Using a Fed 1D Leica Copy

<p lang="en-GB">I acquired the Fed in a mixed auction lot a few months ago. Although it was extremely dirty it's ever ready case had kept it in undamaged condition, even with its original lens cap. After a lot of cleaning, coaxing, a little oil here and there, and exercise, I managed to get it all working pretty well. I even managed to dismantle the lens, which was cloudy, and clean and re lubricate it.</p><div></div>

<p lang="en-GB">I hadn’t realised that so many Leica copies were made in the USSR, even before the war. I think this one is a Fed 1D, dating from around 1940. Its a very close copy of a Leica 2 down to the same range of shutter speeds. It has a collapsible Fed 50mm F3.5 lens, similar to the Elmar. It's very well made, not at all a cheap copy, I’ve got a Leica 3 and the build quality is comparable.</p><div></div>

<p lang="en-GB">I only show a few shots from the Fuji 200ISO print film I put through it. A lot of them were done in very dull conditions to test the rangefinder etc.</p><div></div>

<p lang="en-GB">The little presumably uncoated Tessar type lens is excellent, except when there are bright areas in the frame when you get flare, an occupational hazard of uncoated lenses. I couldn’t find a hood to fit it.</p><div></div>

<p lang="en-GB">You have to trim the film leader to load it, Leica style. The viewfinder gives you a very rough idea of what the camera is pointing at. An auxiliary finder might be better. The rangefinder is nice and bright and seems accurate.</p><div></div>

<p>Another one</p><div></div>

<p>Another by the canal locks</p><div></div>

<p>The inevitable graffiti</p><div></div>

<p>With 200ISO Fuji print film, the settings were 1/60 or 1/100 at around f11 in hazy sunshine - it has an old range of aperture stops, F3.5, 4.5. 6.3, 9, 12.5 and 18. It took a bit of mental arithmetic to translate the exposure meter readings.</p>

<p>Forgot the picture.</p>

<p lang="en-GB">All in all it was an interesting exercise in restoring and using a Leica type camera.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>Last one, thanks for looking.</p><div></div>

Very nice job with an old lens. I don't bother translating the math for the f stops. ( I wouldn't know how

actually ) They are what you think they should be is my approach. I think you did really well I often get

some flare that others refer to it as "glow" Your results are quite respectable. I certainly don'T know the

many different Fed models, though I recognize the exteriors as copy Leica II. I will want to look up how

they differentiate themselves. Is the rangefinder design copied from the Leica? It seems quite robust.

Thanks for sharing!!

<p>Good job with this beauty. I like the colors in your shots - very nice. All I can make out from the inscription is USSR Harkovsky Kombinat- years of Russian studies went to hell. Thank you for sharing.</p>

<p>I think the pics are nice and very natural, considering it's age. The rangefinder glow differentiate it to an slr...............the restoration was worht it, like to see more ........thanks for sharing</p>

<p>Thanks for the comments. Chuck, when I said mental arithmetic perhaps I was exaggerating, I mean just guessing the nearest aperture stop from my Polaris digital meter which has a 1/60 setting, but not 1/100. Kris, the colours are nice and muted but it was that sort of a hazy day. I did spend some time looking at different websites (there are quite a few for USSR cameras) to identify it as a 1D.</p>

<p>Grey, yes it is remarkable that a camera which is nearly three quarters of a century old still works smoothly and does exactly what it was made to do, credit to the designers, whether Leica or Fed, and the people who made it.</p>

<p>Here's a couple more:</p><div></div>

<p>Last one, really:</p><div></div>

<p>A restored FED 1 can be a very efficient camera, as efficient as a Leica II or III. The only trouble I see with pre-war cameras is the find a matching lens or not to forget to shime the camera according to the lens. Of course, when you get a camera + lens combo, you can assume they match well but it is better to check as there is no indication you get the original lens...</p>

<p>I'm a little worried by the NKVD (earlier version of KGB) markings, however. Could the Ukrainian jokesters now be ...? ? ?, well..</p>

<p>In any case, nice work with it. Reminds me I need to do a cleaning job on the lens of my otherwise mint Gold and Rosewood Swedish Army "Leica" ;)</p>

<p>JDM, from Camerapaedia:</p>

<p>"The <a title="FED" href="http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/FED">FED</a> camera was introduced in 1934 by factory of the Dzerzhinsky Commune in Kharkov, Ukraine, former USSR. <strong>FED</strong> are the initials for F.E. Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the <strong>NKVD</strong>, in honor of him the camera was named."</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure its genuine, it had obviously not been out of its clearly original case for many years when I acquired it.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>Thanks for sharing. I've often wondered about these early FSU cameras. It is so refreshing to work with a simple camera with only three direct controls to consider when in use. Sometimes, in bright light at small apertures and moderate to long distances you don't even have to worry about focus, just leave it at infinity. Color negative film provides reasonable latitude I see. I'd like to shoot color but there is just no local walk-in C-41 processing anymore, the nearest is a 51 mile round trip.</p>

Nice shots and very sharp. Thanks for an informative post.

<p>I know about the NKVD connection to the commune, but were the early FEDs actually so marked?<br>

Just asking.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>Marking looks genuine to me and consistent with the serial number.</p>

<p>Nice tidy-up of an interesting early Fed. Sharp little lens, though I guess the lack of coatings tend to reduce the saturation and contrast, producing the central hot-spot evident in many of the images. Great pics, notwithstanding; you're fortunate in having so much photogenic infrastructure on hand, <strong>John</strong>. Thanks for another fascinating post.</p>

<p>JDM have a look here, it shows the engraving on the Fed 1D, including the NKVD bit.</p>

<p>http://ussrphoto.com/wiki/default.asp?WikiCatID=98&ParentID=1&ContentID=962</p>