rare FED-C FED I 1 NKVD pre war USSR 1/1000 body M39 Leica copy type 1c 1938

FED-S (1) (ФЭД-С), vintage Soviet rangefinder camera 35 mm, #73207, M39 (LTM) mount "FED" plant, Kharkiv, USSR, 1938 Sold as not working. Shutter works not properly - curtains move extremelly slow and lazy. Body has signs of age. One of the screw-bolts in missing on the rear side. Lens and take-up spool are not included, body only. History of the camera Here I offer extremely rare camera - FED-C, which is the variant of FED-1. This camera is the first camera produced by "FED" plant in 1934-55. It is the full copy of German Leica II. "FED" plant was named after Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (born in 1877, died in 1926), Polish and Soviet Bolshevik revolutionary, leader and statesman and originally was a labour commune of homeless chidren. It was led by a famous Soviet teacher Anton Makarenko (born in1888, died in 1939) which founded this plant in 1927 in an agricultural labour commune. This commune was founded on voluntary donations of NKVD members (later this organization was known as KGB, now it is called FSB). Commune was labour, so it was designed for self-sufficiency and workshops were set (sewing, shoe, joiner's and other). Initially plant produced drills (copies of "Black Decker") but later copied German Leica II which was very successful and was an example for copy in many countries. "FED-C" was produced in 1938-41 in small lots. They did not have any special marking or serial numbers (numbering was continuous). Approx.10-20 thousands of FED-C was produced. Camera has aluminium stamped body with removeable rear cover. Camera can use standard film cassetes and dual cylinder cassettes from Leica. Shutter is with horizontal moving cloth door. Shutter speeds were 1/20, 1/30, 1/40, 1/60, 1/100, 1/200, 1/500, 1/1000 and B (marked as Z). Usual FED-1 did not have 1/1000 sec shutter speed. "FED" camera had default foldable lens "FED" 2/50, usual FED-1 had lens "FED" 3.5/50 as default. As for the name, there are two versions. First opinion is that letter C is from the word "Commander",so it is a camera for Commanders. Another variant is that in 1935 "Leica IIIa" (with new shutter speeds 1 and 1/1000 sec) was introduced. "FED" plant tried to copy it and gave it a name "ФЭД-Б" ("FED-B"; letter "Б" (read as "B" in English) is the second letter of Russian alphabet), so the name meant "second model of FED". Attempts were unsuccessful: camera did not work. So, the plant decided to make camera with at least 1/1000 shutter speed. It got name "FED-C", meaning "third model of FED". This camera was produced in 1938. Serial number is on the front, upper cover has inscription "FED/Labour commune/NKVD-USSR/named after FEDzerzhinsky/Kharkiv" (the same in Russian: "ФЭД/Трудкоммуна/НКВД-УССР/им./ФЭДзержинского/Харьков". Viewfinder and rangefinder are not united. Rangefinder base - 38mm, viewfinder magnification - 0.44x, rangefinder magnification - 1x. Camera had neither flash synchrocontact nor self-timer. Synchrocontacts can be mounted in camera repair shops or hand-craft. External self-timers were produced. Camera became base for rangefinders "FED-2, -3", "Zorki", "Zorki-2", "Zorki-C", "Zorki-2C", SLR "Zenit", "Zenit-3" and many others. Characteristics: S/number - #73207 Frame size - 24x36. Shutter speeds - 1/20-1/100, B Type of thread - M39x1/28.8 Body - aluminium. Dimension - 135x70x50 mm Weight - 415 g ---------------------------------------------------- Conditions: Economy shipping to the address stated at Pinkoi with tracking number, usually sent within 3 business days after payment. See the photos for details. Photos are actual - that is exactly the camera you will receive. Please, do not hesitate to contact me for any information required. Please, watch my other items. I combine shipping - write to me what items do you want to buy, and I will calculate the discount for combined shipping. Package is packed thoroughly and carefully and marked as a “gift”. If you need to add invoice in the envelope or not to mark as a “gift”, write to me. If you are interested in terms of shipment - write to me, and I will tell the minimum, maximum and average time of shipment to your country (I accumulated vast statistics). Return shipping (if the item is as described in the ad) is paid by the buyer. My price include the item and shipping cost and does not include Duties, Value Added Taxes, Customs Clearance Fees and other charges. These charges are the buyer's full responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be before bidding/buying. Buyer needs to pay for the above fees in case that occurred for certain goods. If the package returns back to me due to the buyer refuse to pay those fees, I would not send the package again unless the buyer completes those fees and pay all the return and resend cost. Buyer can not cancel the order or request refund due to this reason. All the customs clearance and other affairs that can be necessary to get the package in the buyer’s country is buyer’s full responsibility. Please, be sure that you are aware of your post office working time, order and rules of package delivery and be ready to accept the package. If the package returns to me as “unclaimed” or the tracking system shows “unsuccessful delivery attempts”, refund to the buyer will be paid deducting the shipping and return costs. Resending must be paid extra.