Mysterious FED 2b

[photax]

Hi !

I found this green FED 2b with a special lens today. The Russian 3.5/50 lens is marked with: Nc9103 and I-96Y-1 / aperture 3.5 - 11, but I can not identify the manufacturer. The camera came with a FED handgrip, in which a miniature-tripod can be stored. Is this a military outfit ? Has anyone seen such a lens before ? This camera is part of a heavy box full of old Russian photo stuff which I purchased for 30.- EUR ( 1.- per kilogram ;D ). I also have a dark-red 2b with the usual Industar in my collection. I think they also made a blue one.

MIK

[Just Plain Curt]

I could be wrong but it looks like someone put an enlarger lens on this one. I have two black Fed 2s, as well as a red one and green one myself. Nice cameras and possibly the most classic Feds except the NKVD.

[photax]

Hi Curt,

This was also my first thought, but I also did`nt know for shure. The manufacturer of the lens is obviously "Vega", and they made some enlarger and projection lenses. I think I will put on a proper Industar 50. There have to be some in a drawer.

I found another interesting camera in that box: A never seen before FED 10, but this beauty needs some attention. I hope I have more spare time next month...

MIK

[Just Plain Curt]

Hi MIK,
Wow you found some great stuff there. Never seen a FED 10 before so I had to look it up. Looks similar to a FED 4 but obviously much different in operation. Let us know when you have some photos from it. Sounds interesting.

[photax]

Hi Curt,

Here is the current status of the FED 10: dirty and the film transport got stuck, the trigger and the release is working. There is also the leather surrounding the lens missing, but this would be no problem to replace. I guess I have to dissasemble it completely to get it working properly. The only problem: At the moment I have about 10 cameras dissasembled, waiting for maintenance

MIK

[Just Plain Curt]

Hi MIK,
I understand only too well. I have at leat 5 in various stages of repair/destruction myself. Just found my Ricoh 519 I'd taken apart last summer, LOL.

[Just Plain Curt]

Hi MIK,
If this is your lens, it's an enlarger lens. Not my photo, taken today from eBay's Alex-Photo.

[Deleted]

A lot of enlarger lenses had M39 threads. They will mount on a Leica body but aren't likely to focus I have several different FED 2 models but never could get really excited about them. IMO, the covering on that model and the early FED 3s have a very abrasive quality that can take the skin off knuckles in certain circumstances. The Zorkis and later FEDs had smoother coverings.

Wayne

[photax]

I dont know for what purpose the enlarger lens was mounted to the FED, but I have screwed on a suitable Industar 26-M which fits the green FED 2b perfectly. Another found from this box is a dark-blue FED 2c and a 2a from 1955 and a black 2b, both with engravings. Now I got 8 different FED 2 models. I like them, because I have never seen a defective one. I agree with Wayne, the covering sometimes feels like sandpaper

MIK

[Stephen]

There is a now forgotten use for cameras with a fixed focus lens on them, Alpa did them along with Zeiss, and even Periflex Corfield in the UK, for the photographing of meters in Strowger Type Phone exchanges. the banks of meters were photographed with the fixed lens and a flash unit, a ring flash on the Alpa. so that the negs could be read to send out the bill. I do not know how the Russians charged for their phones, but I doubt it was free!
These camera are often mistaken for laboratory cameras or oscilloscope recorders, phone companies in States owned lots of non focusing Topcons, and the GPO in the UK had hundreds of Alpas with no focusing or viewfinder bar a frame finder. They also used Robots for the same job.
Unfortunately the Alpa cannot be converted to normal use! Also the Zeiss is so dedicated to the job that it cannot be converted to normal uses. The same plain bodied cameras were used for Microscopes, and for security cameras.
Stephen.

[Deleted]

The FED 2 was, I believe, the longest-lived Soviet RF. It went through a huge number of model variations. My earliest FED 2 has the Leica-type winding knob and no flash connection. I have another that is identical except it has a pc connection on the front. The rarest FED 2 is like the one I have without sync except is has a square RF window on the left side (as you face the camera, instead of a round one). A lot of the FED 2s were inscribed (as was the Zorki 2C). It was a cheap way for the govt to give recognition to members of the party or military.

My dad had an enlarging back for his Speed Graphic 2 1/4 x 3 1/4. He would shoot film with the camera, develop the film, then mount the camera vertically, attach the enlarging back and make prints using the same lens that captured the image.

[John Farrell]

I worked as a technician in Strowger type exchanges back in the 1970s. Here in New Zealand, local calls weren't metered, so we had no cameras like this. Long distance (toll) calls were metered manually, as the calls were switched through manual switchboards.

[daveh]

Interesting facts. Thanks all.

I have another that is identical except it has a pc connection on the front.

That Fed was way ahead of its time: a pc connection even before the personal computer had been invented! ;D

[hansz]

...and for $ 1 per kg.... MIK, you must be a happy owner... he sighs.
Hans

[Deleted]

But the connection had a very slow baud rate.