FED 5V: The Ugliest FSU Rangefinder Ever?

Ladies and gentlemen I present to you what is arguably the most homely photoapparat ever to come out of the Soviet Union. So ugly, as a matter of fact, that I bought it brand new out of the box some 15 years after its creation. The joke amongst afficionnados is that when one buys a FED 5, one is actually purchasing a stunningly good Industar 61 lens with a really ugly rear lens cap. That said, however, my FED 5V was really cheap and an excellent introduction to Soviet LTM (Leica Thread Mount) rangefinders. It is perfectly reliable and smooth in operation.
I have two other lenses to go with my FED: a Jupiter-12 and a Jupiter-9. The J-12 is a 35mm f 2.8 wideangle and the J-9 is an 85mm f 2 telephoto. I have found both to be stunning performers, even wide open. The Petri Tele-wide finder, fitted to the hotshoe, allows me to correct for both parallax and the different fields of view of the J 12 and J 9. What's really great about rangefinders like the FED 5V is that they are fully manual. There are no batteries and, on most, there isn't even a rudimentary light meter. The advantages to a camera like this are twofold. Firstly, they make you think about what it is you are doing, which exercises your intellect. Secondly, they do what you tell them to do. My digicam is constantly warning me about this or that or the other thing. If I over or under expose with the FED, there's nobody to blame but me; it really forces me to think about EVs and I really like that.

Now I'm just watching the mail for the Zorki 4 which is fitted with a Jupiter 8 and is presently winging its way from Alex in the Ukraine.

Who said that FSU rangefinders were an addiction? Not true I tells ya. I can quit any time; honestly I can...I'll stop after the next one.