1967 FED 4

Hi all. Just received a really nice 1967 FED 4 in its original box (with foiled image of Shevchenko memorial in Kharkov on the top). Complete with user manual, correctly numbered guarantees for camera and lens. On the bottom of the box is the price label - 57 Rubles! I did a currency check and that works out today at 57 UK Pence. Looking back to 1967 it looks like that would have been around 2 US Dollars. No wonder Russian photo equipment was so inexpensive in Europe and USA - I recall paying Ј35 UK pounds for a new Zorki 4K in 1977.
The FED 4 is in almost mint condition - just needed a quick CLA to un-gum the shutter and lens. Meter is perfectly accurate, which is a bonus.

Cheers,

Steve

hi steve,

where did you get that information from? AFAIK one rouble was officially nearly 1 gram of gold. in those days a dollar was also near to that as well. so 57 roubles would have been about 60$. which is roughly 430$ today's money.

Xya is almost right. At the time 1 dollar was 0.60 rubles

Hi guys,
you are right and not at the same time. You must not forget, that the middle salary in the USSR in 1967 was about 105,- rubles, so the camera price was a half of middle month salary. It was much money and not all could allow themselves to buy such camera.
To compare with USA, the middle salary in the USA in 1967 was about 450,- $, so the value (not the price) of the camera could be about 230,- $.


Regards, Alexander

Hi Alexander, many thanks, that's interesting to understand. My salary when I bought my Zorki 4k 1n 1977 was 128 UK pounds per month so it was just over a week's pay for me! The site I looked at which suggested the value of a Ruble in 1967 was clearly way off the mark. I have just been reading about Taras Shevchenko on the web - very interesting. Also looked at the latest FED company website - good to see they still appear to be going strong, even if not making cameras!

Steve

A well-built camera with a very good lens.
I have just given one to one of my grandsons, exactly a Revue 4 with the olympic logo.
Hope that the taste for FSU cameras will transfuse...

Jacques.