My Newest FED-1

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.

Related Posts:

• No Related Post