Fed Berdsk - Known Examples

This will not solve our problem but I saw FED produced shortly after 210 000. It had vulcanite from FED NKAP. Maybe it will be possible to find it and place a photo here.

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Originally posted by Lenny


So Fed produced Fed-Zorkis with 1/1000 speed together with KMZ in Krasnogorsk
and at the same time produced Fed-1f with 1/500 speed in Kharkov.

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Often it is said, that Fed had trouble after the war to set up production again. It is said, because of this trouble Fed had a joint venture with KMZ to produce Fed-KMZ and Fed-Zorki.

Of course, everything from the former Fed factory was lost for Fed, it might have been in the hands of KMZ at that time. But Fed was able to set up production again in June 1948, at the same time when Fed-Zorkis were produced in Krasnogorsk. The passport of Fed-Zorki #00697 is known, dated 11/X/1948. It seems Krasnogorsk production wasn't much ahead, Kharkov was able to produce hundrets of Fed-1 in 1948 too.

If I compare my early Fed-1f from 1949 with my Zorki-1a also from 1949, the Fed looks superior in quality. It seems to me, Fed was AHEAD, while KMZ assembled prewar parts and started to set up own production.

We know about passport #129314 dated 31/V/1940 and passport #136157 dated 20/VIII/1940. 6843 cameras were produced, 595 cameras per week. That seems not much. Did the factory have 2 weeks summer holidays in 1940?
Then we know passport #145179 dated 22/X/1940. 9022 cameras till #136157, 1002 cameras per week. That seems much.
Then we know passport #168018 dated 18/VI/1941, just 4 days before the war started. 22839 cameras till #145179, 670 cameras per week.
Then we know passport #180024 dated 31/VII/1941. 12006 cameras till #168018, 1968 cameras per week. That's much too much. Can't be true if we assume the passport dates are right.
Then from #180024 till the last in the wiki #183892 it's 774 cameras per week till the factory evacuation started on 05/IX/1941. That seems possible again. But still, something must be wrong here.

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Originally posted by RCCCUK

I thought you might be interested in this photograph from the book, 'On the Wings of History - 75 Years of the FED Factory 1927-2002'.


http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent/1782013_fed photo.jpg
I believe that the caption reads, ' Assembling the first postwar FED cameras. Berdsk, February 1946'.

David.

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Hi David, do you by any chance have this book and is it possible to see the cover? Thanks!

Hi Vlad,
Yes, I have the book.
http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent/352016_FED Book 1.jpg
Dust Cover.

http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent/352016_FED Book 2.jpg
Front Cover.

http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent/352016_FED Book 3.jpg
Publishing Details.


David.

Wow, is the book scanned and somewhere available ?

Thank you so much, David!

Which number had the FED plant before the war in Kharkov? Was it plant #296?

Thanks

Thanks Alexey,

so I guess when Fed was Kommuna under the NKVD it was plant #296.
Did the number change when they came under the NKAP in Febuary 1941?
Did they keep the plant number in Berdsk?
Did they have the same number when they relocated to Kharkov again in 1946?
What are the plants #297 and #393 ?

I just want to comletely understand what Zoom wrote in this thread. Zoom mentioned plant numbers with important decisions.

Thanks

Huh? Yoshkar-Ola? I thought it was Berdsk??? Alexey??

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Originally posted by Lenny


Then we know passport #180024 dated 31/VII/1941. 12006 cameras till #168018, 1968 cameras per week. That's much too much. Can't be true if we assume the passport dates are right.

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This is not a problem at all, because there is another passport #164716 dated 18/III/1941. Then the production was 793 cameras per week from March 18th till July 31st, 1941. That seems possible and it also match with the highest serial in the wiki #183892, which would be 774 cameras per week till the evacuation started. Seems to me #183892 was still produced in Kharkov.

Then there was no camera produktion during the war. The first Fed made in Berdsk was produced in January 1946. End of 1942 all equipment and staff was transfered to Krasnogorsk and likely all left over parts of Fed-1e. Not possible to assemble Fed-1e from parts in Berdsk, they had nothing, they started from scratch. And as we know Fed-Zorkis were made from left over parts, likely unengraved top plates too and if there were already some engraved Fed-1e top plates, those likely would have been re-engraved as Fed-Zorki.

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Originally posted by Vlad

Huh? Yoshkar-Ola? I thought it was Berdsk??? Alexey??

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Astonishing!
Vlad, please, could it be possible to have a traslation of this line "19"?
I see that KMZ is quoted, with the year 1943.

Thanks. Jacques.

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Originally posted by Jacques M.
Vlad, please, could it be possible to have a traslation of this line "19"?

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Jacques, it says:
Factory and from where relocated: Ukraine, FED Labor Commune (City of Kharkov)
Factory Number (?): 3 (NKVD), 296 (NKAP)
Place of relocation: City of Yoshkar-Ola (huh?)
Final destination after de-evacuation: Partial re-evacuation to Krasnogorsk, KMZ 1943
Destination Factory Number: 393

Thanks, Vlad.
That could be a piece of the general puzzle, which leads from Kharkov to Kharkov, with a partial re evacuation to KMZ (in 1943?).
But what about this "Yoshkar-Ola"? Why is Berdsk missing? And Kiev too (for the Fed-Arsenal)?

Anyway, it seems that the story is really entangled. And as we don't have the status of Alexey's document, it's difficult to know what it means exactly...

Alexey, if you could tell us more...

Amitiйs. Jacques.

Of course Arsenal and Berdsk and there might be others. A factory needed to be evacuated and not only one factory. Space was needed to store all that equipment. Lines 16, 17 and 18 on Alexey's list are black.

Important is only what happened after the war since there was no camera production during the war. Interesting is that they built NEW cameras in Kharkov, while in Krasnogorsk left over parts were RECYCLED, makes me love my early Fed-1f even more, and Zorkis have a touch of garbage, at least the early ones.

Hello!
Jacques, you'll be pleasantly surprised, but FED-KMZ, FED-Zorki and FED-Arsenal have common roots of the FED NKAP! So from Berdsk details we go to different plants! Even parts for TSVVS from Germany came to the factory, which had not produced photographic equipment.
I do not know why the author pointed out the evacuation of the city of Yoshkar-Ola. In the book, 50 and 75 years of plant FED indicated Berdsk.

Ha ha! Thanks, Alexey!
So, there would be a "main" line between Kharkov and Berdsk.
And from Berdsk, some "secondary" lines towards KMZ (production of Fed-KMZ and Fed-Zorki) and Arsenal-Kiev (trial of production of Fed-Arsenal).

And the Fed-NKAP were produced in Berdsk.

Can you confirm all that? But which book do you speak of?

Thanks! Jacques.

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Originally posted by Lenny



Important is only what happened after the war since there was no camera production during the war.

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It's a supposition, a guessing, or whatever else. But we have no proof: we don't have any documents to attest that.
Even if I have the same opinion: my previous posts show that. But it's only an opinion. And some cameras could perfectly have been mounted with spare parts made previously.

So, I regret the recent (and important) modifications of the wiki, which turn opinions into facts. It's for me only a question of rule: I don't discuss on what was written.

Jacques.

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Originally posted by levonsa


I do not know why the author pointed out the evacuation to the city of Yoshkar-Ola. In the book, 50 and 75 years of plant FED indicated Berdsk.

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Thanks to Zoom and I found this:
http://www.zenitcamera.com/archive/misc/gko-docs.html#n374
Order #374 from August 2nd, 1941. Building a new plant #297 in Yoschkar-Ola Mari ASSR now called Mari Machine Works.

Where to put all the equipment. They built a new plant.