The story of the camera.
After World War II, technical documentation for the pre-war FED camera (1934–1955) was transferred from the Kharkov Machine-Building Plant to the Almaz Military Plant, which develops air defense missile systems (SAM) and air defense systems.
In the shortest possible time, the Almaz plant began the small-scale production of a copy of the pre-war FED. The main difference is that instead of a threaded lens mount, the Contax bayonet mount was used, and German captured Carl Zeiss lenses were mounted on the camera.
The cameras were made at a good technical level and were trimmed with natural leather (black or blue).
The emblem of the Soviet Army was engraved on the top panel - a five-pointed star with the letters of the All-Union Armed Forces Military Military Command located between the rays.
Given the profile of the company, it is assumed that the abbreviation means "Military Topographic Service of the Armed Forces." The other reading of the inscription as “TASE”, “Topographical Service of the Air Force”, which was originally proposed and often still found, does not stand up to criticism due to the lack of such service in the structure of the USSR Air Forces.
It is assumed that the cameras were intended for topographical survey of the area.
However, the “elite” cameras in those days did not get into military units, but were used to award the senior and top commanders of the Soviet Army.
