The Kiev-10 Automat is an unusually styled 35mm SLR produced by the Arsenal Factory, one of the most well-known industrial factories in the former Soviet Union and modern day Ukraine. Due to its unconventional looks, bespoke lens system, and advanced technology, the Kiev-10 is widely regarded to be one of the most ground-breaking Soviet cameras of its day.
The Kiev-19 is a 35mm SLR produced by the Arsenal Factory, one of the oldest and most famous industrial factories in the former Soviet Union as well as modern day Ukraine. After developing their own lens system and producing several SLR models like the Kiev-10 Automat, Arsenal decided to drop it in favor of the Nikon F-mount when they produced the Kiev-17, the direct predecessor of the 19.
The Kiev-4A is one of several professional grade 35mm “Kiev” rangefinders produced by the Arsenal Factory, one of the oldest and most famous industrial factories in the former Soviet Union and modern day Ukraine. After the defeat of Germany in World War II, most of the surviving equipment and schematics from the Zeiss factory were removed from Dresden and taken to the newly reestablished Arsenal Factory in Kiev. Although primarily a military factory, Arsenal also produced civilian products including copies of cameras made by other manufacturers such as Zeiss Ikon, Hasselblad, and Nikon.
The FED-5B is an interchangeable lens rangefinder introduced in 1977 by FED, a state-run optical manufacturer named after Felix E. Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Soviet secret police. The FED-5B and its siblings (including the FED-2) were all manufactured in what is now the Ukrainian city of Kharkov in an orphanage turned labor commune.
The FED-2 is a 35mm rangefinder built in Kharkov, Ukraine in a factory that was once an orphanage. After the groundbreaking Leica II was introduced in 1932, Soviet leaders tasked the FED factory with building a clone. The FED-2 is a descendant of that first Leica copy. And if that’s not interesting enough, FED is named after Felix E. Dzerzhinsky who was the founder of the NKVD, the shadowy secret police organization that would eventually become the KGB.
