Vote for F-21 on Wired

Submitted the F-21 to get some exposure for this site, vote!

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2008/04/submissions_rare_gadgets

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Originally posted by Vlad

Submitted the F-21 to get some exposure for this site, vote!
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2008/04/submissions_rare_gadgets

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From that page:

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KGB F-21 Spy camera by Vladislav Kern (USSRPhoto.com):
Developed at the height of the cold war for the KGB this camera was essential to the stealthy intelligence operations of the Soviets in the Western world.

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Nope. For domestic affairs only.

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Zorki 4 by Leon :
Everyone knows Leicas. But very few people know the sowiet 1:1 copycats named "Zorki".
The Zorki 4 is a copy of the Leica III and was produced in the late 1950ies. Mine is from 1959 and works still like a charm.

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Nope. Zorki-4 was not a copy of Leica III.
About "the sowiet 1:1 copycats" see http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/iannorris/leica.htm for example or the book "300 Leica Copies" by Patrice-Herve Pont and Jean-Loup Princelle. Not only Zorkies are there...

Hi Zoom, good to hear from you!

Zorki 4 was not one of our posts, but I'm pleased somebody did post it.

Regarding F-21, yes of course, "officially" it was developed for the domestic market.

Vlad

Hi Vlad,

As Zoom says, the F-21 was used in the Soviet Union by the KGB and other agencies, for surveillance. When an agent had to use cameras for operations outside of the country, they would have probably been equipped with a camera that was not Soviet, such as a Minox. It certainly would not look good for an agent to be caught with Soviet equipment on them!

The F-21 was not developed for the "domestic market", but for "domestic use" by police and KGB.

Regards, Bill

I'll go by your guys' expertise, but why do I keep finding them all over the eastern Europe then? In large quantities too?

Probably after the Soviet Union was ended and when the KGB was disbanded, many F-21 cameras and their disguises went into private hands instead of being destroyed. Then, like many Soviet cameras, they may have been brought over to the eastern European countries for sale. But mostly, I see them being sold from FSU countries, with many coming from Belarus and Ukraine. Of course you can even find them in the USA now ;-).
Which Eastern European countries do you see large quantities of F-21 coming from?


Regards, Bill

domestic use ??, hummmm... let's look at this document....(whith official wax security seal)...

As you know, I do not read and understand Russian letters and language...so i can make a mistake....

If Vlad or anyone can translate and explain my document ...i will be very happy...
(this document came from St Pet. whith a very used and old F 21)

sorry for this 7 pages if not interesting
http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent/

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Originally posted by nightphoto But mostly, I see them being sold from FSU countries, with many coming from Belarus and Ukraine.

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Propably it is because especially Ukrainian sellers are more western & capitalistic than Russian

Smena rules

here are pictures.........


http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent/kgb 1.jpg

Alain, please make sure there are no space characters in your image file names, they will not appear correctly.

Thanks!

Bill,

I see or get offers for F-21 in quantities from Czech, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Poland.

I probably have overstated (I admit saying that these cameras were used in western countries by KGB agents, but they were used in those countries either by KGB or exported for their own security services (KGB subdivisions) to be used there. So that clearly does not qualify for "domestic use only" (Sorry Zoom). I believe I have read that on Abramov's site.. I will try to find the exact article.

Cheers,
Vlad

Quoting G. Abramov here:

Фотоаппараты серии "Аякс" использовались подразделениями КГБ и МВД, а также другими специальными службами СССР практически до конца 90-ых годов. Спецслужбы стран Варшавского Договора, а также стран третьего мира, стран-друзей и партнеров СССР, не менее активно применяли "Аяксы" в различных оперативных мероприятий, иногда используя отдельные узлы для установки в свои отечественные специальные системы негласного фотографирования. Учитывая большой период эксплуатации, широкую географию применения и огромный практический опыт использования, можно с уверенностью назвать фотоаппарат "Аякс" самым массовым советским специальным фототехническим устройством 20-го века.

Cameras series "Ajax" used by the KGB and MVD offices, as well as other specialized services by the end of the Soviet Union almost 90 - s the. Special services of Warsaw Pact countries, as well as countries of the third world countries, friends and partners, the Soviet Union, no less actively used "Ayaks" in various operational activities, sometimes using local made custom parts to be installed to be used in cladestine photography. Given the long period of exploitation, the application of the wide geography and vast practical experience in use, it can safely be called a camera "Ajax" the most massive Soviet special photographic device of the 20th century.




Советские фотоаппараты "Аякс", модифицированные технической службой МГБ ГДР
Soviet cameras "Ajax" modified MGB technical service GDR(East Germany!!)


(Photohistory.ru - http://www.photohistory.ru/Ajax-series.html )

Sorry for raw google translation by I've corrected it where I could...

Alain, are there more pages?

here are....now , I hope so
http://www.ussrphoto.com/UserContent/kgb2.jpg

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Originally posted by Vlad

I'll go by your guys' expertise, but why do I keep finding them all over the eastern Europe then? In large quantities too?

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"Special services of the countries of the Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance (and also the countries of the third world, the countries-friends and partners of the USSR) also actively applied these cameras in various operative actions, sometimes using separate units to installation in the domestic special systems of hidden photographing..." (from "The AYaKS history")

P.S. As I see, Vlad found this text too, but in the Abramov's site ;)...

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Originally posted by nightphoto

... It certainly would not look good for an agent to be caught with Soviet equipment on them!

The F-21 was not developed for the "domestic market", but for "domestic use" by police and KGB.

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You are absolutely right. There were not an idiots in the Soviet foreign intelligence service (and in the GDR one, etc. too)... ;)

Alain, can you post all pages? This is a "top secret" document, how often do we have a chance to see what's inside:-)?

Zoom, we read the same sites ...

Yuri, I've posted all pages of that document (Alain emailed them to me) to the F-21 Wiki Entry. http://www.ussrphoto.com/Wiki/default.asp?ImageID=3327&ParentID=1&WikiCatID=46&ContentID=179

Vlad

Vlad,
I think Zoom is saying that Abramov got this information about Ayaks from another source, called "The AYaKS History". I would be interested to know about this book or site.

So, what can you Russian speakers tell us non-Russian speakers about new information that is shown in Alain's very nice passport book for F-21? I can see that finally we see that F-21 serial number 76363 was recorded into service on June 30, 1962. What else can we learn?

Regards, Bill

Great, I found the pages:-) This is really top secret information - a passport for the camera with its service records. I wonder what would happen if Americans ever discovered this document...

I can't believe how meticulous the Russians were when it came to KGB and other oppression/enforcement business.

Just look at the document. It specifies "covering" as "Ficus-3". Ficus my a$$. I wonder what other finishes they had. I can imagine this secret engineering department, a meeting there, with an agenda "how do we name the finish of this F-21?".
- Major Ivanov, your opinion?
- Daizy?
- No, too girly... And you, Lieutenant-Colonel Petrov?
- Oak?
- Better.. But let me consult with Comrade Andropov (picking up a red phone with a USSR seal on it) ... he said it has to be Ficus. No, Ficus-3.

I wonder what Ficus-1 and Ficus-2 look like.

Was it worth it? The country collapsed, film is practically gone...
Some cell phone cameras can produce better pictures than the Ayaks.

Bill,

Well short of the Ficus-3 camouflage name and that it was used in Army Base 1217-P, there isn't much new information....

It was services at that army base. And I guess "Army base" is a code name for some KGB shop.
First time they replaced a paper washer, and three other times after that the camera was checked and found in compliance with the spec.

Interestingly, the camera had its own record document, just like a plane or a helicopter. Regular maintenance, and such. This is because it was so important and critical! What is the camera fails while shooting some foreign tourists on the Red Square?