FED -1a ...... coupled rangefinder / Leica II copy ..... 35 mm perforated film
Body serial # 5340 .... lens: FED - 50 mm f.3.5 / serial # 5507
factory : F. E. Dzerzhinsky Labour Commune (FED) / Kharkov, USSR ...... year of production: 1935

notes: This camera was produced less than a year from the start of the FED Commune's production of Leica copies. Several times during 1935, when the factory's supply of chrome ran out, the top plate, bottom plate and rangefinder housing were finished by hand with a very small, mechanical rotating metal polisher. This left beautiful tiny circular brushed marks in the metal that shimmer in the light, giving the effect of a fine laboratory instrument. This camera has that finish, as well as the original leather case with a fine old patina.