Caluire Montessuy II

For testing on film my newly arrived FED-4 (see below for details about the camera) I decided to return to Caluire Montessuy, next to Lyon, France, to complete the overview of the urban ensemble conceived from 1967 to 1972 by the architectural group of René Gagès in the brutalist style.

 

For all the views, except the last frame, the lens was equipped with 42mm push-on FOCA yellow filter x2.5, and a Genaco cylindric metal shade hood conceived for a lens around 45mm focal length.

 

The film used was a 36-exposure Fomapan 200 Expositions were determined for 160 ISO (or 80 ISO to compensate the absorption of the yellow filter) using a Minolta Autometer III lightmeter fitted with a 10° finder for selective metering privileging the shadow areas.

 

Documentary smartphone picture

 

Lunch before the photo session at the Restaurant "Le Canut et le Gones", June 7, 2025

Rue Belfort

69004 Lyon

France

 

After completion, the film was rewound and processed using 350 mL of Adox Adonal (Agfa Rodinal) developer prepared at the dilution 1+50 for 10min at 20°C.

 

Digitizing was made using a Sony A7 camera (ILCE-7, 24MP) fitted to a Minolta Auto Bellows III with the Minolta slide duplication accessory and Minolta Macro Bellow lens 1:3.5 f=50mm. The diffuse light source was a LED panel CineStill Cine-lite.

 

The RAW files obtained were inverted within the latest version available of Adobe Lightroom Classic (version 14.3.1) and edited to the final jpeg pictures without intermediate file. They are presented either as printer files with a frame or the full size JPEG's together with some documentary smartphone color pictures.

 

About the FED camera :

 

In the USSR, the first 35 mm camera was the FED, first produced in the 30’s by the F. E. Dzerzhinsky Labour Commune in Kharkov, Ukraine. The FED was a straight reproduction of the pre-war Leica IIc. After WWII the production of camera’s was restarted in Kharkov and FED produced a first completely new model in 1955 with the FED-2 that was produced until 1970 under different versions.

 

The FED-4 is the fourth model of the FED produced at about 633.000 units in Kharkov from 1964 to 1980. With the FED-3 and the FED-4, the camera inflated in size and weight in a less streamlined and less elegant design. The large-base range finder returned to a narrower basis.

 

The second version of the FED-4 (1969-1980) , the film is now advanced by a modern lever mechanism instead of a rotating button. The shutter could be now operated in the slow-speed (1/15s to 1s) range. The camera integrated a selenium photo-cell lightmeter with galvanometer. The normal lens Industar-61 1:2.8 f=52mm is also a Tessar type lens, its version « L» includes special glasses with lanthanum improving the lens performances. The FED-4 was largely exported a sold under different brand names as « Revue » the brand of the Photo-Quelle in west Germany.

 

I found my FED-4 version-2 for 25€ in June 2025 from a French eBay seller, with the Industar lens and the leather bag. After a complete detailing, the camera turned to be « as a new » and in a stunning mechanical and optical conditions. The range finder was still correctly aligned and calibrated and the selenium cell still operating giving correct values compered to my other trusted light meters.

Done