of hindu-arabic and roman numerals:  roman for months and hindu-arabic for month and year.  The usual order is day-month-year; so 28 October 2009 would be inscribed as “28/X/09″.  “II/11/XII does not seem to refer to a proper date.  Is “II” the second year of manufacture?  11/XII may refer to December 11.  But again, the serial number of this camera, starting with “31″ puts it at an earlier date in 1937 since the number range covered by that year goes to “53xxx”.

Restoration will be done soon.  The works can be cleaned, and the shutter blinds replaced and new fastening screws attached.  However, this FED won’t be functional until it gets a pressure plate and a lens mount.   Something with a standard Leica flange would be great to have, and have this camera calibrated to the correct Leica Standard.   This FED originally had a non-standard lens mount and lens working distance.  Only the original lens which the factory issued with the camera would properly work.   Having neither lens or lens mount means more flexibility in restoring this camera.

Cost of material used is really less than two pesos….

1. Get a piece of vinyl leatherette material.  One that is half a millimetre thick and about 10×10 cm.  10 square cms will make many pairs of strap protector. Real leather can also be used.  Leather workshops often throw scrap (retazo) material- irregular and off sized for any other use, but perfect for these cover protectors.  Scraps from old upholstery, bags, diaries, etc can be used::

2. Cut two pieces.  Each should be large enough to sandwich the strap ring. The shape will depend on the ring’s shape. In this example, round rings are used so straight edges with bevelled ends are used.  For triangular  rings, an hourglass shape can be used.  Punch a hole at the centre for the camera’s lug and two slits for the strap:

3, Insert the camera lug through the centre hole of the strap protector. Then the ring:

4.Then thread the strap through one slit, then the ring and out the other slit on the protector.   Tighten the ends of the strap and the set up is complete:

A special wrench made from fibre or soft metal like copper or aluminium was made for that purpose.  The wrench can be quite expensive for one-off jobs.  It can also be made, if you have access to a machine shop.

Substitute procedures like using long-nosed pliers lined with rubber tape or heat shrink tubes have been proposed, and worked.  Often though, it lead to the deformation of the bezel from the heavy grip of the plier jaws.    Using rubber pads to remove the bezels have been proposed too.  This worked only if the bezel has not siezed on its threads yet.  But old bezels tend to be stuck.  And in the factory, the workers made sure that it would remain in place by really tightening it in place.

There is a simple and inexpensive alternative to all methods described above: The “Zorkikat Wrench”.  It’s a DIY tool made from thick aluminium or copper wire.  Single strand copper wire with insulation removed or aluminum wire 2-3mm thick is needed.  Cut a 6-8cm [edited] length.  Then bend it around a metal pen or whatever object which has a diameter slightly smaller than the bezel or retainer nut (it can also be used for removing retainers from advance levers, eyepiece rings, etc).  The two ends serve as the handle and the grip.

The tool can easily lose its shape.  But it can easily be reshaped.  However too much bending can cause fatigue to the metal and cause it to break at the bends.  Nothing to worry about really since a new one can always be easily made when the old tool breaks.

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1. The Dead Leica As It Came. Nekkid, no covering whatsoever. The winding knob, counter disc, and shutter dial were removed in preparation for further dissection.

2. The Shutter is gone.  What remained of it were bits of fossilised rubberised cloth. 

It appeared to be suffering from a Very Serious Shutter Problem. Wait, IT IS A SERIOUS SHUTTER PROBLEM!  The shutter blinds and tapes were not the only problems. The lower pulley of the Shutter Drum broke off the shaft. And the Shutter was not its only problem. Its RF mirror was totally clear. Nothing can be seen moving in the viewfinder.

Rust, dirt and old dried grease everywhere. These had to be removed with solvent (I used lighter fluid and petrol for the really tough detritus).  Some parts had to be removed and soaked in petrol.  When clean, the parts were relubed.  Fine oil on the fast-moving small parts, heavier oil on the larger parts, and automotive grease on the slow moving gears like those found in the advance knob.

3. Near-total assembly was required. So many parts…

…and there’s still lots and lots left in their original stations in the camera assembly.

4. Shutter Repair. A (n old) shutter drum was taken from a scrapped IIIc. Good thing that it fit. The shutter curtain and ribbons are totally home-made DIY. That includes the new fabricated metal laths. All made here.Ends are sewn, not just glued. The same I use for FED and Zorki shutter replacements.

5. The new shutter cloth and ribbons are attached to their respective rollers and pulleys.  The detached part in front is the slow speed mechanism.  It was removed to facilitate the installation of the rollers.

Long curtain and tapes attached to the main drum and pulleys.  Short (”first” or “opening”) curtain and closing tapes still to be glued to their respective spring rollers.

All blinds and tapes attached to their respective drum, pulleys, and rollers. The thin rollers on the right are spring-loaded and power the shutter.  The blinds and tapes appear loose because the rollers haven’t been tensioned yet.

Rollers tensioned.  The mechanism in front is the slow-speed train.  This gives the 1/15…1 sec “slow” range.  It had been removed to allow proper curtain installation, as well as proper engagement of the slow train’s gears with the second (closing curtain).

6. The slow speed mechanism is put back in the crate. The rollers are lightly tensioned to see if the newly installed curtains  can reel smoothly. 

Then the crate is reattached to the top plate.  Reattaching the shutter assembly to the top crate is really difficult.  There are about 5 or so pins which need to be aligned by ‘touch’ alone.  No way to see or poke them to position.  You’d wonder how they ever put the whole thing in the factory so easily.

Then comes the other parts of the slow speed mechanism.  This is one of the most complicated engagements in the camera.  No wonder it (the slow speeds) are among the most common ailments of old Leicas.  The protruding black rod on the right over the main shutter drum acts as the linkage between the lower mechanism and the controls at the top.  On the ‘top’ of the main drum (bottom in the picture) can be seen a silver disc.  This is the main shutter speed control disc.

7. The cover plate, which holds the lens mount and the slow speed dial are restored.  Within, the baffle plates – the metal pieces covering the shutter rollers to prevent light from breaching the shutter blinds- are restored.

The optical components of the range and view finders are covered with tape to protect them from dirt and physical damage.

8. The new shutter seen from the back (focal plane side). The rails where the film is pressed against is exactly 28.8mm from the lens mount flange surface.

Flash PC contact and accessory shoe added. The eyepiece cover is still out.

More parts added: The VF and RF bezels, etc.  At this point, the shutter is tensioned as well to see if the blinds are able to traverse properly and smoothly.

10. The top plate, the shutter dial, shutter release, advance/rewind switch, accessory shoe wind knob, and frame counter were next to be installed.  At this time, the shutter is tensioned according to official specs.  It is also tested (degree dependent on available testing tools) for ‘accuracy’.  I am able to use only CRT screen testing and play it by ear.  Not too scientific and accuracy is suspect.  But eventual exposures reveal that the calibrations are close enough to produce satisfactory exposures….but the camera is still naked!  (In this set, the bezels were removed again…I forget now why I did that)

… The next step is to recover the body shell.  Ordinary vinyl leatherette is used here, the black material the naked camera is sitting on.  Cheap and available from upholsterers.  The right texture and thickness must be used.  Black is the original colour, but you can always recover with whaterver colour you desire.

11.Making a template for the new covering using masking tape.

The tape template is then stripped and used to make a pattern on leatherette. The leatherette used cost about Php 60.00 (for a 1 metreX1,5 metre piece- enough to cover many, many, many cameras) from a local upholsterer’s supply shop. Note the rusty scalpel blade. Actual cost of vinyl leatherette for this camera, maybe Php 2.00 (that’s 5 US cents!)

12. Installing the new leatherette covering. Fine cutting required for proper fit.

13. A close-up of the finished product, with the lens mount. The lens mount flange surface should exactly be 28,8mm (a variation of only 0.02mm is allowed!) from the surface of the focal plane (that’s behind the shutter curtain).  Any deviation will affect the focusing accuracy. From this view, the shutter curtain looks like the real thing- complete with the sewn laths.

14. Back from the Dead. With an American-made copy of the “Industar-22″ (Wollensak Velostigmat Tessar type for Leica) (!)… A lot of effort went into replacing the RF mirror and recalibrating the RF. The shutter speeds were hard to calibrate as well, 1/1000 setting was difficult to set; the adjusting screw cam on that curved thingie near the shutter speed regulator disc was hard to turn. The flash sync is OK at 1/25, synchro dial at 0. But this Leica is supposed to synch at 1/50 (sd at 20) as well, but won’t.