Originally an orphanage in Kharkiv, Ukraine, the FED factory was turned into a labor commune in the 1920s and renamed after Felix E. Dzerzhinsky, founder of the NKVD which was the forerunner to the KGB. Eventually it came to be known by the initials, FED (cyrillic ФЭД or фэд).

After the groundbreaking introduction of the Leica II in 1932, Soviet leaders stopped the import of photographic equipment and set the FED factory to its task of creating a Leica of their own. Only 18 months later, in 1934, the FED factory began churning out its first clone of the Leica II rangefinder camera. Since then, they have produced millions of cameras, some good and some not so good.

FED cameras:     Years of manufacture:    
FED 'Red Flag'     c1948      
FED (Type 1)     1934      
FED (Type 1) black     1934      
FED (Type 1a)     1934-1935      
FED (Type 1b) (NKVD)     1935-1937      
FED (Type 1c) (NKVD)     1937-1939      
FED (Type 1d) (NKVD)     1939-1941      
FED (Type 1e)     1946      
FED (Type 1e) Red Flag     1948      
FED (Type 1f)     1949-1953      
FED (Type 1g)     1953-1955      
FED 10     1964-1967  
FED 11 (Atlas)     1967-1971  
FED 2 (Type a)     1955-1956      
FED 2 (Type b) (F130) (F/2.8)     1956-1958      
FED 2 (Type b) (F130) (F/3.5)     1956-1958      
FED 2 (Type b) (F131)     1956-1958      
FED 2 (Type c)     1958-1960      
FED 2 (Type d)     1958-1960      
FED 2 (Type e)     1969-1970      
FED 2 L     1962-1966      
FED 2 Prototype     1952-1954      
FED 3 (Type a)     1961-1965      
FED 3 (Type b) (Revue 3)     1966-1976
FED 3 L     1963-1965      
FED 3 L/D     1977-1983      
FED 3 L/D Olympic     1980      
FED 35     1985-1986      
FED 35 A     1987-1990      
FED 4 (Type a)     1964-1971      
FED 4 (Type b) (Revue 4)     1969-1980      
FED 4 '50 Years October' (Revolution)     1967      
FED 4 L     1969-1980      
FED 5     1977-1990      
FED 5 Kroko Luxus     1977-1980      
FED 5 Olympic     1977-1980      
FED 50 Automat     1986-1996      
FED 5B (V)     1975-1990      
FED 5B Olympic (V)     1975-1980      
FED 5C (S)     1977-1990      
FED 5C Olympic (S)     1977-1980      
FED 6 Prototype     1992      
FED 7 Prototype     1967      
FED B (V)     1938      
FED Boy Stereo     1988-1992  
FED C (S)     1938-1941      
FED LUXUS     1970      
FED Mikron     1968-1986 
FED Mikron 2     1968-1986      
FED Mikron Olympic     1979-1980      
FED Mikron Prototype     1967      
FED Siberia     c1939-1941      
FED Stalinetz     c1990s      
FED Stereo     c1988      
FED Zorki     1948-1949      
FED Zorki Stereo     1961-1965
Zarya     1959-1961