Black Fed?

Were there any black FEDs. I have heard of one called the JURA and it is claimed it came from the early 60s, but the condition looks to be mint so it may be much later or just freshly painted.. It also has a KMZ logo which I find strange and comes with a black collapsible lens.

Looks like a rebuilt/repainted and cla'd Fed pretty sure its not original-Moscow photo does a few of these cameras- with different colours and inscriptions, but nice all the same

Samsung GX-10,too many Russian Lenses, A lot of Zenits, an Almaz 103 a few Yashica,and finally a Minox35GT

The only real black FEDs are some FED-5's. Anything else is painted.

Vlad

Vlad ....
did you mean "black " fed 5 are authentics ?

What about the FED from 1934 ?
I believe there were a few manufactured, some with a celluloid covering.

Steve

Alain, yes I believe there was a batch of later FED-5C camera (sorry not 5) with black tops that in fact came out from the FED factory. Here it is:
http://www.ussrphoto.com/Wiki/default.asp?WikiCatID=102&ParentID=1&ContentID=947&Item=FED+5S+Black

Viktor Suglob also confirms it with a picture on page 424. I believe that's accurate since the next iteration of these models was FED-6TTL and that already has black top as well.

Steve, you are right, I stand corrected. Milos Mladek has a FED-1a that IS black top with that weird covering, #253. I believe that's the only one encountered in the series that has that paint that we know unless I'm wrong... probably some kind of experimental version.

And Martin, the Yura camera is widely believed to be an "after-market" variation, some collectors here think original batch was possibly made by an outside shop for the Yuri Gagarin flight to space back in maybe 60s, but then all the fantasy artists started making all kinds of variations of it in the late 90s/early 2000s. Honestly I don't think I've seen an "original" Yura, some people here may have.. The Yura that I have has this shiny silver chrome finish, I'm fairly sure it's one of the cameras from the 90s though..

Vlad

OK , thanks Vlad

About the Black FED 5C ... here is what was told about it by Roman Sonnleitner of Germany in 2005 (I believe on the "Russian Rangefinder" forum;

"Well, guys, the FED5C is the exception to the rule that all black FEDs and Zorkis are post-factory modifications; the FED5C was sold in black versions (some with brown leather, some with red, most with black) by German big-time photo mail-order company Foto Brenner (and I think, also by some British retailer) - definitely a few levels above what cottage-industry painters could have handled..."

This may be correct and has a ring of truth to it ... especially since I believe that the author knew this from living in Germany. But, also, I believe that there are also some black FED 5s (all different FED 5 models) that were painted after-market and the way to tell the difference is the quality of the paint job, with the better quality being from the FED factory.

Regards, Bill

Also, as far as the black finish on the early FED 1 cameras ... this black was one of the standard finishes on the early cameras. FED No. 279, also has a black finish (see photo below). This photo is shown in the article about the beginnings of FED by Oscar Fricke and which our good friend Yuri "FEDKA" has published on his site:

http://www.fedka.com/Useful_info/Commune_by_Fricke/commune_A.htm

Here is part of what Mr. Fricke said in the article:

"The new FEDs were now straight Leica II copies, except for the lack of an accessory clip. The example shown in USSR in Construction is noticeable for its slightly taller rangefinder housing and smooth('celluloid') covering on the camera body. A surviving early FED (No. 279) has the same smooth covering, but the rest of the camera is finished in black paint, and the rangefinder housing is of normal proportions. It is reasonable to assume that among the first examples there must have been some experimentation. ...
Apparently the commune had difficulty finding a suitable finish for the camera's exposed metal parts. In a letter to Gorky in June 1934, Makarenko wrote, 'Incidentally, the "Leicas" ("FED" or "Fedka" as we call them) which our new factory now produces are not bad. Only the secret of the lacquer still eludes us. When we overcome this problem and the FED achieves a really elegant appearance, the communards dream that you will accept one from them; this is, after all, one of "our achievements" [i.e., including Gorky]'."





Regards, Bill

Bill,

makes perfect sense, thanks for finding that fact! I'm amazed on how you remember these little bits and pieces ! I figured it was something that was tried early on but did not know of actual documented proof.. excellent!

Vlad