C41
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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half-frame
The FED Mikron 2 is a half-frame 35mm camera produced by the FED factory in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, introduced around 1978 as a refinement of the original FED Mikron. Like its predecessor, it exposes frames at the half-frame standard of approximately 18x24mm, yielding around 72 exposures from a 36-exposure roll. The camera is fitted with a fixed F. Industar 30mm f/2.8 lens - a four-element Tessar-type design - and a central leaf shutter coupled to a selenium photocell that handles exposure automatically. There is no manual override. Zone focus is set by the photographer using distance symbols or marked distances on the lens barrel. The Mikron 2 inherits the essential character of the original while incorporating minor ergonomic refinements; it represents FED's sustained effort in the economy half-frame segment during the late Soviet period.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the half-frame-35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Kodak UltraMax 400 is a versatile consumer-grade ISO 400 daylight-balanced color negative film with T-grain emulsion, delivering warm Kodak colors, fine-for-speed grain (PGI 46), and wide exposure latitude. Currently in production and available globally as a single-roll and multi-pack.
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Before you buy used
About this camera
Refined Soviet half-frame successor with the same battery-free selenium exposure and doubled frame count.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | Half-frame 35mm (~18x24mm) |
| Lens | F. Industar 30mm f/2.8, fixed |
| Years | ~1978 - ~1984 |
| Shutter | Central leaf, ~1/30s - 1/250s |
| Meter | Selenium auto-exposure (no battery) |
| Modes | Auto-only (program) |
| Focus | Zone focus |
| Viewfinder | Optical brightline |
| Weight | ~230 g |
The original FED Mikron appeared around 1968, representing FED's departure from its core Leica-copy rangefinder line into the mass-market half-frame segment. By the late 1970s the design was showing its age relative to Japanese competition, and FED issued the Mikron 2 with incremental refinements. The factory at Kharkiv continued to serve the Soviet domestic market, where import restrictions meant that competing Japanese models such as the Olympus Pen EE series were largely unavailable to ordinary consumers. The selenium exposure system - battery-free and passive - remained a practical advantage given ongoing Soviet battery standardization inconsistencies. Production of the Mikron 2 is believed to have concluded in the early 1980s as FED's production priorities shifted.
The FED Mikron 2 occupies a narrow niche: it is one of the very few half-frame cameras produced in the Soviet Union, and one of even fewer bearing the FED marque, which collectors primarily associate with Leica-derivative rangefinders. It represents the factory's attempt to address the casual consumer market with a camera offering double frame count at no battery cost. For collectors of Soviet cameras, the Mikron 2 rounds out the FED range and provides a tangible comparison point with the contemporaneous LOMO and KMZ output in simpler camera categories. Photographic results at half-frame scale, with the Industar 30 rendering on the modest grain of period Soviet films, have a characteristic softness that appeals to lomographic-style shooting today.
The Mikron 2 is a fixed-lens camera. The F. Industar 30mm f/2.8 is a Tessar-type design with four elements in three groups, producing a field of view roughly equivalent to 43mm on a full-frame 35mm camera. No interchangeable mount exists, and no documented accessory system is known.
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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