Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/04/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]If it really says USSR it certainly is a fake. All the best! Raimo K personal photography homepage at: http://www.uusikaupunki.fi/~raikorho/ Quoting Peter Klein <pklein@2alpha.net>: > Ted and other interested parties: > > The inscription, in Cyrillic (Russian) said, NKVD - USSR. > > The NKVD was the precursor of the KGB. FED, the name of the camera, > are > the initials of the founder of the NKVD. He also built a factory > that > trained orphans in trades, which is why the camera bears his name. > You can > read the full story here: > http://www.commiecameras.com/sov/35mmrangefindercameras/cameras/fed/index.htm > > (Marc James Small, please feel free to correct any inaccuracies). > > My own thoughts are that the top plate was much too shiny and unworn > > compared to the rest of the camera. So perhaps an enterprising > Russian put > a new top plate on an old camera. Also, since the NKVD was the > secret > police, why would they use a camera with their agency name on it. > Then the > owner wouldn't be secret anymore :-) Unless of course, such a > camera was > made for the bigwigs. > > Ted, please post or send me a photo of the top plate, and I'll ask > Katya to > translate the rest of the inscription. > > --Peter > >