Feds & Zorki

Fed 1g with Fed 50 f 3.5 lens

I have four former Soviet Union cameras, a Fed 1g, two Fed 2 and a Zorki 4.
The Fed-1g is a Barnack style copy of the Leica IID made around 1954 in Kharkov, Ukraine. My camera came with a collapsible Elmar copied Fed50, a Tessar formula 50mm f3.5 lens. The camera is slightly smaller than the Leica II but not as elegantly finished and with a rather small rangefinder for focusing and separate viewfinder for composing, nevertheless, it is a fun camera to use. This model unfortunately doesn't have neck strap lugs so I attached a wrist strap on the tripod mount underneath so it will be easy to carry around.

Fed 1g sample shots:

Rocks Water & Sky


Closter Pond


The Mailbox


Fed 2E with Jupiter-12 35mm f2.8 lens and finder

The Fed 2 is an upgrade of the Fed 1 made in 1955-1970. It has a combined viewfinder and rangefinder with a wide base. My Fed 2s came with an Industar 26M and Industar 61LD 50 mm lenses. Later I bought a Jupiter 12, 35mm f2.8 lens and a Jupiter 9, 85mm f2 lens for them.

Fed 2 sample shots:

A Bronx Street


Three Wheeler


Roots


Zorki 4 with Jupiter 8, 50 mm f2 lens

The Zorki 4 is made in KMZ, Krasnogorsk (Moscow), Russia in 1956-1973.
It has a bigger and brighter combined viewfinder and rangefinder than the Fed 1 and Fed 2. It also comes with complete slow and fast shutter speeds that goes up to 1/1000 of a second.
While these Soviet cameras are not as refine as the Japanese and German rangefinders, they are tough and rugged cameras. I should use them more often but lately they had taken a back seat in favor of my other cameras. The lenses I got for them are very sharp however and all are being used more often with my Canon P and Leica IIF.

Zorki 4 sample shots:

Saints-Diptych


A Landscape


Backyard Fence